Delta "Zone" boarding = stupid

Wow, what a terrible airline. Their zonal boarding has to be the worst
system ever invented. It takes three times as long to board the airplane.
Yesterday I checked in 90 mintues before departure and was in the "final
boarding call" zone. Surprise, no room left in the overhead compartments.
Their MD80's have a nice wide aisle and narrow seats...I'll stick to
American, they suffer have none of these problems.

Doesn't matter what airline you fly, if it's a full flight and you're last
to board, don't expect overhead bin space.

I think Southwest is the only airline that considers how early you check
when determining what boarding zone you're in. Other airlines, it's based
on what seat you're in.

Matt


"Sti" wrote in message
news:yJ9nc.5922$536.1222947@attbi_s03...
Wow, what a terrible airline. Their zonal boarding has to be the worst
system ever invented. It takes three times as long to board the airplane.
Yesterday I checked in 90 mintues before departure and was in the "final
boarding call" zone. Surprise, no room left in the overhead compartments.
Their MD80's have a nice wide aisle and narrow seats...I'll stick to
American, they suffer have none of these problems.

On Sat, 8 May 2004 17:56:00 -0700, "Matt"
wrote:

Doesn't matter what airline you fly, if it's a full flight and you're last
to board, don't expect overhead bin space.


Complete nonsense. I've been on full flights on Qantas, easyjet,
Ryanair, British Airways, and many others, and there has been spare
room in the overhead lockers. It is only on airlines with ridiculously
large carry-on allowances, or those that don't enforce their
allowances, that problems occur.



--==++AJC++==--

I didn't say you would never find overhead space if you're last to board,
just don't expect it. Of course depending on the aircraft and the route,
the amount of available overhead space will vary.

Matt


"AJC" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 8 May 2004 17:56:00 -0700, "Matt"
wrote:

Doesn't matter what airline you fly, if it's a full flight and you're
last
to board, don't expect overhead bin space.


Complete nonsense. I've been on full flights on Qantas, easyjet,
Ryanair, British Airways, and many others, and there has been spare
room in the overhead lockers. It is only on airlines with ridiculously
large carry-on allowances, or those that don't enforce their
allowances, that problems occur.



--==++AJC++==--

I can't speak for Delta, but I felt that zone barding works well on Southwest.

M. Graham

"Matt" wrote in message ...
Doesn't matter what airline you fly, if it's a full flight and you're last
to board, don't expect overhead bin space.

I think Southwest is the only airline that considers how early you check
when determining what boarding zone you're in. Other airlines, it's based
on what seat you're in.

Matt


"Sti" wrote in message
news:yJ9nc.5922$536.1222947@attbi_s03...
Wow, what a terrible airline. Their zonal boarding has to be the worst
system ever invented. It takes three times as long to board the airplane.
Yesterday I checked in 90 mintues before departure and was in the "final
boarding call" zone. Surprise, no room left in the overhead compartments.
Their MD80's have a nice wide aisle and narrow seats...I'll stick to
American, they suffer have none of these problems.

Michael Graham wrote:
I can't speak for Delta, but I felt that zone barding works well on Southwest.

You aren't comparing the same thing.

mrtravelkay wrote:
Michael Graham wrote:
I can't speak for Delta, but I felt that zone barding works well on Southwest.

You aren't comparing the same thing.
Perhaps the Delta zoning is similar to the United zoning I saw when I
flew with UA recently. I assumed what they were doing was providing a
way to board people who fly a lot in order of splendidness and yet
still call sensible amounts of people in each zone. As I am a scum
irregular flyer, I was in the last group and had to put my bag at my
feet.

Before they did the zoning, they'd announce:

1. People with kids etc. 6 people get on
2. First class. 12 people get on, or however many seats there are in
first
3. Premiers, 1Ks etc. 2/3 of the plane gets on with their oversized
laptop bags
4. Rows 20-30, fighting past the frequent flyers with their tiny bags
because they read on United's website that you're only allowed a tiny
bag and why are all those people in suits carrying three?
5. Rows 10-30, as for 4, but with no space left because some of the
lazy frequent flyers with their three bags put most of them in the
front overheads.

Nothing's changed for us scum passengers, but at least there is now a
jusifiable hierarchy amongst the frequent flyers.

