Priority Boarding??

[HighFlyer]

Are PE supposed to have priority boarding??

I always thought this was the case, hence why PE board with UC, and to allow you your glass of champagne while Y are boarding.

However, on my last two trips i have been in the Clubhouse as a PE passenger, when we get the boarding call i have got to the gate to find all of Y boarding. UC can walk on through their own route but PE have to board with Y. I asked about going straight onboard but were told we must go to the back of the queue. This i dont mind as such, the problem is that with both recent flights, by the time we get on board we have missed out on the champagne and have to take our seats for take-off (while all the other PE pax are settled in their seats).

Was i right in thinking that i had read that PE get priority boarding? If so, is this only before Y start boarding?

I wonder if in future we will always be last on and missing the champers, as this has happened on both my last Clubhouse visits i guess it will happen again. Anyone else met with this??

I just wanted to find out the actual procedure, or what anyone here advises? I thought of leaving the Clubhouse before the call and making our way down earlier - only, with the Clubhouse you dont want to leave do you??

On my last flight from BOS to LHR, the "priority" boarding lane is signposted for both Upper and Premium passengers.

I've once had to join the "boarding scrum" even when I've been ticketed in Upper, there was just no way to get past!

I sometimes wonder why VS insist on boarding the aircraft through a single jetway to the L2 door, when most of the gates at places like Heathrow and San Fran have double jetways. Most other airlines use both jetways, and board their F/J/C pax through L1, and their Y pax through L2.

I like the new wide-body bridges at Amsterdam Schiphol - there is one jetway which is suspended over the wing and connects to the L4 door on the 747. This is used for boarding Y pax straight into the centre of their cabin, so the premium cabins have exclusive use of boarding through L2. I bet it makes loading and unloading slightly quicker too.

I'll be interested to see the various loading systems for the A380 - I wonder if they will load/unload on both decks?

Cheers,
Mike

[Decker]

Well at LHR on Friday we waited in the Clubhouse until the flight was called and when we got there there was one line and they were boarded "ONLY rows 50-60 and our Upper Class, Premium and Gold passengers". So being in PE allowed us to preboard but there weren't two queues.

On My flight to SFO PE we went to the front of the que and were told by a BAA wanna be copper:D to go to the back and wait our turn i told her we were in PE and was still told to go to the back a VS Crew Member over herd us and escorted us to the door of the aircraft i have also seen this done when i was flying to LAX.

On our ret flight from las UC PE and Gold borded first.

Cheers

Phil

From what I've seen, there are 2 different scenarios for this - one is where there are dedicated priority boarding lines for UC and PE where you should be able to walk up at any point to board - unusual though in my experience.

Otherwise, the opportunity is to pre-board Y, not to have general overtaking priority where there is no dedicated line. This means being at the gate when the priority call goes out - usually passengers requiring special assistance, families with under 5's, UC and PE.

I suppose it's up to you about whether you'd want to sit at the gate to ensure pre-boarding and your glass of champagne whilst you settle in or stay longer in the Clubhouse - I know which I'd prefer:D

In my experience, yes PE & UC do get some priority boarding. ISTR that most times, the boarding staff (whatever airport) call the first rows of Y pax along with PE, UC & Au. At SFO, ISTR that the right hand side boarding door is allocated to PE/UC/Au and you get to board via L1 (I do like it when that happens)

Cheers

Michael

I'd echo the general sentiments here that in my experience UC, PE and Gold card holders get priority - normally (although not always) preceeded by Passengers needing assistance or with small children.

How come you managed to wrangle clubhouse access with a PE ticket? - were you there as a Gold card holder guest?

Phil (Buffy)

Would i be right in thinking it was paid-for access via Virgin Holidays?

Anyway, to relate my own experiences, at LAS last month there was a red-carpetted separate lane with a sign saying "Priority Boarding lane - Upper Class, Premium Economy and Flying Club Gold". Sadly we didn't spot this until we had already joined the (short) queue for "normal boarding" and it was a bit tricky getting to it from where we were because of the seats in the way in the gate area.

