Zone Boarding

[wench]

Geez, years ago, the bags were zone loaded...

hmm.. imagaine that?

They must all be zone loaded out of ccy..another brainfart like PPF, MetroJet(oh were never going to cancel/be delayed/Business Select...)

We'll see...This company spends $$$$$$$$$$to save Cents...

IMHO...

 

[US1YFARE]

I love zone boarding. UA has used it for some time now and it works GREAT! As a US1, I still get boarded Zone 1 on UA. It really helps keep the boarding process orderly and allows the gate agent to quickly identify someone who should not be boarding because it clearly says on your boarding pass ZONE 1.

 

[LOVDPIEDMONT]

But we know that the only wasy US will survive is to cater to the elites even more and screw the rest of the "just passin' thru" customers.

[post="173658"][/post]​

I agree with you too! Our elites are really important and the extra courtesies go a long way towards keeping their loyalty.

 

[KCFlyer]

I agree with you too! Our elites are really important and the extra courtesies go a long way towards keeping their loyalty.

[post="173720"][/post]​

Try as I might, I wasn't able to find the "sarcasm" font. How much loyalty do you want to keep for a guy flying on a below cost ticket that was upgraded to F???

 

[Art at ISP]

KC,

We don't always fly on below cost tickets that upgrade to F. The simple fact is the more we fly, the more likely we are to be profitable customers--the average works for US. Therefore US should and I believe DOES recognize the importance of the very frequent flyer. My recent travel has been in the middle of the price spectrum--one trip ISP-FLL for about $450 (which SHOULD be near max), one trip to CLT for $950 (WAY too much), and one trip to ROC for about $250 (just about right). I have had FLL fares as low as $173, and while that's nice, I realize it's a loser for the company.

One of the points made at R'Fest was that we don't expect the artificially low fares offered to counter some of the LCC competition. What we expect is FAIR fares. In some cases we do get low fares and in other cases we don't. For what it's worth however, please remember that you do have the most loyal group of elite flyers of ANY of the majors, and that is primarily due to YOU, the fine folks on the front line. I am not looking to blow my own horn here, but frequent customers provide much more revenue overall than the once a year flyer, who is more likely to be rude and aggressive when irregular ops occur.

I also echo L4P's comment that there are some badly behaved elites, but I think that is primarily the majority. There was an incident at ISP on Friday morning when we had a ground stop due to weather in PHL (there was more than one cloud in the sky). A customer started giving the agent a hard time about his connection--said to her this wouldn't be a problem if US was a "real" airline. I jumped up and intervened on her behalf--explained the ATC situation in PHL, and told the guy to be thankful he is not on an LCC (name omitted). Instead of being able to rebook on another carrier he would be sitting around for hours until the next flight on that carrier. Bottom line is the agent and I were able to diffuse the situation, and it wound up reassuring other customers.

You guys and gals REALLY are the best--I wish there was more we could do to help.


My best to you all.....

 

[Art at ISP]

PS On the issue of zone boarding, it does seem to work elsewhere. The overall boarding order is similar--First and elite, followed by rows. It is just more simple as the zone is printed on the boarding pass.

IIRC, Jet Blue boards by rows, not by window/aisle--I believe SONG does it that way.

Not to start the rumor mill, but could the adoption of zones have anything to do with a future consolidation of some sort?? (Or an adjustment in a CRS system?)

My best to you all....

 

[KCFlyer]

KC,

... The simple fact is the more we fly, the more likely we are to be profitable customers--the average works for US. ...

[post="173785"][/post]​

If that is the case, shouldn't US have shown a profit?

 

[Vikedog64]

AA boards by zone.
Jay

[post="173652"][/post]​

So does Delta.

 

[hp_fa]

So does Delta.

[post="173794"][/post]​

So does HP.

 

[Art at ISP]

KC Flyer,

That depends on the mix--a good percentage of VFF's are profitable--it can be overshadowed by an overwhelming percentage of people flying on lower fares, as is the case today.

If one were to analyze let's say L4P, Piney or my travel history, I do believe you would find overall they made money on us. It is simply the law of averages. If the company markets to us a bit more, perhaps things would swing closer to the black. It's great to fill all the seats, but it's better to make some money while doing it.

My best to you all......

 

[Singleflyer]

KCFLyer,

You have a very bad misconception of VFF. Of the dozen or CP at my company we all fly on last minuite one way tickets, which means very expensive fares. We have about 75 others at the company, based on their location choose to fly other carriers.

I choose to fly US more than anyother carrier. I am PLTM on NW, and Silver on DL. I could very easily shift ALL of my travel from US to DL and become PLTM over there, and there system based on revenue I would make it in no time at all.

You should be gratful for fliers like myself who fly alot on your airline, and who's company pays alot for those tickets.

 

[jimntx]

To those of you who are worried about the non-frequent flyer's reaction to zone boarding...

It's not a problem as long as the boarding agent doesn't announce to the world what the zones mean. Everyone expects FC, the elderly, people with small children, etc. to board first. It's when the agent starts announcing, "We would now ask Group I which is our Executive Platinum, Platinum, and Gold AAdvantage members and special VIP guests to board at this tim," that it becomes a problem.

It won't take your frequent flyers long to figure out that no matter where they are seated in the cabin, they are always Group I. Only Group II may or may not notice that some of Group I are seated in the back of the plane and some are not. By the time Group III starts to board, there will be too many passengers on board to spot a pattern.

Make sure that someone knows to tell the agents to just announce the groups by number, not by qualification.

 

[geo1004]

Zone boarding works very well on other carriers. It's essentially idiot proof in that there is a big zone number printed on the boarding pass. Of course we know that even then things are crazy. This is much less confusing that calling out all the different possiblities - FC, Chairman's, Golds, Silvers, Star Gold, row munbers, etc etc.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

I think one of the advantages to 'zone boarding' has got to be its flexibility and adaptability. U can change boarding configuration to better serve its operations over time in a manner which does not require retraining agenst or pax. Also, perhaps boarding patterns for specific flights and cities can be analyzed eventually to tailor boarding zones and procedures for even more increased efficiency. Surely, computer programs can analyze loads, distributions etc and adopt better distributions and adjust zone numbers accordingly as pax get their boarding passes.

 

[TomBascom]

It's a great idea and it works very well for other carriers. Printing the zone in big fat numbers on the BP reduces the gate crush -- especially if its enforced.

It's really no different than SWA's A B C process.