The Southwest way, as I understand it, is to reward those who turn up
early, since by all other accounts, everyone is equal. This is at
least better than Ryanair, where getting on first requires expert
prediction of how many people will fit on each shuttle bus to the
remote stand. Those who are the last to squeeze onto the first bus get
up the steps first!

Alan

Alan Moore wrote:

mrtravelkay wrote:

Michael Graham wrote:

I can't speak for Delta, but I felt that zone barding works well on Southwest.

You aren't comparing the same thing.

Perhaps the Delta zoning is similar to the United zoning I saw when I
flew with UA recently. I assumed what they were doing was providing a
way to board people who fly a lot in order of splendidness and yet
still call sensible amounts of people in each zone. As I am a scum
irregular flyer, I was in the last group and had to put my bag at my
feet.

Before they did the zoning, they'd announce:

1. People with kids etc. 6 people get on
2. First class. 12 people get on, or however many seats there are in
first
3. Premiers, 1Ks etc. 2/3 of the plane gets on with their oversized
laptop bags
4. Rows 20-30, fighting past the frequent flyers with their tiny bags
because they read on United's website that you're only allowed a tiny
bag and why are all those people in suits carrying three?
5. Rows 10-30, as for 4, but with no space left because some of the
lazy frequent flyers with their three bags put most of them in the
front overheads.


I don't believe this is what DL was doing, as what you describe above
is a fairly standard method in the US. I think the zone plan is a plan
where the people by the window board first (after preboards), then the
middle, then the aisle.

mrtravelkay wrote in message m...
Michael Graham wrote:
I can't speak for Delta, but I felt that zone barding works well on Southwest.

You aren't comparing the same thing.

Maybe so. I just rember getting to the gate early and being one of the
first to board the plane. Also I rember being able to select the seat
I wanted. Not sure if the Delta boarding system works the same way. In
addition something makes me think that UA has gone to this, as well.
Is this true and if so, how well does it work?

M. Graham

"Alan Moore" wrote in message
om...
mrtravelkay wrote:
Michael Graham wrote:
I can't speak for Delta, but I felt that zone barding works well on
Southwest.

You aren't comparing the same thing.
Perhaps the Delta zoning is similar to the United zoning I saw when I
flew with UA recently. I assumed what they were doing was providing a
way to board people who fly a lot in order of splendidness and yet
still call sensible amounts of people in each zone. As I am a scum
irregular flyer, I was in the last group and had to put my bag at my
feet.

Gee, you must fly a different airline that uses the same name, because my
experiences on United are nothing like yours. Until fairly recently, I had
no status on United, and boarded when my zone was called. I didn't see any
frequent flyers with three carryons, or with anything that was oversize,
i.e. couldn't fit in the overhead or under the seat in front. I did see a
lot of clearly inexperienced flyers boarding with all sorts of wierd carryon
luggage, e.g. big duffel bags, oversized and overstuffed backpacks that
didn't fit in the overhead, shopping bags in addition to a carryon and
personal item, etc. I also didn't see anyone treated like scum, least of
non-frequent-flying-on-United me. In fact, I was so impressed with United's
customer service (I had abandoned them about 8 or 10 years ago because THEN
they were pretty unpleasant) that I've had United match my status on my
other preferred carrier, so now I'm a Premier Exec.



Before they did the zoning, they'd announce:

1. People with kids etc. 6 people get on
2. First class. 12 people get on, or however many seats there are in
first
3. Premiers, 1Ks etc. 2/3 of the plane gets on with their oversized
laptop bags
4. Rows 20-30, fighting past the frequent flyers with their tiny bags
because they read on United's website that you're only allowed a tiny
bag and why are all those people in suits carrying three?
5. Rows 10-30, as for 4, but with no space left because some of the
lazy frequent flyers with their three bags put most of them in the
front overheads.

Nothing's changed for us scum passengers, but at least there is now a
jusifiable hierarchy amongst the frequent flyers.

I'm going to guess that you don't fly very much, because your observations
are way off the mark.



The Southwest way, as I understand it, is to reward those who turn up
early, since by all other accounts, everyone is equal. This is at
least better than Ryanair, where getting on first requires expert
prediction of how many people will fit on each shuttle bus to the
remote stand. Those who are the last to squeeze onto the first bus get
up the steps first!

Or is it that you only fly in Europe? US airlines have cut services to the
bone. In order to encourage brand loyalty, they award their best customers
certain perks, including the ability to board first. What's wrong with
that?


Alan