Are you about to take a plane? I'll explain what zone boarding means and how to always get free 1/2 zone
There is a huge difference in boarding procedures between traditional and low-cost airlines. The low-costs have tied the [...]
There is a huge difference in boarding procedures between traditional and low-cost airlines. Low-cost airlines have tied priority boarding to the ability to be able to Carry around a carry-on that is bulkier than a backpack.
In this article:
All excluded on a Ryanair flight and the like, the illusion of spending little is now gone, the only real advantage these companies give over traditional carriers is that they take you everywhere, even to places you've never heard of, even places that have paved a strip of land just to land 737s and A320s there.
What is zoned boarding
If you fly with a traditional carrier you may have noticed that he has not tried, at least to date, to sell you "priority boarding", did not try to extort 10 euros from you to give you the assurance that you would bring your trolley on board. Of course traditional carriers sell seat choice, but at check-in you are usually made to choose your seat for free.
Traditional carriers have, for some time, Adopted an intelligent boarding procedure where passengers are divided into zones to avoid crowds at the gate and speed up operations.
Some people do it in a clever way like Swiss which divides passengers by cabin, status, and position in the plane. Those who instead divide passengers simply on the basis of fare and if you get zone 8 you already know you will be the last one to board.
Zoned boarding involves passengers being divided into groups, generally from 1 to 5, but in the U.S. it goes up to 8. Based on the group marked on the boarding pass (paper or digital) you will have access to the plane, simple and easy to understand. You just need to know how to read.
I have come to the conclusion that in the world only Italians have not understood how the zones work
It's probably in our DNA, that we don't know how to queue.. It happens at the stadium, the bus stop, and the supermarket checkout; it couldn't not happen at the gate. We are always trying to be smart. I've seen passengers assaulting gate attendants because they weren't being made to board before others by having them have a child: 15 years old almost 6 feet tall.
The same happens with zoned boarding: "It opens anyway even though we are zone 5" and then the gate does not open, or the agent rightly flunks the passenger who then stages a play.
Let's be clear, it doesn't just happen in Italy, but since I fly so much and all over the world I can say without a doubt that if the flight is "full" of passengers made in Italy it will happen, it is not autarkic racism it is the state of things. I was recently in Hong Kong when a Karen traveling business class on Emirates verbally assaulted an attendant who was letting in first class passengers ahead of her, she who was ahead of everyone in the business row.
Last year at airports clogged due to Airmageddon. PRM emergency has broken out, that is, passengers who indicated at the time of booking that they needed assistance on the ground, thereby skipping any queues at the airport and on board, creating worse inconvenience for those who really needed support.
My "last" experience
I write this article aboard an A321 that took off from Helsinki and headed to Rome with Finnair. On board a lower fill rate than the 50%, and at the gate I saw the worst things. Italians on field trip who stood in front of the gate gates and started the "Italian-style" boarding strategy, not giving a damn about all the other passengers who were diligently waiting for the boarding gate to open.
Let the passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) board, there are those who immediately sprinted Carl Lewis model, or bum in review mode, to get ahead of everyone. Too bad that like in Monopoly he ended up in the short alley without passing the Go.
As soon as the green gate lights came on, here's The gaggle of pursuers who piled onto the electronic gates except receiving the red light, the result of tickets in zone 3/4/5 when the monitors clearly showed the words "Zone 1 passengers only"
Needless to say, the frustration of not being able to board a half-empty plane prompted a timid protest from the passengers except to be brought to heel by icy Finnish stares; I felt like I was rewatching the Checco Zalone movie.
What to do if boarding is zoned
The procedure is simple. The boarding area (or group) is marked on both the paper and digital ticket. The attendants inform (in multiple languages) what the boarding arrangements will be like and invite passengers to respect their group.
The good passenger then takes note of being in group X and waits, without standing in line regardless, in front of the gate. By doing so, everyone will board at the due time and no one will get nervous.
How to always be in zone 1/2
There is a trick and it is free. To always have the 1/2 zone, that is, the one that gives you the opportunity to board first, have plenty of time to put your trolley in the hat rack and sit comfortably in your seat.
The trick is to be faithful to an alliance, fly as much as possible with the companies of that particular alliance and get the status, by doing so if you get an elite level you will be able to enjoy many benefits, starting with priority boarding and beyond.
