Ok look, whether you agree with statused or tiered boarding procedures or not doesn’t matter. It’s currently the way most major airlines organize the boarding of their aircraft. In fact, it’s been that way for about forever years. So please stop pretending that you don’t understand the boarding group shown in big bold black print in the middle of your boarding pass and then try to take your boarding group 4 pass and jump to the front of the line with the first and business class passengers. All you do is slow the entire process down for everyone trying to get on the fucking plane while the attendant has to kick you to the back of the line. Then the sea of passengers has to part for you to make your walk of shame to the back of the line.
Additionally for the people that DO understand the boarding process. Please stop crowding the front of the line 15 minutes before boarding with your boarding group 4 pass. There are about 200 people boarding before you and we all have to manuever around you and your shit to get our ticket scanned and board. I know you want to make sure your carry on gets in the cabin and not checked but you’re pretty much fucked so don’t fight it by fucking up everyone else’s day and clogging up the front of the line.
I’ve only flown four times in my life. But when I flew on Northwest, I was pleased that their pre-boarding line had clear demarcations based on row number. When your class was called out on the intercom, you got into the row spot that matched what was on your pass. There was no way to line jump. If someone was in your designated spot when you got there (which I only witnessed once, some inattentive moron), you compared boarding passes and they moved.
More airlines should use this procedure, it’d cut down on wasted time–*and, *no more walks-of-shame.
I also think it’s really a bad idea to line up 200 people at once, if I’m correctly interpreting the OP. The boarding gates I saw weren’t big enough to accommodate that, anyway. Maybe I just flew on smaller planes, and this is a common occurrence, but… I believe it’s much easier to call 50 people at a time, sort them, and board them. Then when there are 5-10 people left to board, you call 50 more to line up. You keep the line flowing constantly, without having all 200 people stand up and shuffle luggage at once. It’s better logistically, and people are less crabby. Everybody wins!
I don’t fly very often. This is one of the annoying things that make me dread flying. The truth is, people jump the line because it works. As long as I can remember, they have claimed to be trying to get people to board in an orderly manner but they don’t kick people out of line for doing it wrong. Those folks that cut just walk right on.
Everyone knows you are screwed for luggage space if you don’t get in quick and the airlines just yell at you for holding things up, yet, they let the early boarders bring on way more luggage than allowed. Why? Plus, since airlines overbook these days, there is a real fear that there won’t be a seat for if you get on last. And why haven’t the airlines discovered rope barrier technology? Movie houses have used them for years but the airlines still use the “everyone rush at once” method of boarding. I can only conclude that the airlines like it this way. Perhaps they like travelers to blame each other for the horrible service.
These days, the answer is that this is the only way to ensure there’s room in the overhead bins for your carry-on luggage. (When the cost of checking a bag is $25+, it’s unsurprising that everyone wants to carry all their luggage on board.)
I think it’s best to be the last one to board, thus entirely avoiding the mad scramble, walks of shame, etc. This often means my carry-on bag is “gate checked” - but that’s no big deal.
Speaking as a frequent flier and First Class/Zone 1 (or whatever category an airline uses) ticket holder, the OP is dead-on right. It is a pretty simple concept, taught since kindergarten. Line up when your name/number is called and proceed in an orderly manner. Yet time and time again, Johnny Clueless wanders up with his Zone 4 ticket while they are pre-boarding or on Zone 1-2 and does the Aw shucks stares at his ticket confused dance.
These people are charitably referred to as “tourists”. They fly once every few years, are generally unaware of what is happening around them, and of course raise the biggest stink about civil rights violations by the TSA when they fail the metal detector/body scan because they didn’t really believe that “remove all items” included their belt, cell phone, giant metal earrings, watch, necklace, pager, wallet, and ball of aluminum foil. Is it any wonder they also get confused at the gate agent with the concept of boarding in a predetermined order?
In part the airlines created the problem too. By charging for checked bags, more people who do not travel frequently attempt to carry-on inappropriate size/number of bags to save a few dollars. Those of us who travel frequently and have elevated frequent flyer status don’t pay these fees nor do we travel with a lot of luggage. The “tourist” is the one stuck with the fee, travels with a lot of luggage, and is less familiar with procedures/courtesy in the airport.
Where are you guys flying in and out of that you’re seeing this so often? I’m not what you’d call a frequent flyer, but I fly at least once a year. Last year I flew 3 times, and I haven’t witnessed this even once. No walks of shame, no line jumpers, no lack of space in the overheads.
Though I will admit that I did sort-of line jump once. I was afraid that I’d missed my flight, so I ran to the gate and asked the ticket taker if I was late. She informed me that they hadn’t started boarding yet and to take a seat. I stood there, dumbfounded that I had plenty of time. She then gave her “now boarding” annoucement, so I just handed her my ticket and got on. That was the only time I was the first one on the plane. It was also the only time I flew in business class. I got to sit in the front row!
Death to those people who board early and then use up the storage bins at the front of the cabin instead of using bins above their own seats. That totally screws people sitting near the front.
This is often true. I’ve seen airline staff wave people through when they try to board with the wrong group. Some airlines and, i think, some individual staff members, are better than others about enforcing the rules.
This is not generally true.
Yes, airlines often overbook, and yes, sometimes people get bumped. But this usually happens before you actually get issued your boarding pass. That’s why some passengers are told that their boarding pass will be issued at the gate. But if you have a boarding pass with an actual seat number on it, you are not going to miss out on a seat, even if you board last.
I don’t fly very ofteh, I had thought that “boarding groups” were only a Southwest thing. And Southwest does handle boarding very well, the lines and labels and tickets and boarding passes are all very clear.
