21–30 of 114 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least one U.S. airline (I forget which) briefly used a transparent scheme to work around this: the first class rows were boarded first, and from there was back to front.
United/Continental does this (basically). First class first, followed by their frequent-flier-tiered passengers. From then on, it's back to front.
Classic example of "cracking a nut with a sledge hammer". You don't need Monte Carlo to understand that boarding first rows is less efficient, or to come up with a much more efficient procedure. (And this is coming from a Monte Carlo lover). What you do need is biz savvyness to understand that rows are ordered by passenger value (first and biz class first, followed by premium, platinum, frequent flyers, etc). These p…
proved, not understood.
Boarding by blocks starting at the front is ridiculous. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to think of a worse way to board a plane. And yet somehow every time I fly that's how it happens. Maybe it's just that my company chooses horrible airlines. The article mentions that assorted methods of boarding were tried, though it only goes into detail about "the Steffen method". I wonder what the difference between blocks-from-th…
I think part of the reason that people could justify the expense of first class is exactly this -- the ability to sit there with a smug look while the rest of the plane exasperatedly waits to be seated.
To me it sounds far more pleasant to sit there outside reading while everyone else has to queue up, then walk in just before take-off to get into my comfortable first class seat, without being jostled by the entire rest of the plane's passenger complement slowly trudging past me and impinging on my personal space.
Perhaps I'm weird.
Classic example of "cracking a nut with a sledge hammer". You don't need Monte Carlo to understand that boarding first rows is less efficient, or to come up with a much more efficient procedure. (And this is coming from a Monte Carlo lover). What you do need is biz savvyness to understand that rows are ordered by passenger value (first and biz class first, followed by premium, platinum, frequent flyers, etc). These p…
> Monte Carlo to understand proved, not understood.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think part of the reason that people could justify the expense of first class is exactly this -- the ability to sit there with a smug look while the rest of the plane exasperatedly waits to be seated.
I'm prepared to admit that I am not motivated by this. To me it sounds far more pleasant to sit there outside reading while everyone else has to queue up, then walk in just before take-off to get into my comfortable first class seat, without being jostled by the entire rest of the plane's passenger complement slowly trudging past me and impinging on my personal space. Perhaps I'm weird.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm prepared to admit that I am not motivated by this. To me it sounds far more pleasant to sit there outside reading while everyone else has to queue up, then walk in just before take-off to get into my comfortable first class seat, without being jostled by the entire rest of the plane's passenger complement slowly trudging past me and impinging on my personal space. Perhaps I'm weird.
Alternatively you could walk in as soon as boarding starts, sit down and start reading, and not have to worry about looking up every few minutes to see whether it's your turn to board yet.
Besides, why look up when they're announcing things over the P.A.?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The difference is generally that higher-paying (i.e. first and business class) passengers get seated first (because having your higher-paying passengers wait for the lower-paying passengers is undesirable), and they're also generally seated at the front of the plane so they don't have to wait when getting off either.
At least one U.S. airline (I forget which) briefly used a transparent scheme to work around this: the first class rows were boarded first, and from there was back to front.