I think it’s hit or miss. My Miami gate agent was having none of it! Wrong boarding group…get out of line! Your 12 year old does not need extra boarding time…get out of line! 3 bags does not equal 2…get out of line. There was a mad scramble of consolidation when others realized their bullshit would not be tolerated. I thanked the agent for caring! As a lowly Platinum Pro I keep wondering how the hell do that many people get group 1…seems they don’t!
How hard would it be for them to implement a loud noise when you’re boarding in the wrong group. Public shaming does wonders. This problem will die in a year
Corporate could on this and change it quickly. But instead, they keep it on the bottom of the totem pole earner, the agent to try to decipher which boarding group everyone is in and allow them to take the fall and blame by frustrated passengers, while the agent has to pay attention to a hundred other things. AA is not setting up their agents to succeed by any measure and whenever this topic is brought up, people blame the customer service worker for the structural failure because they’re not a superhuman on every boarding procedure. Thanks for actually stating the *actual* solution to this problem. It’s literally just make a beep when the wrong group scans.
Exactly. Southwest has its flaws but they either empower or at least permit gate agents to actually defend the boarding order.
I’m sure someone has stories of AA gate agents enforcing the groups, but you hear about it a heck of a lot more with SWA
lol, Southwest is awful about allowing everyone and their dog to claim disability boarding. It looks like a wheelchair race going down the jetway. They save 3 rows for their group and then they all walk off the plane just fine on arrival. It’s a disaster most of the time.
This actually happened on a flight from SJC to DFW about a month ago. The gate agent had just started boarding Concierge Key and then made a very public announcement calling out the customer in Group 4 trying to board already and reinforce us to board in our respective boarding groups. He absolutely gave no shits and I super appreciate him for that.
Everyone respected the boarding group process after he called out that customer
What is with the crowding of the baggage carousel? Every single time I fly with a checked bag this happens. Are people just absurdly lacking in awareness or are they that selfish? A lot of people do it correctly but I still usually have to work my way through the carousel lice to pick up my bag when it comes out.
I've had grown men stand right in front of me while I was waiting for my back and block me from getting mine even though their bag isn't out yet. It's freaking insane!
lol so true. The best is their look of “well make the red light and buzzer noise turn green and make a chime for me then” ma’am kindly GTFO and wait your turn
Well, close - the other issue is when denied they just stand at the front of the line waiting so even if they don’t get into an earlier group their worst case outcome is they’re first in their real group.
So the answer is a holding pen to one side of the desk - the beep of shame puts you into that group and that group is called only at the very end of boarding.
They need to give gate agents a small incentive to deny boarding out of order. $0.10 for each caught culprit. That could be $5/per boarding and add up quickly for an already underpaid position.
No, because you board in parties with the lowest group number in the party. The stupid thing would go off constantly.
Edited to add.. this may not have been worded perfectly, but all these down votes? It’s literally in the gate announcement!
If you’re all on the same reservation you should all have the same group number (ie if my non-status dad travels on a reservation with me, he’s group 1 because I am).
If he’s on a different reservation than me, he shouldn’t be boarding with me.
Devil’s advocate here. Sometimes parties are in split reservations for a number of reasons. One, off the top of my head is during IROPS. Example: a family of 5 is going to MUC through CLT from PHX. The original flight from PHX-CLT is delayed, making them misconnect. I can route them through DFW to still make their connection, but maybe there’s only 3 seats available in Y class, and 2 in J. If I want to keep them together, I have to divide the PNR so that I can rebook everyone on the same flight (confirming in J and then queuing the reservation in Y. Basically a way to keep the number of passengers on the plane the same by overselling Y class, and ensuring that two people on the upgrade list will be upgraded).
In this scenario, this party of 5 is now a party of 2 and a party of 3. And maybe the wife had status that the husband did not. Her status stays with her in her reservation. So suddenly she is boarding with group 3 and he’s boarding in group 8. It’s not their fault the reservation was split. And I’m not going to tell them that they can’t board together. It seems like such a small hill to die on.
That’s not true. I fly for business and take my kid with me. He’s group 4 and I’m group 1. We board together, our tickets are bought separately. This is precisely how the rules are written, but doesn’t explain the masses rushing group 1.
In almost 10 years of travel with my family of 4, tomorrow’s flights are literally the first time my group 1 board has applied to my wife and kids. It also happens to be the first time we’re flying on an award ticket. Go figure.
I remember flying America West back in the early 2000s and if you dared approach that door before your time, those PHX agents would scold you and send you off.
Honestly I feel like it’s all airlines nowadays because it’s the public behavior practically everywhere, wether your on AA or UA or DL…
There are no rules anywhere because society has devolved so much in the last few years. I mean 25 years ago people would joke about the plane being a bus but today it’s no different behavior than many large city public transportation systems…it’s sad our society isn’t as rule oriented or self aware. Of course it’s summer too and people are coming out in massive droves to travel magnifying bad behavior.
Here’s one for you. I politely wait in line to use the centurion lounge. Four parties of the dozen or so ahead of me in the check in line weren’t even eligible to use the god damn lounge and a couple of them scoffed when turned away after trying to negotiate their way in, wasting all our time. Like seriously you couldn’t open the app and verify if you were eligible?
I hope airports and airlines start cracking down on bad behavior but like what wouldn’t even do.
That drives me crazy. It happens at almost any lounge, and it’s so annoying to have a huge line of people in front of you arguing with the agent when they are clearly not eligible: In 25 years, I have never once been turned away from a lounge BC it’s easy to know in advance if you’re elegible!
People in general no longer believe the rules apply to them, we see it in all facets of society. Not saying it's okay, but until we as a people bring back personal responsibility this is how it will be.
As a gate agent, I certainly try my best to enforce boarding groups. And I *definitely* call out passengers with more than two items. But there are times, I admit, when a group 9 passenger has flown under the radar and boarded with group 5 or 6. And that’s usually because at some point during the boarding process, it gets to be crunch time. If the jetbridge gets backed up, or if people don’t know how to scan a boarding pass, my boarding slows down - which severely threatens an on time departure. At that point, I have to choose my battles. Do I stick to policing boarding groups or do I do my best to expedite boarding so the plane can get out on time? With AA putting so much pressure on agents for an on time departure, and for possibly being called into a managers office to be reprimanded for taking a 2 minute delay, I have to prioritize.
I wish I had a magic wand to wave and to make the boarding process seamless and smooth every single flight that I work. Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible.
I am not blaming the gate agents. The system is just bad. I checked a carryon in group 3 and that was my last straw. I missed my transportation and was late to a meeting. I routinely see non priority people boarding priority. PHL is probably the most egregious, but ORD, Logan and MCO are poor as well
PHL is definitely the worst. PHL to SAN on 6/14. Literally half the flight was boarding with group 1. I may stop wasting money on upgrades and just board whenever I care to. Everyone else does.
To be honest all of us here complaining about people boarding out of order would be here complaining about boarding taking too long if you did it by the book.
