Priority boarding scam

[Campo Kenny]

Even when you've booked your seats as we do, as soon as the gate opens for boarding for some inexplicable reason a lot of people seem to want to start the jostling......idiots!

It's not the 6 foot frames either..............I can cope them, it's the old biddys with bladders like butter beans needing the bog on the plane, or the mother with little Johnny who thinks they are the only two people of importance in the world that totally **** me off

Kenny

[katy]

I agree flights are much cheaper than years ago. Don't like the false advertising though. Just been to Madrid, flights were advertised as being from 15 euros each way (from málaga) couldn't find one for any date! and its not the first time! Still the flight was about the same as train fare.

Has anyone noticed the increase in the number of peple who need assistance and a buggy ride to the gate? Was once on a BA flight and they asked for people to volunteer to be bumped with good financial incentive. A woman who had passed me in a buggy and limped on couldn't get off fast enough, she was at the desk before me!

[Campo Kenny]

Yep, buggies..............they fight and barge each other out the way to get on them.
Another thing I noticed once was a guy with his leg in plaster...........he'd blagged priority boarding and went on first with the wheelchair passengers............fairy nuff I thought...................but then the *beep* wanted to be off first as well at Malaga didn't he???.............he held everyone one up disembarking for an age by blocking the aisle grovelling around for his bags etc..................selfish pillock.

Kenny

[costapacket]

I book seats in advance sometimes and don't board until last and then I can get off first. Getting off at Malaga at the top of the steps my youngest said he had left his money on the plane. We had to wait until everyone else on the plane had disembarked then we went back on the plane to find his money. We couldn't see it anywhere then he 'found' it in his pocket - little blighter

[mijasmagic]

There MAY be a way to understand why so many people want to be first at check in, to then be on the first bus, but I can never understand why people want to be first off the bus. Do so many of them want specific seats? (ie front row, back row, etc) EVERYBODY disembarking the first bus to any aircraft from a 737 upwards will get seats together, unless maybe it´s a party in double figures!

The same goes at UK airports where people either have numbered seats, or, as with Easyjet, are in the first batch to board. Why is there a stampede by these people as soon as they are called to the gate? Is it a British thing, or are other nationalities as desparate to get in their seats?

[Wicksey]

I was just checking Bmibaby's website to see if there were any changes to the security/checking in procedures and had a look at my flight out of curiosity, as normally they go up in price the closer they get to departure date. I was amazed to see that it's gone down to 88€. I can't beat that 4p flight of Wendy's though

[katy]

Had an e-mail from BA today, winter flights to málaga 38 GBP each way including taxes.

[MarkF]

I was just checking Bmibaby's website and had a look at my flight out of curiosity, as normally they go up in price the closer they get to departure date. I was amazed to see that it's gone down to 88€.

I'd stop checking if I were you

[Retro P]

I don't get the moaning about flight prices at all, surely if you're travelling to you holiday home then you have taken into consideration the cost of flights, personally I think anything under 150-175 quid is a bargain!!

[Paula]

I think generally airline travel is very cheap. I do like to have an allocated seat with extra legroom so that I can turn the pages of my newspaper, particularly as I always seem to have the 4ft 6ins guy infront who always reclines his seat.

What I am starting to get irritated about is that on a few occasions I have had seriously overweight people next to me that overspill into my seat. Not talking taking up the armrest, this is overspill that means I have to sit at an awkward angle for the flight or get way to upclose and personal for comfort.

Oh and I also wish they would stop the hot food, the smell makes me feel quite sick.

[Nicks]

I have flown often withn easyjet (although not recently) and have found that they used to let our family board first as we have young children. Has this changed since they now charge for priority boarding? And if everyone pays for priority boarding on the flight, who gets priority?!

[Campo Kenny]

Why do people want priority boarding? and why do so many people with different circumstances claim this favour..........I guess it's so they are not in the rush to board, fair enough. So why can't they wait until last then?, there will be no jostling then will there, or would this not be acceptable to them

Not being funny, I'm just interested as I hear so many people with various reasons claiming a god given right to board before people who arrived earlier than them and it's wrong in my humble opinion.

Kenny

[MarkF]

Why do people want priority boarding?

It's a mystery to me too. I view it as another way to get your cash, well they are not getting mine I think they provide a great service, but I pay for my flight (baggage if I've got the kids) and that's that.

However my wife booked the last flights and did pay for priority boarding, as I ambled up the plane steps I looked round and saw all the poor people racing like lunatics across the tarmac, were the priority cards worth it? Nope, my life was not impoved any as far as I could see. Were the people racing across the tarmac utter lunatics, yes!

This was the flight where the Ryanair staff got all muddled up on the return journey and let the poor people on first instead of the elegant prioriry boarding card holders, of which I was one. It was one of the funniest sights I have ever seen Indignant card holders threatening mutiny, cardless people spotting their chance, laughing and running hell for leather through the gate before the mistake was rectified. Honestly you would have thought that some peoples entire world had caved in. Great fun!

[Nicks]

I guess priority boarding is only worth paying for if you are really tall and need the extra leg room, or you prefer to be over the wings because you don't enjoy flying (meant to be less turbulance over the wings) or if you have young children - I would not be happy if my very young children had to sit unaccompanied on the plane..... So in that case I would almost be forced to pay priority boarding!!

Somehow I don't mind paying for pre-booked seats (as opposed to priority boarding) as with other airlines like Monarch, at least then I am choosing to pay to be guaranteed to get my whole family sitting together on a plane, but somehow to pay for priority boarding, without guarantee that you will actually get the seats you want anyway seems a bit much.

For this reason, provided the price is right, I would rather fly monarch and pre-book the seats!!

[JAKE M]

Good point Nicks. If everybody pre-booked with priority boarding, who would they allow to board first?

[frank]

[quote="Paula"]I think generally airline travel is very cheap. I do like to have an allocated seat with extra legroom so that I can turn the pages of my newspaper, particularly as I always seem to have the 4ft 6ins guy infront who always reclines his seat.

What I am starting to get irritated about is that on a few occasions I have had seriously overweight people next to me that overspill into my seat. Not talking taking up the armrest, this is overspill that means I have to sit at an awkward angle for the flight or get way to upclose and personal for comfort.

Oh and I also wish they would stop the hot food, the smell makes me feel quite sick.[/quote]

Don't like vertically challenged people sitting in front of you, overweight people sitting alongside you, people eating hot food near you, perhaps they should bring out a form you could fill in with the details of passengers that could be acceptable to sit near you! :D

[fizzbang]

Frank...You forgot long legged people like me behind you..digging their squashed knees into your back.

[Paula]

Frank I held back. I don't like small children next to me or people that want to tell me their life story on the journey. It would need to be a doublesided form

[beachbabe]

Yeah i've got a nice pair of long legs. Any plane flying less than 4 hours ought not to let passengers recline their seats. If anyone in front of me does it, it's a loud 'borrocks' and a firm pair of knees in the small of the back for 2.5 hours.

Ryanair, gawd bless 'em don't allow reclining seats. That compensates me for most of their cattle truck policies and custome abuse.

Long legs need space!

[Cassandra]

Don't know about the others but with Easyjet the priority boarders are limited to 20, just a shame they get to go on the bus 1st but then end up last off