Pre-boarding has gone overboard

OP is posting from Group 7.

The best part is when eight women are lined up in wheelchairs when boarding, and then they get up and grab their bag out of the overhead when the plane lands.022

I only fly private.

First world problems.

The baggage fee/overhead space capitalist death spiral pushes even coach passengers to seek perpetually earlier boarding

Fly Delta. They fixed it

What did Delta do? I haven't been on Delta in a while.

[quote]The baggage fee

The one started because of the high gas prices and never went away when gas prices came down?

JFC, OP -- what possessed you to even take notice of this? Are you jealous that [italic]you're[/italic] not in a wheelchair?

Just shut your trap and mind your business and be grateful that you don't have a condition that requires you to have help boarding.

And you already know the [bold]real[/bold] answer to your problem: fly business/1st class. If you can't pay for that, take your place in line with me and the rest of the proles.

Well, R8 I do fly 1st Class, and 1st Class is Group 1, unless you are a member of one of the frequent flyer programs.

And fuck you.

Fuck off r8, rude cow

^^^Then why do you even care?? I don't get it.

r11 Why did you comment/bump the thread with an off-subject reply?

OP may be stating his boundaries, but he is right.

R8 - Lesbian who had to hang up her cane.

Me first! Me first! I cannot WAIT to sit longest in a cramped, box of scrap metal with busting bolts and loose cannons.

[quote] Why should military personnel get special boarding privileges? They're just the fuck ups in high school who couldn't get into the police academy or the fire department.

[italic]Oh no he did’n ! !

R16 Oh, dear.

[quote]And you already know the real answer to your problem: fly business/1st class. If you can't pay for that, take your place in line with me and the rest of the proles.

I have flown United several times recently in First Class, which is Group 1...and at least half of the plane had already pre-boarded before our group.

[quote] Why should military personnel get special boarding privileges? They're just the fuck ups in high school who couldn't get into the police academy or the fire department

Right? The military has turned into a jobs program for the undereducated and can't master trades.

The whole process from start to finish is fucking stupid.

Off topic, but I have heard flight attendants do not start drawing pay until the plane backs away from the gate, then the pay meters start running.

I find that hard to believe, as the boarding process is probably the most stressful part of an FA's job.

I recently flew Spirit for a vacation (never business) and paid for Zone 1 seating. But on both legs, the gate agent called Zone 1 ONCE, quietly, to queue up at the gate. Then like 5 mins later, before anybody from Zone 1 has been let onto the jetway, they call ALL OTHER ZONES to the parallel lane. So, there were now two, nearly-blended lines pushing and shoving their way on. Lovely, just lovely.

I refuse to fly now...Ive been on flights since the 1960s and instead of getting better, it’s become unbearable. Just boarding is stressful enough without worrying if a door is going to blow off at 29,000 ft.

Last fight had a crazy man who threaten to “kill y’all” so we ended up making and emergency stop which added another 4 hrs to an already awful flight. I haven’t flown since

[quote]The whole process from start to finish is fucking stupid.

It is a self-inflicted wound. The airlines did it to themselves.

I was flying to Vegas on Southwest. There were 11 older women in wheelchairs waiting to board. At the designated time, the gate attendant announced that, since there were so many people in wheelchairs, boarding would take longer than usual, and if anyone in a chair could possibly walk to the plane, we could take off earlier. Well, it could have been the start of the 100 meter dash at the Olympics, as all of the women jumped out of the chair and rushed to get a seat on the plane. Ridiculous.

Great skit

You have to board with the other Poors, OP.

Pretty much everyone is a shameless piece of shit.

OP, I'll marry you if you gots a big dick!

Airlines have monetized early boarding, and encouraged the trash-idiot free-for-all by charging for checked bags. So now all the cheap cunts crowd around and rush onto the plane, all so they can fly with their Pee-Wee Herman dolls and Franklin Mint faberge eggs overhead and not in the hold.

I check a bag for free, board in an early group (but not with the crips and olds), and break out my homemade snack box in an aisle seat that makes all the Kettles jealous as they walk past.

in my opinion, the olds and the pretend to be crippled in wheelchairs along with families traveling with children should board LAST!