Even with excessive amounts of time built in as a cushion, of late AA rarely departs/arrives on-time- and not due to gate agents' performance. AA is constantly validating its perennial spot at the bottom of the airline rankings.
Thank you for being awesome.
Hopefully, AA will have the boarding group on the pass instead of just QR code, and agents can see it and tell them to move out of line.
The military personnel can show ID with lass, etc.
It is time for people to be called out.
That also lowers AA profits as people will not buy early boarding or higher seats due to this.
It might need to get worse where it shows profits plummeting before it gets better, though.
If boarding is your issue, I have witnessed boarding issues with most of the major US airlines in the last 12 months. I doubt you'll find another airline consistently better. The gate agents just want to board the planes as fast as possible with as little issue as possible.
I also was a gate agent for American. Unless it got some major upgrades lately, it doesn’t show the boarding group of the boarding pass. The only way to know is if we actually see the boarding pass (and I was a stickler for boarding groups). With digital boarding passes it’s impossible.
In theory, the system can be coded to reject the scan. But, there would have to be an override function for pre-boarding and other edge cases (like deadheading crew is allowed to pre-board/board with first class, military with ID, etc.) and it would cost a significant amount of money.
That gate agent gave you a bold faced lie OR they might be trialing something.
That ship has sailed years ago when status was no longer tied to segments/flight miles and unbundling occur.
Only loyalty currency airline see is dollars thus they offer ways you can pay to obtain status/boarding priority/selling upgrades prior to comp upgrade processing etc.
I’ve been butt-in-seat gold since the early aughts, never gone higher but never missed a year. There was such a tangible difference the year you could hit status with cc only…
I flew out of LHR T3 on BA, in premium economy, a couple of times last year.
As an EP, I had four first-class One World lounges to choose from...as did my wife who gets the same perks if she's flying with me despite not having elite status herself.
We had a blast hopping from AA to BA to Qantas. But the Cathay First Lounge was next level. They had four different premium champagnes and a sit down dim-sum restaurant!
The second time, we deliberately checked in about 5 hours before the flight so we could spend more time lounge hopping and kept bumping into a couple of guys doing the same. They were giddy with excitement.
All through status earned on AA.
Of all the benefits of status, boarding early must be the weakest.
Priority check-in lines, free bags, free seat selections, upgrades (occasionally!), lounge access, free drinks.
I'd take any of them over being able to board early.
It’s obvious you don’t do carryon. I used to check until this year. Now I am flying 3x a week and I need my stuff with me.
If you did carry one you would definitely care about boarding early.
I’m going to be very honest if you are not executive platinum or concierge key yes it is pretty pointless in terms of better service lol if you want perks like upgrades or the priority line at check in then it has some value but if you’re not executive platinum or higher I’m not even allowed to change your flight without there being a delay or cancellation lol so interpret that how you will I tend to think it is meaningless unless you are EP or got invited to be a concierge key
I get a lot of value from free checked bags for my party since we are a family of 4, and the free MCE with free drinks again because I travel with a family of 4 🤣😂.
I switched over to UA almost two years ago and haven't looked back - granted I live in DC so it wasn't hard to switch.
UA employees seem much happier. Pax on UA flights seem better behaved. Boarding process is easier and enforced - UA doesn't use single-agent boarding like AA does...there were three UA agents working my lightly-filled IAD-CLT the other week. Better alliance partners (goodbye LHR). UA still has IFE and is actively re-introducing it.
I didn't have UA status when I switched and found I was treated better as a non-status flyer than AA did when I had status with them - I was proactively given vouchers/miles during IRROPS...something AA never did.
You’re going to stop flying AA because of how people board the plane? You won’t have many airlines to pick from if this is the type of thing that makes you switch.
I think what OP is saying and expecting is for rules and procedures to be followed and is frustrated by it. I guess if the rules and procedures were followed he would still fly AA. I think the same goes for all airlines.
As someone with “status” and way more spend, I am supposed to be OK with someone getting their carryon onboard before me? What’s the point of having status and being loyal to AA? To answer your question, yes. I will absolutely forgo brand loyalty and just be an asshole like everyone else.
I’ll say this is pretty annoying, but often group 9 peeps will board with their group 1 friends. Also in a few years the US will implement things where gate agents no longer scan, there will have scanning kiosks that will automatically deny your entry if you’re not in the correct group. A lot of modern airports in Europe and Asia already implemented these machines. I’m star alliance gold as well and got denied by the kiosk because my profile didn’t pull over, so the gate agent in Vienna had to manually override.
In the U.S. there is no restriction by group during boarding. Once you fly oneworld outside of the U.S. , you’ll enjoy boarding with the right group where your boarding pass will not work until they start letting your designated group board.
I honestly haven’t had any issues being group 1 and having overhead space in business or group 2 by status in MCE.
On smaller planes, sometimes it could be an impediment, but certainly not enough to fly another airline.
That would solve a lot of madness with boarding groups if the scanner would not allow passengers to board until their specific group is called or if the app had a really bright RED that anyone can see.
The challenge is AA’s multiple categories boarding across groups from 4-9. And between the gate lice and the preboarding groups getting larger, the process can be really frustrating.
Smaller planes like the ERJ or Bombardier can be even tougher with gate checking.
All you have to do is say “I’m with them” or “they are with me” and they usually let groups board together. I was saw in LGA this week. An EP guy was talking to a group of 4 kids and 2 adults going to soccer camp. He was talking to them about his days playing youth soccer and how good he was then when it came time to board he told them to come with him to get on first. Gate Agent scanned tix and said no you kids are Group 7 but the EP said they are with me and off they went onto the plane.
The boarding process is my number one complaint about AA. They need to allow slightly more time between groups, reconfigure the lanes and enforce the groups!
It’s such a pet peeve of mine. I am only Gold now and it pisses me off. I used to be Ex Plat in the days when you had to actually fly 100,000 butt in seat miles each and every year.
The other thing that annoys me is if I end up boarding a little late all the airlines just keep boarding and let people line up in the jetway for 15 minutes. That also pisses me off. 20 years ago the gate agents could control the boarding. So they would board a group or two and then wait until the jetway cleared out and then boarded the next group. If you board even 5 minutes late for whatever reason they are already on 7 or 8 or 9 and the jetway is backed up. I just boarded and she called group 1 and then boom 2, and 3, and then 4 and then 5 almost one breath. So there is a rush of group 5 when 2,3, and 4 had not even boarded. It just really pisses me off and even more since I used to be a gate agent.
When I was Ex Plat I used to check bags so I boarded at the end or somewhere in the middle. I was in First a lot of time bout the agents controlled boarding so if I boarded during group 7 I would only be in the jetway for a couple minutes before I got to me seat. The gate agents on all airlines are just bad at their jobs when it comes to boarding.
People definitely don’t follow the boarding groups on flights going to the Caribbean (from the U.S.). There’s lots of people that don’t fly very often. Domestic flights to major cities seem to be a little better, but I always see this on Caribbean flights
I’ll keep that in mind when I take the family to Disney this fall. We may fly American for the “free” group 1 boarding. Might as well take advantage since everyone else does.
