BA's new boarding policy - I don't understand why people are upset?

[Efour]

I fly fairly often. I'm 6'6". I rarely pay for any extras and take assigned seats.
I honestly don't think that it's worth pay nearly double for something that is about a 2h long journey. Flying is just so mundane.
Yes my knees are squashed as ****.

More than happy to get on last, less time on a plane the better.

I'll only ever be bothered about hand baggage in the hold if I'm flying without hold luggage. The whole point is that I don't wanna waste another 30 mins collecting it later...

Anyway, happy flights.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

I'm always the last to get on a plane, it is a game with me and I get upset when I think I'm last and somebody comes running up behind.
I also never sit with the wife unless they accidentally put us together.

 

[Diddums]

The only thing I dislike about flying is when James doesn't avoid air pockets. The G650 is quite sensitive to turbulence, already broken 3 Swarovski whisky glasses

 

[Scam]

Never understood wanting to get on the plane first, even when I've flown Virgin upper class/business. Chill out at the gate, watch everyone board and swan on at the end. I've no qualms about flying but the less time you spend on the plane the better.

I actually flew back home with BA last night. What got me was that the plane was half empty. I'd chosen seat 5D (furthest front aisle seat) and got in next to a couple in the window and the middle seat. They started murmuring about the fact business was mostly empty in front of us, she was pregnant and wanted more room. Then she went off to chat (apparently the crew didn't know why nobody got upgraded) so they wanted to move to a row to themselves. I said don't worry, I'll move back a couple (there were loads of rows with a single person in the window). But yeah, I have a few airmiles with BA - why no upgrades?

 

[D.P.]

Standard operating procedure in US, used by every airline. It is utterly stupid because it is incredibly inefficient, but does let the airline charge more for faster boarding.

 

[Earth[Tera].bin]

Over-rated airline anyway, better value for money elsewhere.

 

[Gixer]

Am I the only person who prefers to get on the plane last?

Nope. Little point rushing on, the plane is going nowhere without you. I am always one of the last to get on, never had an issue yet. Only time that I've had a small incident doing this is when an old Italian man had placed his coat in the locker above our seats taking up a whole bags space. So I gently moved this to on top of the bag next to it so I wouldn't damage it whilst putting my bag in the locker. He went mad, made himself look a right idiot spouting off I have no respect or some other tosh. I was struggling not to laugh. Some people!

Still I personally think loading by seat row has to be more efficient but then I've never seen anyone actually take any notice of the call outs and people just seem to get on whenever they like regardless. Pretty sure that'll just continue too even with this new system.

 

[arknor]

Am I the only person who prefers to get on the plane last?

It's certainly easier, the only reason I would want to board early is if I was worried about getting my bag in a overhead compartment above my seat.

It's funny when your at the airport and see people standing to queue before boarding has even started, people will literally stand for 30minutes to board, seemingly unaware its always priority boarding and then people with young children or boarding assistance. so they still wait again for 15-20minutes anyway.


Biggest thing for me is having a seat where I'm really close to an exit for when the plane lands, I want to be one of the first off the plane and rush to security as fast as possible so I don't get stuck in a big queue.

I have no luggage to collect and the difference between getting being stuck in a security queue can mean 30-60minutes wait for a train or boarding one almost instantly, if I can get through the airport fast enough

 

[ultralaser]

For those that don't fly a lot, there's four classes, economy, premium economy, business and fist.Then there's all sorts of faff they place round that, it can vary from as little as boarding priority (which lets face it is pointless) to fast track security and all sorts.

If you want to fly at the cheapest point possible and never care about the airline - just go economy and yes that might mean you have to "suffer" being the last to board (which I personally prefer). If you're flying PE then never fly BA (seriously), if you're flying business never fly BA, if your flying first never fly BA. It's really that simple.

The benefit from PE is more leg room (though they try and sell it as more than that), business (on long haul) and it's fly flat and decent food, first and it's a hotel in the sky. BA's PE class is the quite terrible (there business class and first is decent but poor in comparison to others like Lufthansa).

 

[jon86]

Standard operating procedure in US, used by every airline. It is utterly stupid because it is incredibly inefficient, but does let the airline charge more for faster boarding.

Southwest Airline in the USA, for example, boards by one of three boarding groups, which is assigned to each person's ticket based on pre-boarding privileges (e.g. elderly/disabled), frequent flyer status (A List), paying for early boarding privileges (business class or early bird check-in), whether one has small children, or speed of check-in (which opens up 24 hours prior to take-off). The boarding group is not entirely decided based on cost. Someone could get a super cheap ticket for a Southwest flight and still not have to be in the last group to board if s/he checked in soon after check-in opened 24 hours earlier.

 

[dowie]

So it's not newsworthy, but it's threadworthy? Okay.

Who said it wasn't newsworthy?

