Virgin Atlantic try group boarding
British Airways have been doing group boarding since before the pandemic, more successfully sometimes than others. Now Virgin has introduced a similar system. Up until now and indeed the last time I flew in November they did it by cabin and status.
Customers who need extra time will still be able to board first, followed by group 1, 2 and so on, in order. Boarding passes now have the group numbers shown.
Here are all the different groups:
| Ticket or loyalty membership | |
|---|---|
| Group 1 | Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold |
| Group 2 | Virgin Atlantic Premium Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Silver |
| Group 3 | Virgin Atlantic Economy Delight |
| Group 4 | Delta Diamond Medallions Delta Platinum Medallions Delta Gold Medallions Air France / KLM Flying Blue Platinum Air France / KLM Flying Blue Gold |
| Group 5 | Delta Silver Medallions Air France / KLM Flying Blue Silver Singapore Solitaire Life PPS Club / PPS Club Krisflyer Elite Gold Virgin Australia Club / Platinum / Gold |
| Group 6 – 9 | Virgin Atlantic Economy |
What do you think? Do you think boarding groups work? Let us know in the comments below.
AA summer schedule – extra UK flights
American Airlines has announced its biggest-ever summer schedule to and from London Heathrow (LHR), operating 26 daily flights starting April.
With the addition of extra daily flights to Los Angeles (LAX) and Charlotte Douglas International (CLT), American will operate its largest schedule from London across the Atlantic, flying to 11 North American cities with its 26 daily flights. The 2023 summer schedule solidifies American’s position as the biggest U.S. carrier at LHR.
You can of course use Avios for flights on AA but not BA Amex companion vouchers.
American’s summer schedule from LHR includes:
| Destination | No. daily flights |
| Boston (BOS) | 1 |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 3 |
| Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) | 4 |
| New York City (JFK) | 4 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 3 |
| Miami (MIA) | 2 |
| Chicago (ORD) | 4 |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 2 |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 1 |
| Raleigh-Durham (RDU) | 1 |
| Seattle (SEA) | 1 |
If you want to read about American Airlines’ business class, you can read my review here.
Tickets are available for purchase on aa.com.
New Etihad routes and sale bargains
Etihad Airways will be introducing two new routes this year, connecting Abu Dhabi to Copenhagen in Denmark and Düsseldorf in Germany. You may wonder why this is of interest seeing as most TLFL readers are in the UK. Etihad often has some excellent EU fares with Germany being one of the places with often see them. So it is always good to have more starting points that could have good deals!
Launching 1 October, there will be four weekly flights to Copenhagen and three weekly flights to Düsseldorf. Etihad previously flew to Dusseldorf and is now relaunching the route. They also fly to Munich and Frankfurt.
The flights will be operated using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft which has the modern Business Class studio seats which I find very comfortable. All seats have direct aisle access. You can find several reviews of Etihad business class here.
There are currently some decent Etihad sale fares in business class (return):
- Dublin – Johannesburg £1706
- Dublin – Zanzibar £1799
- Milan – Maldives £1544
- Milan – Seychelles £1632
- Rome – Singapore £1498
- Berlin – Johannesburg £1508
- Brussels – Johannesburg £1508
- Oslo – Sydney £3326
- Frankfurt – Tokyo £1587
- Frankfurt – Seychelles £1587
- Frankfurt – Manila £1542
- Munich – Singapore £1455
- Munich – Melbourne £2514
The Munich – Melbourne fare is very limited on a small number of weekdays until the end of May and then again in September and October.
You need to book by 20 January for travel until 10 October 2023 for the sale fares.
You can find the sale page here.
The full list of UK and Irish Etihad sales fares are in this article.
5 comments
Group boarding….we often say that it would make sense for those at the front cabins to actually board last…we can enjoy the lounge for longer, then be invited to board once everyone else has settled, not have loads of people queuing past you when you are seated.
Group boarding works, but not one which fills the front seats first. No matter how conscientious passengers are we all need to get something out of the overhead lockers, or put something in, or chat to family and friends, all of which block the aisles and delay the “poor people” (like me) from getting to the rear seats.
Years ago, Lufthansa tried filling window seats first, but suddenly realised that they were splitting up families with children. It was soon dumped.
Great to see Etihad launch CPH and DUS. If only this would kick start Qatar into the kind of Sales fares I mourn the loss of from Scandinavia. I regularly would book Stockholm, Oslo or CPH to Sydney for around £1800 round trip pre pandemic – and nab 560 Tier Points along the way. I guess there is still so much premium demand there at the moment they don’t have to offer those amazing fares.
Yes you can only hope that Etihad’s current offers help Qatar start to do better fares. They’ve gone from being the most reasonable to the most expensive. I understood when it was World Cup but not now. It’s pretty much all demand driven but fuel costs don’t help either. With a shortage of aircraft and staff for at least the next year or so I think it will be autumn before we start to see much movement as the cost of living dampens demand.
Surely with one entry boarding it makes sense to board the rear seating first, say rows 38 to 45, then follow with 30 to 38, then 24 to 30 etc. etc.
Yet on a recent BA flight to Barbados there was the usual chaos with the rows 30’s and 40’s queuing or forcing their way past the 20’s trying to disrobe or stow luggage overhead.
By all means those with babies or special needs first and first class either first or last as they prefer but smoother loading for the rest is not rocket science.