R30 How dare you! I survived five seasons of "Caroline in the City!" And I'm on a FIXED INCOME!

I agree with OP on the military entitlement. Because of their service? In that case, why not ER nurses? Or special ed teachers? Or day care workers, caring for our children while earning almost nothing? Or the food delivery folks, who fight traffic and snow and rain and 100° + humidity to bring us hot food still hot and cold food still cold? Or the painters and poets and guitarists and flautists who beautify the world and also earn so little? Rather than soldiers who kill people in my name with my tax dollars when I don’t support it.

And could we PLEASE stop fucking calling it fucking pre-boarding?? There is NOTHING PRE about it. Those folks are actually fucking boarding.

The point of boarding early is to get overhead bin space. If you don’t have carryon, it doesn’t matter when you board. A way to deal with all the early boarders is to pick a seat in the back of the plane, so that you have a lot of bins to walk by on the way to your seat and so greater odds that there will be empty space at or before your row.

[quote]Last fight had a crazy man who threaten to “kill y’all” so we ended up making and emergency stop which added another 4 hrs to an already awful flight. I haven’t flown since

This never happened. You made that up, R23.

And don't forget about all the fake emotional support and "service" dogs. They certainly need to fly in the cabin with their stupid owners. Just another level of air travel fuckery we all have to endure.

I have zero problems with someone in a wheelchair or on crutches taking a few extra minutes to board before everyone else, but what I saw today was just ridiculous.

[quote]break out my homemade snack box in an aisle seat that makes all the Kettles jealous as they walk past

"Look, paw, that fancy man has a gol-dang charcuterie board on his tray table!"

I flew for the first time in years recently. It wasn't bad. We were in Group 2 on Southwest.

[quote]Off topic, but I have heard flight attendants do not start drawing pay until the plane backs away from the gate, then the pay meters start running.

They get paid from the moment the door closes R21, so pretty close.

I agree that it is bullshit, but that is what their union negotiated for some reason.

Delta started paying Flight Attendants for the boarding process in 2022.

I always try to board at the very end. I know where my seat is. I never understand the rush.

[quote] I always try to board at the very end. I know where my seat is. I never understand the rush.

Yes you do. You know it’s people making sure they can get their carryon stowed. I can’t understand why people so blatantly lie about not understanding that. Why do you do that?

I usually fly commuter and people are still rabid about being first aboard one of those tin cans.

I've never understood why so many people want to pre-board. I'd rather stay in the lobby as long as I can, where I can stand up, walk around, or sit, but not cramped up.

OP is posting from the wheel well.

I carry on only a shoulder bag almost all the time. It fits under the seat if need be. Normally I fly business on long hauls and first on domestic, so there’s no need for me to board early so I stay in the lounge as long as possible. The only times I board quickly are when I show up at the gate and they’ve delayed boarding and everybody’s just standing around crowding the gate. In those cases I’ll get on when I can rather than stand around among people whose patience ran out and are being antisocial.

Yeah, I've never understood the FA payment thing...working for an hour before the plane shuts the doors is ridiculous. I'm working...you pay me.

Two other reasons to board earlier that are less important than getting overhead bin space are securing your seat with your butt in it (there are recorded conflicts of people deliberately sitting in someone else's seat and refusing to budge), and being courteous if you have the window seat to get there first rather than making the other people in your row get up if you arrive at your seat after they do.

Thank goodness I’ll never have to fly again.

Miracle flights. Lots of folks who needed a wheelchair to board with priority are suddenly healed (!) mid flight require no further assistance deplaning.

I think this should be the boarding order:

Wheelchairs/Crutches

First Class Passengers

Frequent Flyer Program Members

Group 1 can include parents with small kids/strollers, undefined disabled people without wheelchairs/crutches, special class groups of the airlines' choosing, and people who pay for group 1

Followed by Groups 2-6

R48 everyone knows all flyers appreciate generous and sensible bottoms who are already strapped in their seat before boarding ends!

R35–if the pets are required to remain in a carrier stowed under the seat, how is that any imposition?

[quote] Yeah, I've never understood the FA payment thing...working for an hour before the plane shuts the doors is ridiculous. I'm working...you pay me.