Then, the last time I went on vacation, one (and only one) of my six flights used boarding groups, and my boarding pass didn’t have the boarding group printed on it. The boarding pass had been printed at airport #1. When I got to airport #3, they were boarding by group and I had no idea which of the groups I should be in. They had one guy working the gate, so I didn’t want to interrupt him, and I just lined up when it seemed like they were toward the end of boarding.
Really, if you don’t fly much, it is confusing, because the airlines don’t make it clear how things are working that day and if things have changed since the last time you flew, it’s hard to find out what the new procedures are.
I flew to New Orleans Continental two weeks ago and on the way there, we boarded by row. . . on the way back, it was this boarding group nonsense. Yes, I waited my turn patiently, but please tell me how this makes sense: I was in boarding group 7 (I think that’s the last one), but when I got to my row to get into my window seat, the middle and aisle seat already had asses in them. Now, I assumed perhaps that these folks had jumped the line, but I saw the boarding pass of the guy next to me-- boarding group 6. How the hell does that make sense? Board the damn inner part of the row first so others don’t have to get up!
Ok. Phew. I’m glad I got that off my chest.
Random aside: in December I flew Virgin. It was amazing. If Virgin goes where I’m going and is within $100 of the other airlines, I’m flying it. Virgin Coach is, imho, nicer than Continental First Class.
Many parts of the flying process are not intuitive at all for someone who doesn’t fly a lot. And the airlines/airports/TSA are almost completely responsible for any confusion about the process. The information is generally hard to find and frequently contradictory.
And airlines wonder why people don’t fly more often.
I was at the Houston airport waiting to board and this Asian looking gentleman walked up to the front and was speaking broken English and trying to board ahead of his time. They kept telling him no, he had to wait. He tried this three times. The looking confused, the not understanding, the broken English. He finally accepted that he’d have to wait and walked over to near where I was sitting and made a phone call, which he conducting in perfect English. In fact, he sounded as if he was a native speaker. I actually laughed out loud when I heard him. I was so glad they didn’t feel sorry for poor, confused him and let him board early.
While I 100% back your point about luggage (especially since the ticket takers rarely, if ever, call someone out for walking on with two huge carry on bags and a purse/laptop bag/ whatever), I’ve never flown an airline where I wasn’t assigned a seat. Hell, I rode standby on a flight the other week and - after they cleared the whole flight (checked people in, etc etc), they handed me a boarding pass with a seat number.
In the last 6-8 months, I’ve flown into or out of all of the following places and at all of them I’ve seen the behavior the OP is talking about: LAX, Las Vegas, Chicago O’Hare, Phoenix, Dallas, New Orleans, and even the same ol’ song in Nadi, Fiji.
Really? Because I am frequently confused about and misremembering TSA rules (“wait, how many ounces of hairspray can I bring?” “Hold up! I can’t bring my box cutter collection on the plane?!”) and I find the TSA website beyond clear about their procedure. There’s big print, simple words, charts, colors, and everything you could need to spell it out as simply as possible. And at the airports, there are signs everywhere-- also in big font with little words and pictures— showing the necessary procedure. And yet. . . a bunch of yokels STILL won’t take off their damned coats when going through the scanner.
Amen. I get First Class, but beyond that, what the hell are they thinking?
Yeah, I don’t see it either, and I fly a lot - at least 50,000 miles last year, and this year I’ve been on 8 flights. It’s far more common for me to see people screw up the TSA line than the boarding line.
And, imho, if you can’t afford the $25 baggage fee, you shouldn’t bother to fly. But that’s just a personal opinion.
There are a lot of people who need to get from Point A to Point B who are not made of money. Students, for instance. People who would like to see someone who is dying, or in very poor health. In many cases, the options are driving and flying. We don’t have a network of buses and trains for many areas, you get to fly or drive or you don’t go.
In my opinion, charging for a couple of checked bags is unreasonable, if carry ons fly for free. It would make much more sense to charge for additional carry ons, rather than more checked bags.
Hard to find and contradictory? What is so difficult about going through security? The fact that you have to watch a hundred people perform the tasks that you are going to be expected to perform mere minutes from watching it acted out for you? Is it the very basic signs littering the lines? Perhaps it’s the TSA agent who never stops verbally giving you instructions about what to do? What’s responsible for any confusion is the fact that people don’t pay any goddamned attention to anything around them. If they did, they would know what to do.
I fly on average once a week for my job. It’s not that airlines/TSA/airports are being deliberately confusing or contradictory, it’s that people think the rules don’t apply to them and if they just don’t do them they’ll get waived through anyway, or they don’t pay attention to anything happening.
This is so true. I never used to carry anything on board with me other than a backpack. It held my purse stuff, a book, knitting and some toiletries. I used always just check my bags. Now I carry my backpack as well as a proper carry-on. I hate it, but yeah, I hate paying more.
I usually see it at the bigger airports, O’Hare, San Francisco, Dulles. Mid-sized airports seem better, like Pittsburg, Richmond or Oakland. I pre-board a lot and it gets on my nerves at times. Half the time I’ve checked my bag and just want to settle into my window seat.
Of course, we should also pit the dipshits in first class who take ten minutes to store their luggage, find their seats, take off their jackets, get back up and return to the overhead bin, get the crap they want out of their luggage (far too often a laptop they will have to put back up there before take-off), and finally get back to their seat.
And the space hogs. I’m over 6 feet tall and have some decent sized shoulders, yet I can keep my arms inside the armrests. I really don’t see why a 5’4" woman keeps smacking me with her elbows.