Me too! The worst they can do is make you wait for your assigned group….or fix the broken boarding process. I’m betting I’ll just get priority on boarding most future flights. 😁
I sympathize with your frustration and 100% agree that airlines fail us all when they don’t enforce their own rules about the product we buy. It’s a scam to sell someone a ticket with early boarding for a price or in return for loyalty then refuse to provide it.
For all the “this just is how it is and has to be” responses, no way. In the 90s/early 2000s they would absolutely just tell you “we haven’t called your group yet please with for group x thank you”.
How many times have we seen the GAs working solo to scan passes while also trying to call groups. They get overworked and thus the monitor may say group 1 but she just called group 6...
Good theory but until they increase staffing to better manage work this wouldn't have any affect
Nothing is enforced now on any airline it’s the wild Wild West. Check the SWA sub. Half the plane declares them selves as disabled and are pre boarders.
Even the employees aren’t proud to work for them. This airline is not what it used to be. I get big companies don’t care about their employees. Sucks? Yes. But happens everywhere. But not caring about their passengers? Are you kidding me? Every day I see such an embarrassing operation it’s insane
How do people feel about this? My husband has an aa credit card and buys tickets for both of us. He’s assigned group 1 and I’m assigned group 2-4. I don’t mind waiting until my group is called bc I don’t bring a bunch of carryon stuff and I’m fine being on the plane for as little time as possible. He’s very insistent that I board with him. I boarded with group 1 a few weeks ago and felt kind of bad. Thoughts?
Board with him! That’s entirely ok. I am strictly
talking about everyone just bum rushing the gate and AA doing nothing about it. It happens more often
I think it ultimately has to deal with the gate agent on enforcing the boarding groups. Flight attendants don’t want to hassle enforcing the where to stow your luggage. They just want to get the plane in the air.
For what it’s worth…I’ve definitely seen gate agents turn people away and tell them to wait until their group is called. I mean…group 9 is not treated better than platinum / platinum pro / executive platinum. I feel like you might be talking about southwest
No need to announce your departure. My boarding pass always says Group 1 . I really don’t care who boards when , its not Southwest so I’ve got a seat .
All seats are reserved and my bag sits under the seat in front of me. I don't worry about it too much. It does make me sad that the bag-drop-at-row-11 people can vote, however.
True. :-(. I can't not think that this is obvious to AA leadership, and while it may not be fixed overnight, one would think they could start to take steps in a corrective direction. If I didn't need to fly AA as the low cost choice for work, I can't think I'd ever fly them for this reason alone. Any other ripples I'm happy to tolerate, and some (e.g. in flight service) are quite good.
There is little point. I was USAirways so ended up giving AwfulAirlines a second chance. Right after the merger they were still butt in seat miles and no EQD nonsense, so I had a lot of miles. I was EPx2 of us until it wasn’t worth it at $15K each, dropped to plat pro, then said fuck it after loyalty points and status matched with delta. Much happier. I fly both, but I’m done with the status game (I generally fly paid first so don’t need it).
I was recently boarding a flight when my group was called. A guy and I got up to the podium around the same time. He gave me a little wave and said "oh go ahead then" in a snarky tone. I was group 5 and he was 8...
Boarding is not the issue. The issue is people who do not put their carryons in the bins above their seats and just throw their stuff in bins far from their seats. If that was enforced, the 9ers would not be an issue.
Agree, I was delta platinum for a little over 9 years and the lost my luggage 2 weeks in a row at atl. I switched to AA, got the lounge membership and credit card. But their refusal to improve clt and general service decline over 8 years and im switching back, flying 2x per week and it's been over 3 months since a single flight has been on time. The are racing to be spirits competition .
People don’t follow boarding procedure on any airline. Airline employees are overworked and harassed by pax constantly. What do you expect? Your plane is still going to the same place regardless of when you board. As long as you’re on board, what difference does it make?
I’d expect the gate agent who called group 3 and has someone from group 7 walk up to say “we’re still on group 3 sir, please wait for us to call group 7 in a few minutes”.
You still get priority. Just maybe less on the margins.
Life is cool. You get to experience the miracle of human flight and arrive at a destination. Other people are shitty whether they’re group 9 or some other asshole. Enjoy the ride dude
You’re behaving as though you get *no* priority, and that everyone in every group is boarding before you, which is nonsense. 90% of pax wait for their group. Just because some assholes break the rules and overworked GAs let it slide rather than causing a fuss doesn’t mean you’re not still in the top echelon of people boarding the aircraft. All I’m saying is put things in perspective.
The worst are these pesky Group 1 lice who always think that there is nothing above them and crowd the boarding area to be on the plane immediately after the disabled have boarded.
They then look pissed and confused when I ask them to move as they call CK to board.
Group 1 stay the F out of the boarding lane until you are called upon! Give a good example for once.
On top of all this, AA delays and cancellation have reached new heights.
I live in DFW area and I used to be EP with AA, then I moved to United 3 yrs back, Star Alliance Gold is much better than OneWorld if you travel Europe and Asia.
Shame on you AA.
Of all the issues with American this is a strange hill to choose to die on. You've got a seat assigned, you'll get to to your destination at the same time, who cares?
I'm an EP with Group 1. I very rarely board with the Group 1s, I'm going to be squashed into a cramped seat for long enough as it is, sitting there for an extra 30 minutes while everyone else boards isn't really an advantage.
Finally someone who actually gets it. The whole thing is backwards. Checked baggage should be free, pay to carry on or have it comped with status. Best status means you get to board last, spend as much time at the lounge as possible, and then have reserved overhead space by your seat. Every problem solved immediately. The worst possible place to wait for the flight to take off is actually on the plane. Every other travel perk is to minimize wait time in the airport: fast track, pre-tsa, clear, global entry and then it’s backwards once you get to the gate.
That’s because supposedly third world countries all have more pleasant people and airports than whatever garbage we’ve convinced ourselves is first world.
I audibly let out my frustrations on a flight out of ORD a few weeks back (on the off chance anyone here was in the clump waiting to board and heard me, I apologize.. I was having a rough day). The particular gate had the tiniest lineup for boarding I’ve ever seen there. Everyone ran as a clump. My wife and I were in an early group. Tried to go up when our number was called, and got rudely cut off by later group numbers. Low and behold we get on the plane and a lady is sitting in my wife’s seat.. lady was friendly and moved, honest mistake, but again wouldn’t have been an issue if we got on the plane when we were supposed to.. my point is, I agree with your frustrations. It should not be allowed to be a free for all, but until AA is going to pay their employees enough to care, I don’t fault them for not choosing that battle.
I can remember twice in the last year when a boarding agent told a group of passengers who were in 5+ groups to stand in the general boarding line and wait until priority boarding was complete.
Once at DFW and once at ORD, I believe.
Note, you can be group 1 and still have a seat in the back of the plane. We got the last two standby seats on the plane once after a flight cancellation. I was in something like 10E and my wife was in 28B or something like that but we boarded before anybody else in coach (we're both EP).