I believe they are paid with guaranteed minimum hours. Are you sure you want to stick with “pay me when I’m working?”

[quote]...and being courteous if you have the window seat to get there first rather than making the other people in your row get up if you arrive at your seat after they do.

This is like the unwritten rule of theater - people who are sitting in the middle of the row MUST arrive last.

“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you for choosing Datalounge Airlines. Today, for our amusement, we will be boarding in a free-for-all. Ready, set . . . Go! Good luck.”

R34...I wish I did. I was coming back from my dad’s funeral in NY and going to Orlando International. I was in the fourth row of a Frontier flight (It was a funeral, I took what I could get before my brother buried hi).

About 20 minutes into the flight a guy starts babbling “Fuck you, fuck you “ over and over...knew we were in trouble at that point. You could see the flight attendant preparing for the worst, calling the captain, taking the beverage cart and blocking the cockpit door.

After about 20 minutes of raging, crazy guy falls asleep, eventually wakes up gets up and shreiks “I gonna kill you all”......every guy on the plane and the nosy ones in the back come running up.....it took 5 guys to restrain himself...meanwhile they have nothing to tie him up with...so the flight attendant cuts the tube off an oxygen mask so they can tie his arms behind him.

I felt bad for the families with their kids going to Disney in the back. Im sure they had no clue what was going up up front. We diverted to Raleigh ...what seemed like every police car, fire truck and ambulance in NC was on the tarmac.

They took crazy guy off the plane first, then after a while let us off (treated us like shit BTW). We were stuck at a shitty, closed down little airport for hours. When we boarded to go back to Florida, we were offered a complimentary cut of water.

Who can make stuff like that up? I had taped it as it unfolded..here the beginning of the rant

[quote] This is like the unwritten rule of theater - people who are sitting in the middle of the row MUST arrive last.

The aviation gods like to tease us.

If you live in a military city - it's annoying as fuck. Literally 30-40 people on the plane are military and board first. They are NOT going to combat, so this is stupid.

Recently, some airlines have made FC board first before group 1,; which only makes sense.

They've also fixed the machines so that if you decide to board before your group number, the scanner won't allow it. Which is GREAT - so many people tried to skip the line.

I don't know when they started this military thing, but it wasn't always that way and it's gone on too long.

R57–are you aware that you are the subject of another thread?

R23's flight made CNN

Frontier Airlines: Fight at the gate.

Spirit Airlines: Fight onboard.

Delta revised its policy last year. Families with children and/ior strollers no longer pre-board. It helps, a little.

[quote] About 20 minutes into the flight a guy starts babbling “Fuck you, fuck you “ over and over...knew we were in trouble at that point.

Way back when, those people would be on Greyhound. It’s a downside of flying being more accessible.

R64 has it. Flying has simply become too cheap since Deregulation.

American’s new boarding process is the best. “Preboarding” starts with Concierge Key, which is ultra-high status, followed immediately by First Class, BEFORE wheelchairs and small children.

That’s how it should be. The people who are paying the most should be allowed to board first.

OP you are a fucking idiot. Not only do all three branches have programs for enlisted in which one must test high, there are numerous officers who are extensively, highly educated. They’re also high ranking chiefs and similar ranks in other branches in which one has built a 15+ career and has become an expert in their perspective field.

Never speak about matters in which you do not know about again you filthy, useless cunt.

I was just on a Delta flight and families with children fall under the "passengers who need a little extra time" boarding call

Is r67 Pete Hegseth?

I’ve flown first/business class and yes, there’s the sense of satisfaction in watching the peons eye you with envy, but still, it’s not very elegant to have the entire set of the economy class peons hitting you with their fat and their carryon luggage. I remember being on a plane where the boarding door was between the classes, so first class was to the left and the rest to the right. That’s the way to do it.

R66–Ultra high status flyers are probably not paying the most. They are being rewarded for loyalty. Your “he who pays the most goes first” system falls apart immediately

I have American, United, and Delta branded credit cards, so I get to board after the superiors, but before the ordinary people.

People who don’t pay extra for first class are not peons and very few are “eyeing you with envy.” If thinking so makes you happy, you might want to re-evaluate your sense of worth.

I would pay more for an airline that doesn't allow children or poors.