I wish those areas would be more open and that announcements would be made that people should keep away from the boarding area unless they have been called to board. I was also suprised to see no separate boarding lane at LGW, but we boarded as soon as boarding began so missed what must have inevitably become a huge scrum .

You can hold onto your glass of champagne until the safety video has finished, at this time the crew need to secure the cabin.

I am not sure why you have been refused champagne.

You must have been really late to the aircraft or must have been waiting for you, if there was not enough time to serve it.

[HighFlyer]

Thanks for all your replies.

Declan, im not sure why we were refused Champers either. As a frequent VS flyer im aware, as you stated, that i can have my glass up until take-off. I asked for Champers as we got onboard but the crew member told me that it was too late as we had to make preperations for take off (and muttered something about my being late onboard) I was at the back of the boarding queue so that is why i was seeming late in comparison to the other PE pax. I guess they have to go and get the bottle again!!

Buffy - yep, V Hols paid access to the Clubhouse! Although next year i will be a FC Au card holder so i will be able to get in for free!!! hehe

Im wondering whether to mention this to Virgin? If the policy is to allow priority boarding for PE (and Upper/Golds, etc) and it is not being carried out then i guess they should know. I think that the gaye staff are not actual VS employees (is that correct?) and therefore may not understand the correct procedure.

Although - im glad im not the only one that this has happened for

I think you summed it up there when you mentioned the gate staff. Recently on my flight LHR-HKG PE there was no priority boarding because BAA (or similiar) were checking everyones passports and tickets. An passenger waving a purple boarding card came to the front of the queue expecting to be let through, but the gate staff sent her to the back of the queue.
Being VS staff, and knowing the importance of the UC product as a whole, i informed the VS ground staff, and they couldnt understand why she wasnt let through, and escorted her to the a/c.

ALL groundstaff at LHR are VS employess.

At LGW the check in staff are Groundstaff who wear VS uniforms but groundstar uniforms to identify them.

At LGW there is also a small team of VS employees who wear the uniform and VS name badge.

Apologies declan for confusing you....

My flight was subject to extra security measures, i have never had this before and i can assure they were not VS staff (the red uniform usually gives the VS staff away ). These were security staff, and IIRC were in BAA uniform. They were checking each individuals passport and boarding pass. The VS groundstaff, even commented to me that they werent VS employees and this was probably why they werent showing much regard for the UC pax.

Hope this clears it up.

[RichardMannion]

Ahh yes Priority Boarding! I must say it is getting better.

At JFk on Friday night, there was a separate queue section (with red carpet too!) and a large lampost like sign stating, Upper, Premium and Flying Club Gold only.

Some of the stations are very good at handling the priority boarding, JFK and SFO spring to mind. Others LHR and LGW aren't so hot - I tend to walk to the front of the melee and show my BP and VS Au card and I will be put to the front of the line. I do think the separate queue option would work better. And as for general non-priority customers I really like the idea that some US carriers do where they print a Group number on your ticket and then board by groups.

The other issue that pops up sometimes is priority disembarking, it normally works well, J then W then Y. But on a few recent flights, the member of crew was unfortunately not present on one side of the cabin to temporarily hold back the Y passengers and it turns into a bit of a mess.

Thanks,
Richard

Hmm this is intersting:

Richard- with regards to ur number point for boarding. I agree with u its an excellent system and is one used by many carriers in the US as u said (including new LCC's such as TEd) its also used of sorts by easyjet as well. Just wondering if people would be too snobby and say it was too Low cost! I know it sounds crazy but u never know.

I think the problem lies in the fact that VS just cant get the boarding line down quick enough. If they used 2 bridges, especially like the ones at ams, then this would help without a doubt. Look at BOS- when i have traveled from there we have always been at gate 8A. Now the gate 8/7/6 have some classic problems. Firstly u oftern get both LH to munich and AZ to Milan and Rome departing within 30mins of the VS flight- this means u have a lot of people waiting around in the poor terminal at BOS- add to this the British hang up of having to be first in the line as well as all the people who go up and stand right in front of the gate even when they arent being called forward to board u end up with one huge mess. Sadly this 'scrum' use to only happen with carriers like BY etc but noew more and more on VS.

