Board as late as possible

I recently read a thread over on flyertalk regarding someone who was denied boarding on an AA flight from MAN to PHL. Without going into all the details, the pax arrived at the gate about 30 mins before scheduled departure and was told he was too late and the doors were closed. Queue lots of debate on AAs boarding rules with some mentioning various cutoff times.

This got me wondering... I like to board pretty late. In an ideal world I'd pretty much be last on, sit down and be off. However I've always been wary of being caught out by something like the AA pax above. Anyone else out there like to board late that might care to share their logic on how they time it? Anyone know of any specific VS rules re cutoff times?

I use the simple formula of CH call 2 + 5 minutes and never had an issue. I’m assuming you could easily stretch that 5 to 10 or even 15 as I’ve never been last on.

Sorry, can’t help with official numbers.

IIRC from that flyer talk thread (and you could have linked to it) there were other issues involved in that particular case.

Airlines have various cut offs and it is reasonable that if you are at the gate at the required time they will let you board but if not then they wont. Why should they delay a flight with many other people on because one single passenger wants to board last because that is their choice and not because they have a delayed collection.

The long standing suggestion on here is that for VS flights the 1st call in the CH is a reminder to get ready to leave (so pack up your what nots, nip to the loo and down your cocktail) and 2nd call is the one to leave at with no extra time added to that. You never know what might happen on the way to the gate - it could be a bus gate for example - or if you drop your coat on the stairs down from the LHR CH and don't realise and you get 1/2 way to the gate before noticing so have to make your way back to the CJH then leg it to the gate .... Not doing that again!

I have to be honest ... I leave the CH on the first call and like to be the first one on the plane!!

[mitchja]

I'm kinda in the middle. At LHR, I don't wait till the last minute but I also don't like to get to the gate too soon as the problem is there is often congestion at the gate area and I hate those gloomy holding rooms for gates 13 - 22 in T3 at LHR. The other gates are not too bad in T3 though.

The whole section where gates 13 - 22 are T3 at LHR really really needs work (flattening and starting again would be preferable) as that's the shabbiest part of LHR now IMHO

If you are in the CH then you can probably relax more than you think - they scan you in so they know who has been in there and if you are missing from the flight that is the first place they will look for you.

Yes I should have linked the thread I was referencing on flyertalk. Here it is.

I might have named the thread a little over the top. I guess I'm not after boarding at the last possible second that the t's and c's allow regardless of whether everyone else has boarded. I'm just trying to avoid spending more time onboard than I really have to without risking missing the thing. I'm a MAN based flyer so it seems my experience differs from most, there's usually just 1 call. I usually wait for that plus 10 or 15 mins. And if the gate is a mess when I get there I might go for a stroll and come back. After all I'll be sat down for 8/9/10 hours once onboard.

I use the simple formula of CH call 2 + 5 minutes and never had an issue. I’m assuming you could easily stretch that 5 to 10 or even 15 as I’ve never been last on.

Sorry, can’t help with official numbers.

i'm with you on the second call thing, but a word of advise, don't do what i did and miss my flight due to getting so in to a motor race that shall remain nameless on my i pad with ear phons on that i completely lost all scense of time (and direction) fortunately virgin as always were very helpful and put me on the next flight at 1.pm when i should have been on the 11am, that was last year, since then i tend to leave the CH before the first call because the memory of pure red faced embarrassment on my part has left a very vivid memory

I have to be honest ... I leave the CH on the first call and like to be the first one on the plane!!

Me too. Often walking out of the CH just as the call is made. Get on board early and have two glasses of bubbly and settle down.
Dick D

The whole section where gates 13 - 22 are T3 at LHR really really needs work (flattening and starting again would be preferable) as that's the shabbiest part of LHR now IMHO

Agreed it’s awful down there, my Finnair flight was from the other pier a few weeks ago (29) and arrived on the stands where the 380s park and I couldn’t believe how poor the “normal VS” pier is in comparison!!

For me, it depends on the circumstance. On the one hand, I like to board as early as I can (or as soon as I'm allowed to board) as I see it as my little way of ensuring the flight leaves on time. But on the other hand, if it's a long one I can see the appeal of leaving it late, so if you're going to do that then at least be sat at the gate so you avoid missing the flight unintentionally and save the gate staff from making last call announcements and offloading luggage.

If I'm flying with hand luggage only, I tend to like to get on early to ensure there's space for it to come on with me. One time that happened to my fiancee where she boarded a plane last her case had to go into the hold because there was no space left in the cabin and to make things worse, someone walked off with it at the destination thinking it was theirs! Luckily it was sorted out and was reunited with her case within a few days.

All that said, is it just me or have people suddenly taken to queuing at the gates well in advance of boarding a VS flight?