What does "flight closed" mean?

[kpc]

I did a turnarond Syd-Mel-Syd yesterday to help requalify for Gold. My flight back to Syd was due to leave at 1830 with the usual boarding 20 mins earlier at 1810. Anyway, I was chatting away to my brother on the phone in the Mel QP, when at 1815, he asked why I hadn't boarded my flight yet...I calmly told him that I hadn't heard any announcements about boarding yet, and finished my call; I then strolled up to the TV monitor 5 minutes later to see "flight closed".

All calmness went out the window, and I ran as fast as possible to the gate (11 which I think is one of the furthest from the Mel QP:shock, got there huffing & puffing away, and was the last to board....I was told that "flight closed" only meant you could no longer check in for that flight, but you still could board....is that right?

BTW, the FA was great, escorted me on board to get a drink of water from the business class tray, and took my jacket when I collapsed in my 2nd row Y seat, pouring with sweat...he later came and offered me a newspaper as well

 

[anat0l]

You wouldn't be able to check-in with luggage well before "Boarding", let alone "Flight Closed". If you had no checked bags but hadn't checked in, you needed to do so before "Final Call".

"Flight Closed" is really saying that the gate is about to shut IMO. QPs aren't the greatest source of info because they only call once and sometimes they forget to call at all. Even more rare they will call pax individually for flights. In some remote cases I've also noted that the QP FIDs are for some odd reason incorrect or behind in status remarks (e.g. flight remarks will say nothing or "Go to Gate" when audio call has been "Final Call").

In MEL it always feels that "Flight Closed" is instigated earlier than other ports due to the size of MEL T1. (Of course rationally this makes no sense, but.....) It's really the airline's way of saying, "Hurry the **** up and get to the gate because your chances of boarding this flight are now officially less than 100% and rapidly evaporating!"

There have been several times when I've left the MEL T1 lounges on "Final Call" and seen "Flight Closed" on one of the FIDs on the main concourses, then sprinted for the gate......


So the short answer is yes you can still board a "Closed" flight, but you'd better ****** hurry up about it. And of course by that time it is waaaaayy too late to check-in.

 

[medhead]

In MEL it always feels that "Flight Closed" is instigated earlier than other ports due to the size of MEL T1. (Of course rationally this makes no sense, but.....) It's really the airline's way of saying, "Hurry the **** up and get to the gate because your chances of boarding this flight are now officially less than 100% and rapidly evaporating!"

IME flight closed doesn't really mean anything - expect probably that no one can check in. Well there was the flight to LHR in 1978 that was closed, which we missed, and the aircraft then sat there for another hour or so.
[aside=] people whinge about bad TA these days, back then the TA forgot to take account of the summer time difference between BNE and SYD when booking the flights BNE-SYD-LHR [/aside]

But these days Flight closed certainly doesn't mean that you chance of boarding is <100%. IME it means you'll get to the gate and there will still be 30 pax lining up to board. They will still call you individually by name at least twice before the chances of board drops below 100%.

 

[Bundy Bear]

I did a turnarond Syd-Mel-Syd yesterday to help requalify for Gold.

Congrats on re qualifying for Gold.

Another good announcement I heard last year; It was either in Finland or Japan; with the announcement; "Hurry Up To Gate", I heard it a few times so it wasn't just one flight. :shock:

 

[Flashback]

In MEL it always feels that "Flight Closed" is instigated earlier than other ports due to the size of MEL T1. (Of course rationally this makes no sense, but.....) It's really the airline's way of saying, "Hurry the **** up and get to the gate because your chances of boarding this flight are now officially less than 100% and rapidly evaporating!"

Numerous times I've left the MEL QP with the status saying "Flight Closed" only to get to the gate and find that no one has started to board yet:!: :shock:

 

[JohnK]

I then strolled up to the TV monitor 5 minutes later to see "flight closed".

Most of the time I do not bother going to the gate until I see "Flight Closed" on the monitors. I hate it when I see the flight flashing "Final Call" and start heading to the gate and realise that boarding has not yet started or the queue is extremely long.

If you are already checked-in they will generally not leave you behind without a call to the contact number provided in your profile. Even better if you have checked luggage....

 

[kpc]

Most of the time I do not bother going to the gate until I see "Flight Closed" on the monitors. I hate it when I see the flight flashing "Final Call" and start heading to the gate and realise that boarding has not yet started or the queue is extremely long.

If you are already checked-in they will generally not leave you behind without a call to the contact number provided in your profile. Even better if you have checked luggage....

Wish I knew this yesterday...before my sprint through Mel airport You learn something every day...

 

[anat0l]

Wish I knew this yesterday...before my sprint through Mel airport You learn something every day...

Caveat emptor: there's a big difference between MEL and BNE airports. From the lounge to gate in BNE D, trivial distance compared to the similar distance in MEL T1.

Sure, if you have checked baggage, you'll probably be paged first before you essentially have about 10 minutes to get to the gate (because they need to find your bag and take it off the aircraft). I'd rather not risk that and just turn up as fast as I can once you see the "Flight Closed" remark. Besides, why risk turning up really late and then ending up parading down the aircraft aisle like a pariah?

FWIW a couple of times, I have turned up at an empty gate and aerobridge with "Flight Closed" displayed on the FIDs. And would you ever bet that the FA at the gate and I felt a rush of luck and relief whilst I had expended both a sizeable gauge of energy and adrenalin sprinting to the gate before plodding down the aerobridge and onto the aircraft, puffing.