 

[Rifte]

I always prefer to be last getting on and off the plane*

(*unless I have a tight connect)

Its preferable to avoid the inevitable bunfight of over-eager travelers. I understand that some people get concerned with losing overhead baggage space but I tend to push my stuff under the seat in front of me anyway for quick access during the flight (Ipad, Nintendo Switch and Bluetooth headphones etc).

 

[Skillmister]

I'm always one of the last to board anyway. Why rush to get on the plane and sit in cramped seat for half an hour while everyone else gets on and faffs about? No worries about my bag, I only fly with a soft bag which easily squashes into the gaps left by people's oversized hard shell bags.

 

[Scam]

It's funny when your at the airport and see people standing to queue before boarding has even started, people will literally stand for 30minutes to board, seemingly unaware its always priority boarding and then people with young children or boarding assistance. so they still wait again for 15-20minutes anyway.

Never understood this. You're all shepherded into the gate, the plane is going nowhere without you. Why even queue? I just sit there in amusement and walk on when I have a free run. Admittedly because I prefer an aisle seat there is no worry about slightly annoying my fellow passengers who have already sat down.

Biggest thing for me is having a seat where I'm really close to an exit for when the plane lands, I want to be one of the first off the plane and rush to security as fast as possible so I don't get stuck in a big queue.

I have no luggage to collect and the difference between getting being stuck in a security queue can mean 30-60minutes wait for a train or boarding one almost instantly, if I can get through the airport fast enough

I want to be off the plane promptly and can't stand getting stuck behind people faffing, but I'm also relatively patient. I can't understand the bum rush as soon as the plane stops moving. Again, there's always going to be a 10min wait whilst they connect the steps/gate/whatever it's called.

I beat my record when I flew back into LHR Saturday night just gone. I was home with the kettle on within 40mins of touching down. 30mins of that was on the Tube, and 5mins was probably the long walk from T3 to the Tube station My ePassport has never let me down either, always take approximately 10secs to approve, whereas I see everyone else having to stand there holding it for minutes..

 

[McBain]

Tags: plebs

 

[Django x2]

To be fair, given how PC everything is these days, I'm surprised there's still a "class" system at all. Certainly not one that should be advertised as such. It should be based on:
I want a flight
followed by an options list
That options list effectively gives you the experience you would have had under the old "class" system and should include things like:
Priority Baggage Check
Priority Boarding
Seat allocation
Type of seat (ability to sleep, leg room)
Inflight drinks, food, concierge, etc

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Who flies BA anyhow? I've never flown with them in my life there are always better/cheaper deals elsewhere. If it bugs you that much vote with your feet and choose a different airline if enough people do the same they'll get the message sure enough.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Who flies BA anyhow? I've never flown with them in my life there are always better/cheaper deals elsewhere. If it bugs you that much vote with your feet and choose a different airline if enough people do the same they'll get the message sure enough.

I do and would prefer them over budget airlines because

1 - I get to pick a seat ahead of time, none of this rush for best seats you get in easyJet

2 - 23kg carry on luggage as standard + additional laptop bag

3 - include 1 checked in bag

I found after adding on the bags fee in budget airline you are close to BA anyway.

 

[arknor]

I do and would prefer them over budget airlines because

1 - I get to pick a seat ahead of time, none of this rush for best seats you get in easyJet

2 - 23kg carry on luggage as standard + additional laptop bag

3 - include 1 checked in bag

I found after adding on the bags fee in budget airline you are close to BA anyway.

My next flight with easyjet plane ticket + paying for a seat of my choosing as always.
Payment of £59.48 by Visa debit on 03/11/2017
Flying on sunday 24th.

My previous flight Payment of £26.09 by Visa debit on 03/11/2017 (lulz I bet the taxes are almost half of that)
for Sun 19 Nov


Arguably I only take a rucksack or cabin case but with BA it would probably cost me hundreds of pounds to reach the same destination.
Easyjets checked bag fee is like £27 or so I think.
carry on is free and the weight can be as heavy as you can lift.
rush for seats? you choose one when you buy the flight, yea it costs to not wait to be allocated a seat but most of them are cheap anyway like 6.99 or so, I think the most expensive are 12.99 the extra leg rooms seats and they come with priority boarding. but for me the extra leg room makes almost no difference for a short haul flight of 2 hours.

sometimes it makes sense to go with a budget airline, I've never really had any problems with easyjet, flown dozens of time on the same route, never had anyone unpleasant sat next to me.

seems mostly posh people or suits going to Switzerland though for business conferences or skiing.

It's crazy how cheap you can fly for at various times of the year, almost would be worth nipping over for a few pints and a meal at the weekends

 

[Mak3R]

Am I the only person who prefers to get on the plane last?

Nope, I do too. Less time spent cramped in the tiny seats, closer to take off time is a winner in my eyes. Took me a while to turn the wife to my approach, she was always wanting to be first on, first in the queue etc.