Qantas to Introduce Group Boarding and Bag Tracking

[Captain Halliday]

Freudian slip?

Touché

Fixed.

 

[ThatMrBlake]

Trial is back - some domestic flights out of Perth using group boarding this month.

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/travel-advice/boarding-trial.html

 

[Mattg]

Trial is back - some domestic flights out of Perth using group boarding this month.

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/travel-advice/boarding-trial.html

It's been almost a year since they started trialing new boarding procedures. They're going to a lot of effort to change signage, put zone numbers on boarding passes etc. and in the end the new over-engineered process will only be rolled out at four airports.

I can't help but wonder if Qantas wouldn't have better invested its time and energy into just making the current process work properly, consistently, every time.

It's not rocket science - all you need is two boarding lanes, with staff processing everyone in the priority lane before anyone in the general queue, and staff checking that those in the priority lane are entitled to be there. Virgin can do this and it works well for them.

 

[p--and--t]

Virgin can do this and it works well for them.

Sometimes.

 

[tdimdad]

Virgin can do this and it works well for them.

Many overseas airlines can do that and it works well for them.

The best implementation I've come across was with CX in HKG where a staff member was at the start of the queueing area, checked everyone's BP's and directed them in the right queue.

The way VA has organised the general queue to be inside the waiting area (and priority enters from the concourse) would easily lend itself for checking: have a staff member at the edge on the concourse checking the eligibility because it'll be easy to divert the general boarding away from there priority queue at that point (instead of the scanning point).

 

[elanshin]

Although if you play with boarding groups, you can do away with the 2 lines. The line will only be for people of one group at any given time. A second staging line for the latter boarding grouos could work but that feels more down the line in the future.

Also just randomly i noticed the title is also bag tracking. I've had a look at it the last two times on domestic for the big cities and it does seem to work. Luggage 1 came out immediately (priority tag for both), but just as I was wondering if luggage two arrived properly, i click the bag tracking and saw it was scanned seconds ago. Lo and behold it appears out onto the carousel in the next wave.

 

[Mr Bill]

I recently flew on QR from DOH to BNE in J class.
Arriving at the gate prior to boarding, I was directed to the Priority Boarding seating area.
Come time to board a group of Y pax sitting at the rear of the aircraft were told to proceed onboard. Any J pax infiltrating the Ys were promptly blocked. The aircraft continued to be boarded by groups of Y with J being the last!
I later questioned the senior flight attendant who was none the wiser as to the reason for the reverse boarding procedure. Apparently the J crew were wondering where their pax were. And yes, both aerobridges were deployed and operable. Perhaps the gate supervisor was just having a bad day at the office.

 

[RooFlyer]

I recently flew on QR from DOH to BNE in J class.
Arriving at the gate prior to boarding, I was directed to the Priority Boarding seating area.
Come time to board a group of Y pax sitting at the rear of the aircraft were told to proceed onboard. Any J pax infiltrating the Ys were promptly blocked. The aircraft continued to be boarded by groups of Y with J being the last!
I later questioned the senior flight attendant who was none the wiser as to the reason for the reverse boarding procedure. Apparently the J crew were wondering where their pax were. And yes, both aerobridges were deployed and operable. Perhaps the gate supervisor was just having a bad day at the office.

Where they don’t have an air bridge to use they always board the J & Fpassengers last via their own buses ( with comfy, spaced seats) arriving last. Maybe someone was confused

 

[elanshin]

Where they don’t have an air bridge to use they always board the J & Fpassengers last via their own buses ( with comfy, spaced seats) arriving last. Maybe someone was confused

Maybe that was the confusion - there was an aerobridge at DOH for this flight.

 

[Mr Bill]

Maybe that was the confusion - there was an aerobridge at DOH for this flight.

The aircraft was at the terminal. NO buses were used. Both aerobridges were operational and used. The Y bridge was used by Y pax and when the time came, J pax used the J bridge.

 

[elanshin]

The aircraft was at the terminal. NO buses were used. Both aerobridges were operational and used. The Y bridge was used by Y pax and when the time came, J pax used the J bridge.

The joke is that at DOH, the majority of flights now are buses that the staff forgot how to do boarding when it's an aerobridge.

 

[Rnwillia]

I fail to see why boarding early is such a critical requirement to getting your reserved seat on a flight??? I prefer to be the last to board and often wait in the Lounge for 5 minutes after the final boarding call. That way I get to walk up to the boarding gate unobstructed, scan my pass and walk straight to my seat. Mind you I don’t carry 2 suitcases and hand bags as ’carry on’ luggage as I see so many doing.

 

[Himeno]

The joke is that at DOH, the majority of flights now are buses that the staff forgot how to do boarding when it's an aerobridge.

My last ex-DOH flight used buses (even though aircraft was at an aerobridge). They called J for boarding, then held them at the door to the stairs down to the tarmac and the buses because the "J bus wasn't here yet", while Y pax moved through.
After a 10 min wait at the door, a F bus turned up and they let the waiting J pax down.
Buses then took us to a different aerobridge equipped bay where we boarded via airstairs.