R71 ha! I’m Delta Diamond (for three years running). How often do I get the “automatic” upgrade to Delta One or First Class, which is a primary benefit? Never!

american businesses constantly have to invent new tiers, gimmicks, skus, etc.

You already do when you don’t fly on a budget airline.

I happened to be flying Delta first class on July 13, 2024, LA to Atlanta (the day of Dump's assassination attempt).

I'd say a good 75% of people in first class were watching Fox "News" on their seatback monitors.

73 I’ve had so many people look at me in my sleeper with plaintive eyes, as they head to their basic main seat. It really does happen. Kids are the best. “Mommy why aren’t we in those seats?!”

Conversely, why am I irritated when I see small children in their own business class seat—scram, and make room for an adult! Lol

[quote] R71] ha! I’m Delta Diamond (for three years running). How often do I get the “automatic” upgrade to Delta One or First Class, which is a primary benefit? Never!

Perhaps you should switch to American where you’ll have the satisfaction of boarding first. Oh, that’s right. You can’t switch. You’d lose your “status.” Oh well.

78 your fault for not picking the flight with Delta One on that route.

R80 I do board first. What does that have to do with an upgrade?

R67 - shove it. A lot of us have tested high as well. 90% of military jobs do not see any combat and never will.

They don't get priority over civilians, particularly on DOMESTIC FLIGHTS. It's not like they're going off to war.

They're not heroes - and the military IS a jobs program for people with limited resources or achievement. To paint all enlisted as the cream of the crop is just laughably wrong.

On American, only Concierge Key boards first, which is invitation-only ultra status. The “normal” high status, Exec Platinum, boards after First.

R23 R57 you sure as fuck brought the receipts, and R61 added an extra. Here's another for the pile with video

R34 you feel dumb now?

Last month I flew AA first class from CMH to LAX. Boarding order was Concierge Key, one family of five of whom three were children who appeared to be under 6 (in economy), wheelchair users, people with small children, active duty (not uniformed) members of the armed forces, then Group 1 which included first class (me).

Midway through boarding, they stopped then announced that they had to deboard everyone due to a maintenance problem. We were delayed about 90 minutes, then it was a free for all reboarding.

I don’t really care about the boarding order when I’m flying first, but at least with AA, the order varies from gate crew to gate crew, airport to airport. AA should standardize it.

That’s what you get for Columbus! Too funny

R86 - most of my AA flights have changed boarding for several months now. It's wheelchair, small children, then Concierge Key, then first class, then group 1.

They don't even have Group 1 on AA first class boarding passes anymore - it says FC.

You may have misremembered. I think they've got it down. And, what I love to see - are the people getting rejected and told they can't board. They just shove in on an earlier boarding group thinking no one will say anything.

I remember overhearing two young women saying - let's just go up there, what are they gonna do? Well - NOW they'll make you do the walk of shame!

I pre board as I am 1k on united...Today I had to wait for a family of 8 who had to board with their elderly grandpa....Then Dad used one phone to scan all of the boarding passes

Fly Delta ^

I’m glad to hear the are enforcing boarding groups now.

Reminds me of Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller on the Titanic.

[quote] Get back, I say, or I'll shoot you all like dogs! Keep order here! Keep order I say.

[quote]but at least with AA, the order varies from gate crew to gate crew, airport to airport. AA should standardize it.

With AA you can expect inconsistency.

At the least ,)

I’m about to make it that I only travel by vehicle or boat. I hate flying.

I don't fly first or business class because I'm wealthier or better than anyone else; I fly first class because it is a slightly better experience than not flying first or business class. Make no mistake, today's first class on the major American brands is nothing like first class used to be or even some of the foreign airlines. I've seen livestock being driven to slaughter in better conditions than non-first-class flying, and I just can't do it anymore.

R83, R67 is a little worked up, but has a point. And R19’s comment is just stupid.

For any branch of the military, you need to score roughly in the top 70% of the population on what is basically an intelligence test. You generally need a high school diploma and can’t have been convicted of a serious crime. You can’t be obese. You can’t be taking drugs for a psychiatric condition. And there are all kinds of fairly insignificant medical conditions that can be disqualifying.

