Gate lice’ beware: American Airlines is catching early boarders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Until we get rid of the crazy carryon wheeled suitcase epidemic, we will never be able to board the plane back to front. That was a relic from back when many more people checked bags and overhead space was not at a premium.

People have learned that they can pack light and not risk airlines losing luggage and not have to wait for an hour by the carousel. Charging for bags created it, but now that people see how convenient it is, you'd have to actually incentives checked bags rather than just make it free again

+1, it should be the other way around; first checked bag of normal weight is free, and every carryon is charged a fee at check in, and you must produce a receipt at the gate to carry it on.

+1000

Incentive system is exactly backwards.

[Anonymous]

United always blocks the group jumpers. I travel a lot and they always get put to the side if they try to board early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But that's not what gate lice are. IMO nothing wrong with gathering around waiting to board. Sometimes there just isn't anywhere else to sit or even stand.

Also, while I haven't traveled on AA, I travel on UA and DL all the time and I don't ever see anyone jumping the line and boarding outside their group.

Makes it harder for people who ARE boarding to actually get to the gate.

It's inconsiderate.

I don't care if you gather NEAR the gate. I do care if you block a clear path to the gate, which is very easy to do if you aren't paying attention to yourself, your suitcase, etc. In my experience 20-30% of people are like this- they have little spatial awareness and don't realize (or don't really care) that they are blocking the way. And it only takes a couple of people doing this to really gum things up, for no real gain for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we please just start boarding from the rear on up line people up according to their seat number, with the back of the plane at the front of the line? I guarantee this will speed things up tremendously. The flight attendants can monitor to make sure people don’t put their carry-ons in any space other than what is allotted to their seat.

The goal is not speed. The goal is to get you to pay for the right credit card or be loyal to an airline to get status to get perks.

[Anonymous]

Back-to-front boarding would be nice.

Front-to-back would be tolerable if not for the aisle blockers who spend eternity holding up the boarding process to negotiate their suitcase into the overhead. There should be an overhead bin at the boarding gate: if you can't stow your bag in fewer than 10 seconds and be seated, your bag gets checked and you get demoted to the last boarding group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Until we get rid of the crazy carryon wheeled suitcase epidemic, we will never be able to board the plane back to front. That was a relic from back when many more people checked bags and overhead space was not at a premium.

People have learned that they can pack light and not risk airlines losing luggage and not have to wait for an hour by the carousel. Charging for bags created it, but now that people see how convenient it is, you'd have to actually incentives checked bags rather than just make it free again

+1, it should be the other way around; first checked bag of normal weight is free, and every carryon is charged a fee at check in, and you must produce a receipt at the gate to carry it on.

+1000

Incentive system is exactly backwards.

Guess you like batteries in your checked luggage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we please just start boarding from the rear on up line people up according to their seat number, with the back of the plane at the front of the line? I guarantee this will speed things up tremendously. The flight attendants can monitor to make sure people don’t put their carry-ons in any space other than what is allotted to their seat.

The goal is not speed. The goal is to get you to pay for the right credit card or be loyal to an airline to get status to get perks.

Yes, and also back to front is NOT the purely fastest way. The fastest way is a somewhat complicated zone system that prioritizes people in windows, and has people from all over the plane boarding together so the entire aisle gets used. But as PP said, that's not the true airline priority.

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/fastest-best-way-to-board-a-plane-18445576.php

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we please just start boarding from the rear on up line people up according to their seat number, with the back of the plane at the front of the line? I guarantee this will speed things up tremendously. The flight attendants can monitor to make sure people don’t put their carry-ons in any space other than what is allotted to their seat.

The goal is not speed. The goal is to get you to pay for the right credit card or be loyal to an airline to get status to get perks.

Yes, and also back to front is NOT the purely fastest way. The fastest way is a somewhat complicated zone system that prioritizes people in windows, and has people from all over the plane boarding together so the entire aisle gets used. But as PP said, that's not the true airline priority.

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/fastest-best-way-to-board-a-plane-18445576.php

This video has a nice animation of the Steffen system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAHbLRjF0vo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Until we get rid of the crazy carryon wheeled suitcase epidemic, we will never be able to board the plane back to front. That was a relic from back when many more people checked bags and overhead space was not at a premium.

People have learned that they can pack light and not risk airlines losing luggage and not have to wait for an hour by the carousel. Charging for bags created it, but now that people see how convenient it is, you'd have to actually incentives checked bags rather than just make it free again

+1, it should be the other way around; first checked bag of normal weight is free, and every carryon is charged a fee at check in, and you must produce a receipt at the gate to carry it on.