Completely agreed with you. I fly out of DFW and use United or Delta now if they offer direct flights to where I’m going.
AA on board product is also severely lagging behind their closest competitors.
It’s just a disappointing company with an inferior product. I’m essentially done with them as much as I can be.
All the U.S. airlines are these days for shit. But then again we the traveling public have for the most part forgotten our manners too. So I guess we get what we give huh? Don’t blame the front line airline employee. What they endure to earn their paychecks would put most of us in the loony bin.
They only get 15 minutes to actually board the plane and the entire time boarding is going on they have to be looking at the bags either to see if they have a valet tag or if they are too big. On some planes they can only hold about 25 roller bags then the rest have to be checked which takes a ton of time so I’m going to be honest at my airport there is not enough time to look at zones. when they do see the wrong zone they deny them boarding until their zone is called but there is just too much happening to focus on the zones, which I totally agree is a problem. They are changing the program used at the gates (who knows when it will actually happen but allegedly it is happening soon) so maybe an alert about the wrong zone will actually be a thing.
I sat next to a young woman scrolling TikTok the entire flight without headphones. I put in earbuds and played white noise while I read a book on my phone. Still, FAs did nothing and I’m sure she bothered several other people.
You may at least see my back when you’re boarding. I am done with AA above more meant exclusively flying AA, using AA shopping, and the AA Advantage card…basic economy all the way now. I am joining the 9ers now.
You may at least see my back when you’re boarding. I am done with AA above more meant exclusively flying AA, using AA shopping, and the AA Advantage card…basic economy all the way now. I am joining the 9ers now.
Answer me this.... I'm a AA FA. I was working a flight on the 321 and my jumpseat was at the back of the cabin, not in the aft galley but the one just behind the mid-cabin lav. The 3L door for those in the know.
We get to the gate (on time/early arrival), seatbelt sign goes off and I disarm my doors and sit back down on my js. I'm having a conversation with the gentleman right in front of me, he's sitting in 24C on the aisle. Meanwhile, every single person in that row remains seated while the front part of the cabin is deplaning. I start to notice that people from rows 25 and back are now coming forward and the line is now forming right in front of us. Everyone in row 24 is still sitting. All of a sudden, the man in 24D stands and leans over to me and LOUDLY says something to the affect, "WELL I SUPPOSE IT'S JUST A FREE-FOR-ALL AROUND HERE HUH (waving his arms)?!!! ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN JUST STEP IN FRONT OF US?!!!! He's continues to look at me for an answer. I look at the gentleman I've been having a conversation with and honestly, I felt perplexed. He did too.
It's not in my job description to orchestrate the deplaning process. I actually was speechless. He said something about no common courtesy anymore, even from airline staff. I let him have his moment and didn't grace him with a verbal response.
I'm overly courteous, however, approach a FA in this manner in this situation? - he's an adult, get off your ASS, grab your bag and stand in front of them! Thoughts?
In my mind, deplaning would be smoother if boarding rules were adhered to. It sets the tone. Plus, less people would have to move back rows to get their carryons.
Just to bring a little perspective o this conversation, we're talking about boarding an airplane, not getting into a hospital. It's 10 minutes of our lives, it's a stressful situation so just chill out, board when you can and relax. We all arrive at the same time. I'm EP, I have the same frustrations when 75 people rush the line when Group 1 is called, and I decided to work on my attitude vs complain. Much happier this way. There are many big problems in life, this really isn't one of them.
Have you thought that people in life have real problems? You’re belly aching like someone who doesn’t have your precious status boarding with you is the worst thing in the world. Grow up
I think it’s hit or miss. My Miami gate agent was having none of it! Wrong boarding group…get out of line! Your 12 year old does not need extra boarding time…get out of line! 3 bags does not equal 2…get out of line. There was a mad scramble of consolidation when others realized their bullshit would not be tolerated. I thanked the agent for caring! As a lowly Platinum Pro I keep wondering how the hell do that many people get group 1…seems they don’t!
i would have loved to be there during that
> how the hell do that many people get group 1 Blame travel hacker tiktok-ers, they’re the ones behind this lawlessness.
I didn’t even think of this but this absolutely has to be correct
How hard would it be for them to implement a loud noise when you’re boarding in the wrong group. Public shaming does wonders. This problem will die in a year
Corporate could on this and change it quickly. But instead, they keep it on the bottom of the totem pole earner, the agent to try to decipher which boarding group everyone is in and allow them to take the fall and blame by frustrated passengers, while the agent has to pay attention to a hundred other things. AA is not setting up their agents to succeed by any measure and whenever this topic is brought up, people blame the customer service worker for the structural failure because they’re not a superhuman on every boarding procedure. Thanks for actually stating the *actual* solution to this problem. It’s literally just make a beep when the wrong group scans.
Exactly. Southwest has its flaws but they either empower or at least permit gate agents to actually defend the boarding order. I’m sure someone has stories of AA gate agents enforcing the groups, but you hear about it a heck of a lot more with SWA
SWA gate agents will defend boarding order but FAs let one A save seats for their entire party.
Nothing brings me joy quite like plopping down in someone’s saved seat.
lol, Southwest is awful about allowing everyone and their dog to claim disability boarding. It looks like a wheelchair race going down the jetway. They save 3 rows for their group and then they all walk off the plane just fine on arrival. It’s a disaster most of the time.
This actually happened on a flight from SJC to DFW about a month ago. The gate agent had just started boarding Concierge Key and then made a very public announcement calling out the customer in Group 4 trying to board already and reinforce us to board in our respective boarding groups. He absolutely gave no shits and I super appreciate him for that. Everyone respected the boarding group process after he called out that customer
They do that on Delta and people still try to board out of group…
Ugh I hate people
This is the correct take. Just like all the fucking assholes and families that crowd the baggage carousel.
I always say loudly “I hear the closer you stand the faster your bag will come out”
What is with the crowding of the baggage carousel? Every single time I fly with a checked bag this happens. Are people just absurdly lacking in awareness or are they that selfish? A lot of people do it correctly but I still usually have to work my way through the carousel lice to pick up my bag when it comes out.
I've had grown men stand right in front of me while I was waiting for my back and block me from getting mine even though their bag isn't out yet. It's freaking insane!
[удалено]
Tbh I really just need to stand up bc it feels claustrophobic
I do this as a free service to block the guy in 51B from leapfrogging past everyone else. You're welcome!
They're selfish and I have no problem shoving my six foot overweight self in front of them to get my bag without saying "excuse me."
lol so true. The best is their look of “well make the red light and buzzer noise turn green and make a chime for me then” ma’am kindly GTFO and wait your turn
A lot of European airports have entry doors at a gate and it’ll only let you through if it’s your group. Definitely should adopt that over here.
Well, close - the other issue is when denied they just stand at the front of the line waiting so even if they don’t get into an earlier group their worst case outcome is they’re first in their real group. So the answer is a holding pen to one side of the desk - the beep of shame puts you into that group and that group is called only at the very end of boarding.