Those are all low bars on their own, but put them all together and it’s not a slam dunk for any idiot to enlist.

So not necessarily the crème de la crème, but I would guess that the average enlisted person is more impressive than the average coach passenger and head and shoulders above the average for Spirit Air.

For specific jobs (cyber security, navy nuke) or to commission as an officer, the requirements can be quite stringent.

I agree that it silly to allow military personnel to board first, but they are not idiots who are inferior to the average American. Not by a long shot. But anyone claiming that might be.

R88. You’re right! It did say FC. But they called first class and Group 1 together. Sorry for my error.

R96 That guy is a fucking idiot. Many young guys go into the military and if they don’t do 20, leave and take up a trade. I bet the military feeds more people into trade programs than any other organization in American. Not to mention all the officers who come from upper middle class families. People on DL say the most ignorant shit.

R97 - no worries - but yeah, that's annoying and that's not how they're supposed to do it.

The other benefit of having first class go first is to get your drink order in before your flight takes off.

First world problems, but I hate when you don't get a drink before departure. That's standard - but half the time you don't get it because of all the people filing in, the attendants can't get to you in time.

You're paying more than double for that flight - they need to get that pre-departure drink. Or they should edit the app so you can order it before you board.

The best seating arrangement I ever had was business class on a United 747 flight from LAX to Melbourne, Australia, by way of Sydney. What made it the best was that the business class was the whole upper deck. We were totally separate from the cattle car section below and never had to look at those people during the flight. It was easy to sleep on the long flight on the lie-down seats with no interruptions.

[quote] The other benefit of having first class go first is to get your drink order in before your flight takes off.

It would make more sense to give the drink to the FC passengers before boarding. It could be in a roped off set of seats in the waiting area. It would help to be able to see the envy of the have-nots.

R101 - LOL - oh yeah THAT'S GOING TO GO OVER WELL! Having a private drink station at the gate? holy shit the chaos and the crying and the cheating to get a drink.

I just don't see why they can't update the app to get your drink order before you get on the plane. You can order your meal ahead of time.

Because if you don't - it's usually about another hour with taxiing and getting up to cruise altitude before you get any service in first class. I'm THIRSTY!!!

And last rant - I hate the stingy attendants who 'close up shop' and stop serving alcohol after dinner service. No honey - we're paying 2x or 3x economy prices - keep those drinks coming to the 20 of us up here.

I'm flying FC as a splurge later this year on a 4 hour flight, but it only cost a little over $200 to upgrade from the economy seat I originally purchased with FF miles, and it's on a 737 where the FC seats are nothing special. There's no real benefit for me other than to see the envy of the economy passengers passing by. That's worth $200.

Why not just board by section. Put a different color of the section in rainbow order! indigo in the back first, then violet, blue, green and so on until the front fills up. Put the color on your ticket. "Now boarding green." In each section, have the frail go first. Reserve the red for the wheelchair and call it first.

It's cramped being on the plane. Make the waiting area so cushy good. people don't want to leave. Have cocktail servers deliver free drinks. Put slot machines at the waiting area. Pit TBs all around, make it a good time

They should put a conveyor belt like for sushi on the plane for drinks and food

^^I'd go for that.

[quote] Why not just board by section.

That’s how it used to work. Starting with the back. But then they started “rewarding” loyal customers by letting them buck the system, and all hell broke loose. This is combined with the concept of variable fares (everyone in the same class used to pay the same fare) and it degenerated into paying extra for the privilege of boarding first.

Without regulation, corporations will also move toward profit maximization at the expense of everything else.

^always move

r102 you are an alcoholic.

[quote]I would pay more for an airline that doesn't allow children or poors.

I would pay more for an airline that doesn't allow children, poors, olds, fatties or women.

Up the price, make it adults only, like a sexy adult cruise, bracket certain ages.

An Adult Flight. Come join the Mile High Club. Charge thousands of dollars a ticket.

Have a little separate section of normalcy for those who have regrets or want or are r110

It’s mostly the men who get violent r110.

R61....I love the picture of the interior the article used...so not like the shitty old plane we were on...no movies, just a cup of water poured from a “Nice” brand bottle.

Im surprised Frontier didn't charge us for the extra value entertainment......

Spirit n tha sky