 

[serfty]

I used to be a "flight closed" sort of a guy, but in recent years have found it far more interesting to exit the lounge with enough time to arrive at the gate before boarding is due to commence.

As an elite I have "preferred boarding", so can board as soon as it starts.

This was probably induced by my USA experiences, where it is quite interesting at a domestic AA gate in the USA where about 15 minutes before boarding is due to start watching the dynamics at play. What with upgrade and standby lists it's a fascinating environment. (especially if your BP has the Y/KUP induced "First" printed on it.)

 

[medhead]

I used to be a "flight closed" sort of a guy, but in recent years have found it far more interesting to exit the lounge with enough time to arrive at the gate before boarding is due to commence.

As an elite I have "preferred boarding", so can board as soon as it starts.

How does this perferred boarding work. I've seen boarding in Oz seemingly commence with one or two people mingling around and quickly a line forms. Do you have to be there before the line forms or can you just push in at the front? Do other pax want to linch you for pushing in?

 

[anat0l]

How does this perferred boarding work. I've seen boarding in Oz seemingly commence with one or two people mingling around and quickly a line forms. Do you have to be there before the line forms or can you just push in at the front? Do other pax want to linch you for pushing in?

There isn't any preferred boarding AFAIK in QF domestic, except for select flights where J and Y pax are separated (i.e. dual loading bridges).

It exists in some sort of capacity on QF international (except for Trans-Tasman).

As it should be done, separate lines are drawn up sorted on class and status. Sometimes this is poorly administered and/or set up; plus, there doesn't appear to be any action whatsoever if someone lines up to the priority line which they are not entitled to do so.


In the US preferred boarding seems to be a big deal. They have specific separate lines and in some cases they really board only one line at a time (rather than processing multiple lines at a time). Again, I have no idea how they deal with pax who line up at priority lines when they shouldn't be.

 

[Flashback]

How does this perferred boarding work. I've seen boarding in Oz seemingly commence with one or two people mingling around and quickly a line forms. Do you have to be there before the line forms or can you just push in at the front? Do other pax want to linch you for pushing in?

I think the reference may be more in line with international departures?

 

[david870mdg]

I've been many times to the gate for "final call" and arrived to my suprise to see everyone waiting in the lounge. Just play it safe I think, but it is annoying when you arrive and have to wait more. Re the Hurry up to Gate announcment, when waiting for an AA flight at ORD, the flight to NRT in the next gate lounge was on "final call" for what seemed like an hour. Announcments were yelled continuously in Japanese, much more often than in english and at one stage staff were asking passengers for our flight to MIA if we were going to Tokyo. I don't know what was said in Japanese but there was a gap of at least 20 minutes between the last two pax to board and all those before them.
Don't think that "Priority Boarding" exisits in Domestic AUS, unless your flying J? Someone could correct me on this.

 

[NM]

....I was told that "flight closed" only meant you could no longer check in for that flight, but you still could board....is that right?

Yes, that is indeed correct. It means the flight is closed for check-in. This is a logical status into which the flight is placed within the computer system. Sometimes a flight is put into "closed" status before boarding commences, other times its done after boarding has commenced. Its not until after the flight is places in "closed" status that the final manifest is printed

 

[dajop]

Also worth noting different indications at different airports in different countries, in SIN for example it generally progresses from "Gate Open" to "Boarding" to "Last Call" to "Gate Closing" to "Gate Closed" ... which can be a problem if travelling with someone who doesn't know the jargon:!:

Sort of related, my favourite word on flight info displays would have to be at MEL intl ... once thru immigration, but prior to boarding commencing the flight is listed as "RELAX" .... not too familiar with SYD, BNE, PER etc, but is that common?

 

[serfty]

Domesticity, Qantas preferred boarding works like this:

• If you are at the gate when boarding commences, you can board any time irrespective of the rows/class being called.
  
• If there are long queues when you arrive at the gate, you can walk to the front of a queue and cut in. :shock: (FWIW, I have never done this - It's emotionally difficult to do when brought up in an Egalitarian Society like Oz.) http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/trip-reports-and-trip-photos/wilsons-head-city-sails-qf-5295.html#post62352

 

[NM]

If there are long queues when you arrive at the gate, you can walk to the front of a queue and cut in. :shock: (FWIW, I have never done this - It's emotionally difficult to do when brought up in an Egalitarian Society like Oz.) http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/trip-reports-and-trip-photos/wilsons-head-city-sails-qf-5295.html#post62352

And of course if arriving late its likely most of the queue is made up of late-comers from the lounge who also hold status and hence preferred boarding privileges. I just join the queue with the rest of the Qantas Club riff-raff.

 

[markis10]

Flight Closed in a domestic context means that it is closed to check in's, this occurs at 15 minutes before the departure time. This allows the final documents to be prepared including the weight and balance information, seat allocations list for the crew etc, it has nothing to do with boarding which usually commences 5 minutes before but may not have started.

 

[Warks]

Often I've been in the QC and they've not announced the flight at all so when I've looked at the monitor I've had the shock of my life when it says "Flight Closed", I've charged down there just to join the queue. One time there was no visible queue but as soon as I passed into the aerobridge (isn't it airbridge or is that American?) I ran into the queue again.

Now I tend to wait in the QC with one eye on the monitors!

Don't you find if you leave it as late as possible to board that there is no room for your carry on baggage? That's the reason for all the jockeying in the US I thought!

When DeathStar had no allocated seating (did they bring it back?) it was also interesting to say the least!

 

[serfty]

...
When DeathStar had no allocated seating (did they bring it back?) ...

JQ introduced allocated seating around October 2006.