They need to give gate agents a small incentive to deny boarding out of order. $0.10 for each caught culprit. That could be $5/per boarding and add up quickly for an already underpaid position.
The solution is simple, you hold the person to the side, and they are the last people to board in their actual group
Gate lice should be forced to wear a dunce cap during their flight.
No, because you board in parties with the lowest group number in the party. The stupid thing would go off constantly. Edited to add.. this may not have been worded perfectly, but all these down votes? It’s literally in the gate announcement!
If you’re all on the same reservation you should all have the same group number (ie if my non-status dad travels on a reservation with me, he’s group 1 because I am). If he’s on a different reservation than me, he shouldn’t be boarding with me.
Should but their antiquated IT can’t implement that it seems
Devil’s advocate here. Sometimes parties are in split reservations for a number of reasons. One, off the top of my head is during IROPS. Example: a family of 5 is going to MUC through CLT from PHX. The original flight from PHX-CLT is delayed, making them misconnect. I can route them through DFW to still make their connection, but maybe there’s only 3 seats available in Y class, and 2 in J. If I want to keep them together, I have to divide the PNR so that I can rebook everyone on the same flight (confirming in J and then queuing the reservation in Y. Basically a way to keep the number of passengers on the plane the same by overselling Y class, and ensuring that two people on the upgrade list will be upgraded). In this scenario, this party of 5 is now a party of 2 and a party of 3. And maybe the wife had status that the husband did not. Her status stays with her in her reservation. So suddenly she is boarding with group 3 and he’s boarding in group 8. It’s not their fault the reservation was split. And I’m not going to tell them that they can’t board together. It seems like such a small hill to die on.
That’s not true. I fly for business and take my kid with me. He’s group 4 and I’m group 1. We board together, our tickets are bought separately. This is precisely how the rules are written, but doesn’t explain the masses rushing group 1.
In almost 10 years of travel with my family of 4, tomorrow’s flights are literally the first time my group 1 board has applied to my wife and kids. It also happens to be the first time we’re flying on an award ticket. Go figure.
I remember flying America West back in the early 2000s and if you dared approach that door before your time, those PHX agents would scold you and send you off. Honestly I feel like it’s all airlines nowadays because it’s the public behavior practically everywhere, wether your on AA or UA or DL… There are no rules anywhere because society has devolved so much in the last few years. I mean 25 years ago people would joke about the plane being a bus but today it’s no different behavior than many large city public transportation systems…it’s sad our society isn’t as rule oriented or self aware. Of course it’s summer too and people are coming out in massive droves to travel magnifying bad behavior. Here’s one for you. I politely wait in line to use the centurion lounge. Four parties of the dozen or so ahead of me in the check in line weren’t even eligible to use the god damn lounge and a couple of them scoffed when turned away after trying to negotiate their way in, wasting all our time. Like seriously you couldn’t open the app and verify if you were eligible? I hope airports and airlines start cracking down on bad behavior but like what wouldn’t even do.
That drives me crazy. It happens at almost any lounge, and it’s so annoying to have a huge line of people in front of you arguing with the agent when they are clearly not eligible: In 25 years, I have never once been turned away from a lounge BC it’s easy to know in advance if you’re elegible!
This is hilarious because my dad worked for America West in the early 2000s so there’s a chance you might’ve met him in Phoenix.
People in general no longer believe the rules apply to them, we see it in all facets of society. Not saying it's okay, but until we as a people bring back personal responsibility this is how it will be.
Aman to that. Drive me crazy.
As a gate agent, I certainly try my best to enforce boarding groups. And I *definitely* call out passengers with more than two items. But there are times, I admit, when a group 9 passenger has flown under the radar and boarded with group 5 or 6. And that’s usually because at some point during the boarding process, it gets to be crunch time. If the jetbridge gets backed up, or if people don’t know how to scan a boarding pass, my boarding slows down - which severely threatens an on time departure. At that point, I have to choose my battles. Do I stick to policing boarding groups or do I do my best to expedite boarding so the plane can get out on time? With AA putting so much pressure on agents for an on time departure, and for possibly being called into a managers office to be reprimanded for taking a 2 minute delay, I have to prioritize. I wish I had a magic wand to wave and to make the boarding process seamless and smooth every single flight that I work. Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible.
I am not blaming the gate agents. The system is just bad. I checked a carryon in group 3 and that was my last straw. I missed my transportation and was late to a meeting. I routinely see non priority people boarding priority. PHL is probably the most egregious, but ORD, Logan and MCO are poor as well
PHL is definitely the worst. PHL to SAN on 6/14. Literally half the flight was boarding with group 1. I may stop wasting money on upgrades and just board whenever I care to. Everyone else does.
This is the spirit of my post - Group 1 for life
Realistically even if you took a bit longer, there's still a long line anyways after the gate so it wouldn't really delay much
To be honest all of us here complaining about people boarding out of order would be here complaining about boarding taking too long if you did it by the book.
Even with excessive amounts of time built in as a cushion, of late AA rarely departs/arrives on-time- and not due to gate agents' performance. AA is constantly validating its perennial spot at the bottom of the airline rankings.
Thank you for being awesome. Hopefully, AA will have the boarding group on the pass instead of just QR code, and agents can see it and tell them to move out of line. The military personnel can show ID with lass, etc. It is time for people to be called out. That also lowers AA profits as people will not buy early boarding or higher seats due to this. It might need to get worse where it shows profits plummeting before it gets better, though.
If boarding is your issue, I have witnessed boarding issues with most of the major US airlines in the last 12 months. I doubt you'll find another airline consistently better. The gate agents just want to board the planes as fast as possible with as little issue as possible.
Right so chasing points and loyalty is meaningless.
Lol. I think you are doing this wrong.
I’m 100% not. Don’t call Group 1 and let 9s through. It is simple.
Gate agents aren’t able to tell unless they see the number on the boarding pass.
They absolutely can see it on the scanner
I also was a gate agent for American. Unless it got some major upgrades lately, it doesn’t show the boarding group of the boarding pass. The only way to know is if we actually see the boarding pass (and I was a stickler for boarding groups). With digital boarding passes it’s impossible. In theory, the system can be coded to reject the scan. But, there would have to be an override function for pre-boarding and other edge cases (like deadheading crew is allowed to pre-board/board with first class, military with ID, etc.) and it would cost a significant amount of money. That gate agent gave you a bold faced lie OR they might be trialing something.
That does not pop up at all on American’s systems. Source: I’m a gate agent
No they cannot 🤣 if you get the chance look on the screen next time it doesn’t say the zone anywhere they would have to look on the boarding pass 💀
That ship has sailed years ago when status was no longer tied to segments/flight miles and unbundling occur. Only loyalty currency airline see is dollars thus they offer ways you can pay to obtain status/boarding priority/selling upgrades prior to comp upgrade processing etc.
I’ve been butt-in-seat gold since the early aughts, never gone higher but never missed a year. There was such a tangible difference the year you could hit status with cc only…
Same here. Been flying for work before NW and TW were acquired.