Boarding was actually one of the worst experiences about my VS flight LHR-LAX in August. I was in UC, and our flight was called in the Club House. After walking down to the gate, there was a mob of people waiting to board already, and there was NO separate line for UC/Premium boarding. Some of the UC passengers decided to make their own line to the right of the "line" that was already formed. Needless to say this caused angry looks and questions such as "where do you think you're going, the line's right here". It was explained that we were in Upper Class, but quite honestly this sounds awful coming from your own mouth, like boasting or something.

Quite frankly Upper Class/premium passengers should not have to explain why they are "cutting" in line [queue] at LHR to board a plane. Virgin should fix this, because it caused annoyance on the part of Economy passengers and embarrassment (at least for me) for those of us who were told that we had the "benefit" of priority boarding.

From the messages on this forum, this does seem to be a problem for Virgin in terms of customer satisfaction. its also seems to be the regular high payers/UC users who this effects.

I hope that the Virgin Press office looks at these pages, but if not, could one of our staffers bring this thread/problem to the management's attention?

I take it at places such as LHR & LHW the gates are not designed for separate bridge loading? But they could organise the lines better with UC/PE gate as used in places such as MCO?

[HighFlyer]

Agreed with Alan!

If it is not possible to have seperate lanes at LGW/LHR for UC, PE, FC Au, etc, then it should be made clear that these passengers get priority boarding and if they miss their first call they should simply be allowed to show their boarding pass or FC card and jump in. Essentially we are only talking about a small number of people so it wouldnt cause major disruption. Plus, its part of the perk of travelling and paying for higher fare classes.

Who's doing the dirty deed then??

This is a real bone of contention for me also. I thoroughly enjoy flying Virgin (from London - don't mention Manchester though) and have never had priority boarding when flying PE. What highlighted it for me was flying Emirates Business recently, from LHR, where they use door A for first and business, and door B for economy.
Emirates also use T3 and in fact the departure gate was not far from the VS gates.
Surely if the facilities are already there at T3 then why don't VS use them??
I am flying to LAX next month in PE and am dreading the melee already[:I]

[RichardMannion]

I have already flagged the issues with the appropiate person at VS. I'm sure that action will be taken!

Thanks,
Richard

This is also a major moan on the Flyer Talk BA board .I solve this problem by finishing my drink in the clubhouse and a slow amble to the gate most people have then boarded. Recently flights have seemed to be called a little early in the LHR clubhouse.

quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
I have already flagged the issues with the appropiate person at VS. I'm sure that action will be taken!

Thanks,
Richard

Richard,
you are a star!

[HighFlyer]

Well done Richard!!

Jag, i tried this on my last flight, but as you may have read, i always get to the cabin after the Champers has been put away when in PE. I normally get a glass after take-off, but its a shame to miss out on boarding, which is part of the PE experience.

For our next PE flight we will just leave the Clubhouse early and get on board at the proper time (until this issue is resolved) Wenormally plan 3 hours in the Clubhouse, so we wont be missing too much time there

I have experienced the lack of priority boarding for PE passengers at LHR. For a flight to Miami, VS staff at the gate called for Upper Class and those needing assistance to board but no mention of PE passengers. Sat there thinking that i'm sure PE passengers can board first as well. It was thanks to a BAA staff member who 'shouted' out that PE passangers can board as well, which didn't go down too well with the VS staff at the gate[:0]

Having flown from LGW a few times (only in Y) it seems people start to form a queue even before boarding is announced. With no seperate queue for priority boarding, the only way UC and PE passengers can make use of priority boarding would be as Y passangers would see it, is to 'push in' at the front.

Richard, are VS addressing this at all the airports where they fly to/from??

FYI: EWR has Red Carpet priority boarding for UC, PE and AU Card Members.