+1000

Incentive system is exactly backwards.

Guess you like batteries in your checked luggage.

WTF?

I bring a briefcase onboard when traveling for biz. A backpack with electronics if traveling for outdoor activities. Otherwise everything gets checked.

Happy to pay for both if it means 20 mins shorter boarding time on each end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Until we get rid of the crazy carryon wheeled suitcase epidemic, we will never be able to board the plane back to front. That was a relic from back when many more people checked bags and overhead space was not at a premium.

People have learned that they can pack light and not risk airlines losing luggage and not have to wait for an hour by the carousel. Charging for bags created it, but now that people see how convenient it is, you'd have to actually incentives checked bags rather than just make it free again

+1, it should be the other way around; first checked bag of normal weight is free, and every carryon is charged a fee at check in, and you must produce a receipt at the gate to carry it on.

+1000

Incentive system is exactly backwards.

Guess you like batteries in your checked luggage.

WTF?

I bring a briefcase onboard when traveling for biz. A backpack with electronics if traveling for outdoor activities. Otherwise everything gets checked.

Happy to pay for both if it means 20 mins shorter boarding time on each end.

Sorry you aren't able to understand other people's behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But that's not what gate lice are. IMO nothing wrong with gathering around waiting to board. Sometimes there just isn't anywhere else to sit or even stand.

Also, while I haven't traveled on AA, I travel on UA and DL all the time and I don't ever see anyone jumping the line and boarding outside their group.

I see this all the time! The funniest one was when the gate agent invited active military personnel to board. This 60 year old woman standing directly in front of the podium with bleached hair in a bunny sweatshirt promptly stepped forward to board. The agent asked her if she was active military personnel. She said no, and was directed to wait until her group was called. I have no idea what she was thinking?! She clearly heard the announcement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a louse because I want to be ready when they call first or business because bozos put their carryons where I want to put mine then waddle back to economy.

There are just as many lardasses in First. You just have a bigger seat to contain all your girth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we please just start boarding from the rear on up line people up according to their seat number, with the back of the plane at the front of the line? I guarantee this will speed things up tremendously. The flight attendants can monitor to make sure people don’t put their carry-ons in any space other than what is allotted to their seat.

But there is no overhead space allotted to any particular seat. This is the problem. It's a free for all when it comes to overhead space, unless you are in a premium cabin.

Right but the PP is saying let's go ahead and alot carry on space to the seat.

The problem is that just like there are people who will try to get on a plan early there are also people who will try to take up more space in the overhead than they are supposed to -- the people who want to put not just their carryon but also their "personal item" up there (because they want the leg room) and a big winter coat and also a bag of items they concealed under their coat to get on the plane.

These people are annoying not least because they are stupid -- if they just exercised even a little bit of self-discipline they could fly without all this extra crap that they they want to two all over the plane and they would not feel the need to get on the plane early (why would you want to sit on the plane for LONGER -- I'd prefer to be the last person on the plane if possible).

Restraining the "gate lice" is actually part of an effort to enforce rules about overhead use. In which case the PP's idea is actually smart -- alot overhead space per set and enforce overhead rules (both size of carry ons and also preventing people from stowing multiple items up there) plus boarding back to front will take less time which means more on time departures and less time sitting on the plane waiting for boarding to end for everyone.

But as planes are currently configured there isn’t enough space to allocate overhead compartments for every single person, if every single person wanted to stow a standard roll aboard suitcase in the compartment above them.

[Anonymous]

I will absolutely never, ever understand the rush to get in board. Almost of the idiots that hover around the gate block everyone who has to get on board, which ends up making it take longer.

Worrying about overhead is stupid. Most flights in the intercontinental US are 6 hours or less. It's not hard to put crap under you seat. If you can't, the stewardess will find space for you anyway. On international flights, there's always room, and out of my 200+ trips flying international I've never not been able to secure overhead. Again, it doesn't matter if you can't anyway because they'll just check it in for you if there's no space.

It's so dumb rushing to get on and hovering. We honestly always let the idiots get on first and rush, then just get on at the end when all of the dumb cattle have stampeded on. Never had an issue at all.

[Anonymous]

If they actually boarded by rows/sections, then flight attendants could actually monitor where people are putting their carryons.

We’ve all seen people put their roller bag and backpack and jacket in the overhead bin. Nobody stops them.

Fwiw, I’ve seen gate agents tell people trying to board early that their group hasn’t been called yet and they are asked to wait.

Everyone lines up early, so they could easily put up signage by rows/sections or simply call by rows. Since you have to pay to be closer to the front, those rows should be called first.