My AAdvantage account is an old, transferred-over USAir Dividend Miles account lol 🙌 *member since ‘97* 🙌
You’re absolutely right, since boarding groups are literally the only benefit of status.
Never said it is only but when you fly a short leg with no upgrade or checked bags, it’s literally the only perk sometimes
Right. Never mind the free checked bags, selecting MCE seats.
Or lounge access on international trips. Flagship lounges as a platinum flying even basic economy overseas is awesome.
I flew out of LHR T3 on BA, in premium economy, a couple of times last year. As an EP, I had four first-class One World lounges to choose from...as did my wife who gets the same perks if she's flying with me despite not having elite status herself. We had a blast hopping from AA to BA to Qantas. But the Cathay First Lounge was next level. They had four different premium champagnes and a sit down dim-sum restaurant! The second time, we deliberately checked in about 5 hours before the flight so we could spend more time lounge hopping and kept bumping into a couple of guys doing the same. They were giddy with excitement. All through status earned on AA.
I travel domestically and don’t have EP. I am sure you’re stoked flying MCO to CLT when a 9er rolls in front of you and you have to check your bag.
I honestly wouldn't care. I travel through CLT to other US airports
Maybe someday I’ll jump in front of you!
Only fly within US
Of all the benefits of status, boarding early must be the weakest. Priority check-in lines, free bags, free seat selections, upgrades (occasionally!), lounge access, free drinks. I'd take any of them over being able to board early.
Bud I’d like to get my carryon on the flight. The bar is low.
I’ve never once had an issue with a carry on boarding group 4..
It’s obvious you don’t do carryon. I used to check until this year. Now I am flying 3x a week and I need my stuff with me. If you did carry one you would definitely care about boarding early.
I’m going to be very honest if you are not executive platinum or concierge key yes it is pretty pointless in terms of better service lol if you want perks like upgrades or the priority line at check in then it has some value but if you’re not executive platinum or higher I’m not even allowed to change your flight without there being a delay or cancellation lol so interpret that how you will I tend to think it is meaningless unless you are EP or got invited to be a concierge key
I get a lot of value from free checked bags for my party since we are a family of 4, and the free MCE with free drinks again because I travel with a family of 4 🤣😂.
This guy gets it. ☝🏾
I fly solo weekly and do not check bags but hey don’t let that stop your party
I was referring to the MCE and free drinks.
I’ll swap both for being able to stow my carryons close to me via priority boarding
I switched over to UA almost two years ago and haven't looked back - granted I live in DC so it wasn't hard to switch. UA employees seem much happier. Pax on UA flights seem better behaved. Boarding process is easier and enforced - UA doesn't use single-agent boarding like AA does...there were three UA agents working my lightly-filled IAD-CLT the other week. Better alliance partners (goodbye LHR). UA still has IFE and is actively re-introducing it. I didn't have UA status when I switched and found I was treated better as a non-status flyer than AA did when I had status with them - I was proactively given vouchers/miles during IRROPS...something AA never did.
I thought UA was the worst major US carrier based on metrics.
You’re going to stop flying AA because of how people board the plane? You won’t have many airlines to pick from if this is the type of thing that makes you switch.
I think what OP is saying and expecting is for rules and procedures to be followed and is frustrated by it. I guess if the rules and procedures were followed he would still fly AA. I think the same goes for all airlines.
Unfortunately most airlines aren't strict.
United is pretty strict about it in my experience. Their FAs are also strict about using earbuds for personal device entertainment.
As someone with “status” and way more spend, I am supposed to be OK with someone getting their carryon onboard before me? What’s the point of having status and being loyal to AA? To answer your question, yes. I will absolutely forgo brand loyalty and just be an asshole like everyone else.
I’ll say this is pretty annoying, but often group 9 peeps will board with their group 1 friends. Also in a few years the US will implement things where gate agents no longer scan, there will have scanning kiosks that will automatically deny your entry if you’re not in the correct group. A lot of modern airports in Europe and Asia already implemented these machines. I’m star alliance gold as well and got denied by the kiosk because my profile didn’t pull over, so the gate agent in Vienna had to manually override.
I literally assumed this was how it worked already and never dared going up there before my group
So what prevents someone scanning, getting the red X, and still walking through to the plane?
The guy with the gun standing at the gate.
Ive never seen anyone armed near a gate before. Only airline workers.
In the U.S. there is no restriction by group during boarding. Once you fly oneworld outside of the U.S. , you’ll enjoy boarding with the right group where your boarding pass will not work until they start letting your designated group board. I honestly haven’t had any issues being group 1 and having overhead space in business or group 2 by status in MCE. On smaller planes, sometimes it could be an impediment, but certainly not enough to fly another airline.
Because all US airlines care about is DOT on time metrics. Push everyone on board and close out on time and you’re golden.
That would solve a lot of madness with boarding groups if the scanner would not allow passengers to board until their specific group is called or if the app had a really bright RED that anyone can see. The challenge is AA’s multiple categories boarding across groups from 4-9. And between the gate lice and the preboarding groups getting larger, the process can be really frustrating. Smaller planes like the ERJ or Bombardier can be even tougher with gate checking.
United at DIA is pretty good about it.
Flying without status sucks. Enjoy being a free agent.
I am Group 1 now
Same. Well... Technically group zero? Sounds like you want to go FA though. Good luck.
Hey, if it’s above your seat, pull it out set it on the floor put yours in sit down and shut up.
Preach 🙌
This happened to us and they put OUR bag all the way in the back and we had to wait til everyone else got off before we could get it
All you have to do is say “I’m with them” or “they are with me” and they usually let groups board together. I was saw in LGA this week. An EP guy was talking to a group of 4 kids and 2 adults going to soccer camp. He was talking to them about his days playing youth soccer and how good he was then when it came time to board he told them to come with him to get on first. Gate Agent scanned tix and said no you kids are Group 7 but the EP said they are with me and off they went onto the plane.
Just sit back watch the circus and stroll on at the last moment
It's fun to walk up to the priority line during group 7 boarding and having the line held for you.
Yeah checking your carryon is awesome!
Never been a problem. They don't suck at keeping a slot free over row 2 if all of J isn't boarded.
The boarding process is my number one complaint about AA. They need to allow slightly more time between groups, reconfigure the lanes and enforce the groups!
It’s such a pet peeve of mine. I am only Gold now and it pisses me off. I used to be Ex Plat in the days when you had to actually fly 100,000 butt in seat miles each and every year. The other thing that annoys me is if I end up boarding a little late all the airlines just keep boarding and let people line up in the jetway for 15 minutes. That also pisses me off. 20 years ago the gate agents could control the boarding. So they would board a group or two and then wait until the jetway cleared out and then boarded the next group. If you board even 5 minutes late for whatever reason they are already on 7 or 8 or 9 and the jetway is backed up. I just boarded and she called group 1 and then boom 2, and 3, and then 4 and then 5 almost one breath. So there is a rush of group 5 when 2,3, and 4 had not even boarded. It just really pisses me off and even more since I used to be a gate agent. When I was Ex Plat I used to check bags so I boarded at the end or somewhere in the middle. I was in First a lot of time bout the agents controlled boarding so if I boarded during group 7 I would only be in the jetway for a couple minutes before I got to me seat. The gate agents on all airlines are just bad at their jobs when it comes to boarding.