 

[anat0l]

I fail to see why boarding early is such a critical requirement to getting your reserved seat on a flight??? I prefer to be the last to board and often wait in the Lounge for 5 minutes after the final boarding call. That way I get to walk up to the boarding gate unobstructed, scan my pass and walk straight to my seat. Mind you I don’t carry 2 suitcases and hand bags as ’carry on’ luggage as I see so many doing.

• On crowded flights, overhead space can disappear quickly, even if everyone sticks to 1 up and 1 beneath the seat. If you travel very light, I can see this not being an issue. For everyone else, you want to get to that space, especially if you are sitting in a row that can't place bags under the seat.
• Some prefer to get on board ASAP so they can start relaxing. For example, get settled into a nice Business seat, the lounge is pretty lousy, or just transferred from an overnight flight (maybe a red eye) and very tired.
• Some prefer to board early if they have a window seat so they reduce the risk of having to inconvenience already seated passengers to get to their seat.
• Families like more time to get settled into their seats and prefer to board early. Not every airline allows families with small children to board first without having the standard priority privileges.

Leaving for an aircraft 5 minutes after Final Call is a risk, especially if the gate is far from the lounge. Yes, it's not very likely you'll be kicked off the flight, but why be a stress on others if you don't have to? There are some airlines and some airports where you definitely do not want to **** around - they will shut boarding and offload you.

 

[pauly7]

Sometimes.

Exactly. And since the Virgin ‘enhancements’ to their PB it’s really fallen away sadly. Messy now too.

Will be interested to see how the new QF process goes.

 

[anat0l]

Exactly. And since the Virgin ‘enhancements’ to their PB it’s really fallen away sadly. Messy now too.

This is new to me - what'd they do?

 

[Beano]

• On crowded flights, overhead space can disappear quickly, even if everyone sticks to 1 up and 1 beneath the seat. If you travel very light, I can see this not being an issue. For everyone else, you want to get to that space, especially if you are sitting in a row that can't place bags under the seat.
• Some prefer to get on board ASAP so they can start relaxing. For example, get settled into a nice Business seat, the lounge is pretty lousy, or just transferred from an overnight flight (maybe a red eye) and very tired.
• Some prefer to board early if they have a window seat so they reduce the risk of having to inconvenience already seated passengers to get to their seat.
• Families like more time to get settled into their seats and prefer to board early. Not every airline allows families with small children to board first without having the standard priority privileges.

Leaving for an aircraft 5 minutes after Final Call is a risk, especially if the gate is far from the lounge. Yes, it's not very likely you'll be kicked off the flight, but why be a stress on others if you don't have to? There are some airlines and some airports where you definitely do not want to **** around - they will shut boarding and offload you.

I agree. I have seen J pax struggle to find space in an overhead locker on a 737, particulary as the lifeboat is now in that space.

 

[serfty]

This is new to me - what'd they do?

In some places they try to board both queues almost concurrently.

Virgin priority boarding fail

Well I had no trouble with my Wed 6.15 AM BNE/ADL flight, as I arrived from the Lounge just as normal boarding started and they were stopped whilst I had my BP scanned. No issues for my Wed 8:30PM ADL/DRW flight (because I was last to board 😮‍💨) Last Monday in Darwin airport the whole check...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Beano]

In some places they try to board both queues almost concurrently.

Virgin priority boarding fail

Well I had no trouble with my Wed 6.15 AM BNE/ADL flight, as I arrived from the Lounge just as normal boarding started and they were stopped whilst I had my BP scanned. No issues for my Wed 8:30PM ADL/DRW flight (because I was last to board 😮‍💨) Last Monday in Darwin airport the whole check...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

My recent experience last week.
WLG (Int) Priority first
SYD (Dom) Priority First
TSV--free for all
CNS Two queues both boarding together.
BNE Priority first
SYD (INT) Priority first. Turned away a J Pax as they tried to jump the priority queue through the non-priority lane. Was sent back to end of priority queue, but then only a few people there.

I have also noted that sometimes when the priority queue becomes short they start the non-priority lane.

OOPs should this be on the "Qantas doesn't care about priority boarding" forum?

 

[eastwest101]

My recent experience last week.
WLG (Int) Priority first
SYD (Dom) Priority First
TSV--free for all
CNS Two queues both boarding together.
BNE Priority first
SYD (INT) Priority first. Turned away a J Pax as they tried to jump the priority queue through the non-priority lane. Was sent back to end of priority queue, but then only a few people there.

I have also noted that sometimes when the priority queue becomes short they start the non-priority lane.

OOPs should this be on the "Qantas doesn't care about priority boarding" forum?

I think its relevant here, as QF's only real domestic competitor (VA) has possibly lost some of its ability to enforce priority boarding as well as it used to a few years ago, anecdotally at least. So for people that really care about priority boarding, or people who might see it as a point of differentiation or a reason to hold status, have to make this judgment call about comparing how well/badly both airlines are doing priority boarding.