Queuing to board?

Probably the first and last time anyone will say that to me! I will cherish that! But the most recent planes I have been on are military ones - and then you absolutely do what the person in green at the front tells you what to do! And I'm a civvy!

We have this exact scenario. I am an incredibly nervous flyer and DH takes charge at the airport. I do as I am told (in this specific and limited situation only).

They don’t do this on the cheapy airlines I travel on, you are clearly moving in more refined circles than me .

Though I have never been on a plane where the rows have letters. Have always been numbered.

IME the fasten seatbelt sign doesn’t go off until the aircraft has finished taxiing.

I stand up the minute the flight lands and the last time I heard the woman say behind me to her husband 'dont know why people stand up so quickly, no one is getting off yet' Didnt occur to her that Im uncomfortable sitting down and will always rather stand up if I can rather than sit down. If Im waiting for something I will always stand rather than sit.

It can work in travellers' favour too. I had about 10 kilos of excess baggage on top of my 30kg allowance. The check in staff said if I allowed them to put my cabin case in the hold, they would forego the money for the excess baggage, which would have been ~$40 per kilo.

I've seen this happen on some full flights though in the gate lounge before boarding started. Staff would patrol up and down and ask people to volunteer to check luggage. I only ever have a small rucksack and have never been asked. They always pick people with those small wheelie suitcases which can't go under the seat, starting with the biggest looking ones. I've seen someone protest and the staff member whipped out a tape measure and announced it was too big anyway and it was carted off to the hold.

My ex was one of those arrogant, snooty types.
He did the same getting off the flight.
Granted, standing there with your head on the wonk for 40 mins is a bit stupid, but we literally had to be asked to get off one time cos they needed to clean the plane.
That was the time the smart arse left his passport on the aircraft.

I can completely understand why people might want to wait until last, but with some people there is a really odd smug arsehole attitude about it - as if everyone who doesn't want to wait until last are idiots - 'look at them queuing to get on - idiots, they could still be sat in this dusty old terminal seat for an extra 10 mins, but instead they are using their own muscles to stand up. The fools. I'm so chilled I get to enjoy some extra terminal time'

There are lots of reasons why I might want to stand and queue.

Overhead luggage space
I might feel like standing up and stretching my legs
Unless you are first you have to queue somewhere
I have ADHD and have missed a flight whilst sitting next to the gate before - that can't happen if I'm in the queue
The passport/tickets faff - I use the queue time to sort myself out so I'm not doing it right in front of the check-in clerk
Not feeling rushed

Plus there is the rather obvious part - if everyone waited to be last to get on - no one would board the plane.

This. We use fast track security because you just go straight through without queuing and priority boarding because there is often no room for overhead luggage near your seat if you don’t , with priority boarding you are guaranteed the space.

Really, you can’t think of any reason 🤔

If you read the thread, it's been explained many times...

I really don’t understand why people queue. I board last

I think it’s dumb! Quite often We’ll walk past the queue and go and sit in the lounge area and the daggers some people give! We then get up and join boarding.
if you’re the kind of idiot who wants to queue all the way down the corridor rather than sitting the lounge like a normal person then that’s on you.
Then staff should tell people to go and sit and not block the way.

@faithfultoGeorgeMichael read this:

https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/flight-delays-and-cancellations/downgrading/

yes they can make decisions for safety reasons but they have to compensate you.

Bit of trivia for you: the overhead locker is still known in some official documents as the “hat rack”.

Many years ago I remember being on a long haul flight were we were delayed taking off. Eventually an announcement was made to say the reason for the delay was that two people who had sat down in first class and refused to leave had now moved. A red faced, smartly dressed couple appeared to clapping in economy.

Errr yeah they’d notice. In both business and first. There are a host of things they need to do for each passenger in business and first. Including greeting by name! They’d notice and remove the passenger. If the passenger fails to move, depending on airline, they refuse to depart. I was unfortunate enough to be part of a whole plane disembarkation due to some idiot thinking they could be funny.

If someone is sitting in my seat when I board, I tell them to shift it. Nobody has ever objected. They normally just act dumb and pretend they didn't realise.

I've flown long haul business a few times and the cabin crew have always checked my boarding pass. Maybe I just look like I belong in economy 😂

I don't desperately start queueing early to try and get on board ASAP. However, I don't wait until everyone else is on then swan in at the end, either. If everyone tries to board first there's a long queue. If everyone tries to board last then the plane will never be ready to depart. Just go forward when the gate staff ask you to.

Depending on the airline I think for first class (not business class) they might. I flew actual first class once as I had to get to a funeral and it was the only ticket available. Cost an arm and a leg. But anyway the cabin crew greeted me by name every time they spoke to me. They knew exactly who I was and in which seat.

Small claims?

I think they pay more attention to who's in first class and wont want to be giving stuff away to people who haven't paid for it. It's not just the seat, it''s the service and freebies.

@Brokene

I would however imagine if someone plonked themselves in first class with an economy ticket then they’d be able to move them though and wouldn’t take off until they had moved.

I doubt they'd even notice unless the seat was reserved for someone else who found their seat was occupied. I can't imagine the cabin crew check boarding passes a second time once people have got onboard.