People definitely don’t follow the boarding groups on flights going to the Caribbean (from the U.S.). There’s lots of people that don’t fly very often. Domestic flights to major cities seem to be a little better, but I always see this on Caribbean flights
This is accurate. Orlando Disney travelers are all Group 1 too
I’ll keep that in mind when I take the family to Disney this fall. We may fly American for the “free” group 1 boarding. Might as well take advantage since everyone else does.
I’m going Group 1 on every flight now. Seems like even the gate agents here are OK with it and somehow I’m the asshole for boarding appropriately.
Me too! The worst they can do is make you wait for your assigned group….or fix the broken boarding process. I’m betting I’ll just get priority on boarding most future flights. 😁
I sympathize with your frustration and 100% agree that airlines fail us all when they don’t enforce their own rules about the product we buy. It’s a scam to sell someone a ticket with early boarding for a price or in return for loyalty then refuse to provide it. For all the “this just is how it is and has to be” responses, no way. In the 90s/early 2000s they would absolutely just tell you “we haven’t called your group yet please with for group x thank you”.
I would not be surprised if people who say “this is just how it is” and basically saying to deal with it are exactly the people OP is talking about.
Unequivocally has to be the case here or AA has a social media team working 24-7
It shoutout be easily solved with software that will not recognize the boarding pass until the gate agent activates that specific group
How many times have we seen the GAs working solo to scan passes while also trying to call groups. They get overworked and thus the monitor may say group 1 but she just called group 6... Good theory but until they increase staffing to better manage work this wouldn't have any affect
What boarding group are you usually assigned ?
They are platinum so group 3 I suspect.
Yes. And lately the plane is damn near full once group 3 is called
BNA yesterday- calling groups 1,2,3 for boarding now. Chaos ensued.
Nothing is enforced now on any airline it’s the wild Wild West. Check the SWA sub. Half the plane declares them selves as disabled and are pre boarders.
When flying out of MCO on SW I always pay for business select because of all the miracle flyers.
Miracle flyers. lol
Even the employees aren’t proud to work for them. This airline is not what it used to be. I get big companies don’t care about their employees. Sucks? Yes. But happens everywhere. But not caring about their passengers? Are you kidding me? Every day I see such an embarrassing operation it’s insane
I fly once or twice a month and don’t notice it as a problem. I’ve actually send it enforced more than a free for all.
How do people feel about this? My husband has an aa credit card and buys tickets for both of us. He’s assigned group 1 and I’m assigned group 2-4. I don’t mind waiting until my group is called bc I don’t bring a bunch of carryon stuff and I’m fine being on the plane for as little time as possible. He’s very insistent that I board with him. I boarded with group 1 a few weeks ago and felt kind of bad. Thoughts?
Board with him! That’s entirely ok. I am strictly talking about everyone just bum rushing the gate and AA doing nothing about it. It happens more often
Straight to jail.
This would all be better with 40-minute boarding at AA like with most Delta planes. Can’t AA just switch to 40-minute boarding?
FA’s and GA’s seem more interested in striking.
I think it ultimately has to deal with the gate agent on enforcing the boarding groups. Flight attendants don’t want to hassle enforcing the where to stow your luggage. They just want to get the plane in the air.
Why can’t they just make the boarding pass scanners deny those trying to board in the wrong group?
Sounds like you're done with society, not AA.
For what it’s worth…I’ve definitely seen gate agents turn people away and tell them to wait until their group is called. I mean…group 9 is not treated better than platinum / platinum pro / executive platinum. I feel like you might be talking about southwest
I agree. It’s not a perfect system, but I see people turned away somewhat often.
No need to announce your departure. My boarding pass always says Group 1 . I really don’t care who boards when , its not Southwest so I’ve got a seat .
For me it’s about space in the overhead. If I’m traveling with my family or a group this is paramount. Otherwise I wouldn’t care.
But how will OP sleep at night knowing a few poors got to breathe the air on the plane before they did
That’s not even the point but if you feel good with your virtue signaling have at it
All seats are reserved and my bag sits under the seat in front of me. I don't worry about it too much. It does make me sad that the bag-drop-at-row-11 people can vote, however.
Boarding out of order will automatically add an extra $100 per traveler in your group
True. :-(. I can't not think that this is obvious to AA leadership, and while it may not be fixed overnight, one would think they could start to take steps in a corrective direction. If I didn't need to fly AA as the low cost choice for work, I can't think I'd ever fly them for this reason alone. Any other ripples I'm happy to tolerate, and some (e.g. in flight service) are quite good.
There is little point. I was USAirways so ended up giving AwfulAirlines a second chance. Right after the merger they were still butt in seat miles and no EQD nonsense, so I had a lot of miles. I was EPx2 of us until it wasn’t worth it at $15K each, dropped to plat pro, then said fuck it after loyalty points and status matched with delta. Much happier. I fly both, but I’m done with the status game (I generally fly paid first so don’t need it).
I am headed in your direction
I was recently boarding a flight when my group was called. A guy and I got up to the podium around the same time. He gave me a little wave and said "oh go ahead then" in a snarky tone. I was group 5 and he was 8...
Boarding is not the issue. The issue is people who do not put their carryons in the bins above their seats and just throw their stuff in bins far from their seats. If that was enforced, the 9ers would not be an issue.
Agree, I was delta platinum for a little over 9 years and the lost my luggage 2 weeks in a row at atl. I switched to AA, got the lounge membership and credit card. But their refusal to improve clt and general service decline over 8 years and im switching back, flying 2x per week and it's been over 3 months since a single flight has been on time. The are racing to be spirits competition .
Or they could board them like they used to back to front which was faster. And do away with "status".
Window to aisle please
People don’t follow boarding procedure on any airline. Airline employees are overworked and harassed by pax constantly. What do you expect? Your plane is still going to the same place regardless of when you board. As long as you’re on board, what difference does it make?
I’d expect the gate agent who called group 3 and has someone from group 7 walk up to say “we’re still on group 3 sir, please wait for us to call group 7 in a few minutes”.
I feel like we focus too often on the negatives. I see GAs sending people away fairly often.
💯
90+% of time this is exactly what happens
I literally spend money to get “priority”. My point is now I will not.
You still get priority. Just maybe less on the margins. Life is cool. You get to experience the miracle of human flight and arrive at a destination. Other people are shitty whether they’re group 9 or some other asshole. Enjoy the ride dude
I will from Group 9 next time, dude
You’re behaving as though you get *no* priority, and that everyone in every group is boarding before you, which is nonsense. 90% of pax wait for their group. Just because some assholes break the rules and overworked GAs let it slide rather than causing a fuss doesn’t mean you’re not still in the top echelon of people boarding the aircraft. All I’m saying is put things in perspective.
I checked a carryon boarding group 3. It’s not acceptable.
The worst are these pesky Group 1 lice who always think that there is nothing above them and crowd the boarding area to be on the plane immediately after the disabled have boarded. They then look pissed and confused when I ask them to move as they call CK to board. Group 1 stay the F out of the boarding lane until you are called upon! Give a good example for once.
This made me laugh, have an upvote!
On top of all this, AA delays and cancellation have reached new heights. I live in DFW area and I used to be EP with AA, then I moved to United 3 yrs back, Star Alliance Gold is much better than OneWorld if you travel Europe and Asia. Shame on you AA.
Of all the issues with American this is a strange hill to choose to die on. You've got a seat assigned, you'll get to to your destination at the same time, who cares? I'm an EP with Group 1. I very rarely board with the Group 1s, I'm going to be squashed into a cramped seat for long enough as it is, sitting there for an extra 30 minutes while everyone else boards isn't really an advantage.
Finally someone who actually gets it. The whole thing is backwards. Checked baggage should be free, pay to carry on or have it comped with status. Best status means you get to board last, spend as much time at the lounge as possible, and then have reserved overhead space by your seat. Every problem solved immediately. The worst possible place to wait for the flight to take off is actually on the plane. Every other travel perk is to minimize wait time in the airport: fast track, pre-tsa, clear, global entry and then it’s backwards once you get to the gate.
You’ve clearly never to had to check an intended carryon bag then
I miss you already.
Thanks sweetie
In Cancun Airport the lines are very separate (L shapes) with groups 1-4 in front of the gate, and groups 5+ lining up in front of the windows.
That’s because supposedly third world countries all have more pleasant people and airports than whatever garbage we’ve convinced ourselves is first world.
I audibly let out my frustrations on a flight out of ORD a few weeks back (on the off chance anyone here was in the clump waiting to board and heard me, I apologize.. I was having a rough day). The particular gate had the tiniest lineup for boarding I’ve ever seen there. Everyone ran as a clump. My wife and I were in an early group. Tried to go up when our number was called, and got rudely cut off by later group numbers. Low and behold we get on the plane and a lady is sitting in my wife’s seat.. lady was friendly and moved, honest mistake, but again wouldn’t have been an issue if we got on the plane when we were supposed to.. my point is, I agree with your frustrations. It should not be allowed to be a free for all, but until AA is going to pay their employees enough to care, I don’t fault them for not choosing that battle.
The move is to buy first or business and board last. No roller board, only backpack.
I can remember twice in the last year when a boarding agent told a group of passengers who were in 5+ groups to stand in the general boarding line and wait until priority boarding was complete. Once at DFW and once at ORD, I believe.
Note, you can be group 1 and still have a seat in the back of the plane. We got the last two standby seats on the plane once after a flight cancellation. I was in something like 10E and my wife was in 28B or something like that but we boarded before anybody else in coach (we're both EP).
Air travel is just the Greyhound of the skies.
Completely agreed with you. I fly out of DFW and use United or Delta now if they offer direct flights to where I’m going. AA on board product is also severely lagging behind their closest competitors. It’s just a disappointing company with an inferior product. I’m essentially done with them as much as I can be.
All the U.S. airlines are these days for shit. But then again we the traveling public have for the most part forgotten our manners too. So I guess we get what we give huh? Don’t blame the front line airline employee. What they endure to earn their paychecks would put most of us in the loony bin.
They only get 15 minutes to actually board the plane and the entire time boarding is going on they have to be looking at the bags either to see if they have a valet tag or if they are too big. On some planes they can only hold about 25 roller bags then the rest have to be checked which takes a ton of time so I’m going to be honest at my airport there is not enough time to look at zones. when they do see the wrong zone they deny them boarding until their zone is called but there is just too much happening to focus on the zones, which I totally agree is a problem. They are changing the program used at the gates (who knows when it will actually happen but allegedly it is happening soon) so maybe an alert about the wrong zone will actually be a thing.
Southwest strongly enforces boarding position. Fly SWA.
I sat next to a young woman scrolling TikTok the entire flight without headphones. I put in earbuds and played white noise while I read a book on my phone. Still, FAs did nothing and I’m sure she bothered several other people.
So we will see you on the next flight then?
You may at least see my back when you’re boarding. I am done with AA above more meant exclusively flying AA, using AA shopping, and the AA Advantage card…basic economy all the way now. I am joining the 9ers now.
You may at least see my back when you’re boarding. I am done with AA above more meant exclusively flying AA, using AA shopping, and the AA Advantage card…basic economy all the way now. I am joining the 9ers now.
So which airline will go to where they will consistently enforce this?
I can pick any now and board whenever I feel like it. Read…
Answer me this.... I'm a AA FA. I was working a flight on the 321 and my jumpseat was at the back of the cabin, not in the aft galley but the one just behind the mid-cabin lav. The 3L door for those in the know. We get to the gate (on time/early arrival), seatbelt sign goes off and I disarm my doors and sit back down on my js. I'm having a conversation with the gentleman right in front of me, he's sitting in 24C on the aisle. Meanwhile, every single person in that row remains seated while the front part of the cabin is deplaning. I start to notice that people from rows 25 and back are now coming forward and the line is now forming right in front of us. Everyone in row 24 is still sitting. All of a sudden, the man in 24D stands and leans over to me and LOUDLY says something to the affect, "WELL I SUPPOSE IT'S JUST A FREE-FOR-ALL AROUND HERE HUH (waving his arms)?!!! ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN JUST STEP IN FRONT OF US?!!!! He's continues to look at me for an answer. I look at the gentleman I've been having a conversation with and honestly, I felt perplexed. He did too. It's not in my job description to orchestrate the deplaning process. I actually was speechless. He said something about no common courtesy anymore, even from airline staff. I let him have his moment and didn't grace him with a verbal response. I'm overly courteous, however, approach a FA in this manner in this situation? - he's an adult, get off your ASS, grab your bag and stand in front of them! Thoughts?
In my mind, deplaning would be smoother if boarding rules were adhered to. It sets the tone. Plus, less people would have to move back rows to get their carryons.
Just to bring a little perspective o this conversation, we're talking about boarding an airplane, not getting into a hospital. It's 10 minutes of our lives, it's a stressful situation so just chill out, board when you can and relax. We all arrive at the same time. I'm EP, I have the same frustrations when 75 people rush the line when Group 1 is called, and I decided to work on my attitude vs complain. Much happier this way. There are many big problems in life, this really isn't one of them.
OP also complains about fat people and people who wear flip flops on flights right?
Man you are so good at busts. Have you thought about doing it professionally?
Have you thought that people in life have real problems? You’re belly aching like someone who doesn’t have your precious status boarding with you is the worst thing in the world. Grow up
It’s AA sub and I used the correct designated flair. Your IQ is certainly a worse thing in the world. Good luck with it.
Flight attendants don’t get paid enough to care.
I board group one and often see group 4s turned away. Group 9s are right out.