Biz lounge- when should i board
 

Ok so hopefully someone can stop us having yet another domestic when we fly to BKK this Nov. We usually fly Eva Biz class from LHR. The lounge is shared so because of this they NEVER make announcements. I am one of lifes "hate being late" the BF HATES flying,
I always panic about getting to the gate in good time, he always stresses me out by wanting to wait and always says "we are in business class there is no rush".
What do you think is a reasonable time to get to the gate, without cutting it fine?
Soz if its a dumb question but we nearly always end up getting narky at the airports with each other due to this.

I can relate more to your bf's stance than yours. Why should I give up a comfortable seat with snacks and drinks in the club just to sit on a plane where I will be captive for the next several hours? If the plane is scheduled to leave at x, there is a rule that you must be in the gate area something like 15 minutes before x and I plan to be there no ore than a few minutes in advance of that. As long as I have my BP and am there within that timeframe they are not going to leave without me. And if you are flying in Biz many airlines give you priority boarding that lets you cut in line ahead of passengers in coach.
The one reason I would get there earlier is if I have a larger carry on bag that I do not want to risk having gate checked. Seats are assigned but he overhead space is first come, first served.

Thanks

Will try and hold myself back to 5 or 10 mins before gate closes.... at least then we both can agree on that....

How about you go and board first? ;)

believe me he has suggested that BUT been as he needs a "couple" of stiff drinks to get him thru the flght i don't think he can be left unattended.....

Smeagol - I would be more concerned about your "BF" drinking so much he can't be left "unattended" this might be a bigger issue.....

SD

I was joking.....

this sounds like DH and me - he will wait till last minute and I like to be at the gate 10-15 min before boarding STARTS.

We now compromise that we leave for the gate 15 min before boarding starts, so I can buy a bottle of water ont he way, so we get there 5 min or so before boarding starts. he doesn't have to stand around too long and we are on our way to the gate which helps me feel comfortable.

It does help that we usually have one carryon each and want to have space to put the, in the overhead so he sees the rationale of being first on line.

I time my arrival at the gate to coincide with the start of boarding. That would be 30 minutes before departure time, maybe even up to 45 minutes for a jumbo going to Asia.

I do it to take advantage of the pre-boarding opportunity and not being a part of the cattle call. I can get situated and learn how to use the seat, if necessary. Relax with a cold drink and watch everybody board.

Maybe your BF would benefit by not waiting to the last minute. During that 30-40 minutes he'd have an opportunity to relax, while the plane is not flying.

I usually cut things close but I'm too impatient to wait in a boarding line. But even for me, cutting it close would be less than 15 minutes before departure of transpac flight. Much less than that I would be concerned that the doors would be closed when I got there.

I think SD was joking, too.

Ask the advice of the nice lady on the desk. She'll know how long it'll take from the lounge to the gate Eva are using that day (at T3 that can be anything from a few seconds to as long as the flight itself), and the ladies at all the other T3 lounges are pretty shrewd at decoding what all those "boarding commencing" messages on the screens really mean.

In my experience, though, the T3 lounge ladies usually advise business class passengers to leave when the "final call" sign comes up. This is timed to ensure people in Duty Free have time to get to the gate: the SAS louge is closer to most gates than Duty Free is.

No-one on boards like this can have the foggiest which gate Eva will be using, so advice like "x minutes beforehand" is completely useless.

I am mostly a coach flyer but occasionally have access to the lounges for CO and NW. Here's the thing about when to get to the gate - it differs between domestic shorthaul or a longhaul.

For domestic, just go at the last minute. There's little advantage of pre-boarding and on many planes boarding early simply means being bumped by the 100+ coach passengers who's going through the narrow aisle next to you.

But on large widebodies on longhauls, that's not an issue, and once onboard you can start to relax, get a cocktail, etc. And I know on Continental, they will give you the menu and take your order during that time; and the concierge will be there to give you shower vouchers (when available) and directions to those showers on arrival, etc.

So, if you're flying longhaul on EVA to Taiwan, I'd agree with you and will board early.

Asking the lady is certainly good advice. I'd find the gate before going to the lounge.

Suggesting that the OP go to board at boarding time (30 mins or 45 mins before departure, or whatever) is a good idea because there should be no reason for her to stress for the x-y minutes between that time an "final" call. No reason to go to the gate before boarding time because they are not boarding.

I could sell that to my brother but there would be no way he/we would wait until final call.

Thanks guys it seems we all do it a little differently. I am virtually wringing my hands when i see the "final Call" flash up..... BF on the other hands is "relax we have plenty of time". I think i will ask when i enter the lounge (which i have done before but have been paranoid whether they are right due to it being a shared lounge!!! ridiculous i know, but will have faith going forward

Tell BF that they can make him a drink once on board in business class... Why stick to the lounge?

We are finding that boarding calls are earlier and earlier, so we tend to check out the gate situation before entering the lounge, also make sure you don't have to take a shuttle somewhere. I'm glad we left at the first call this summer because I had forgotten what a long walk it was from the AA lounge to the gate, and they had changed security procedures there as well.

If you're flying biz, then you should have no overhead bin issues, but really, it is nice to settle in and get organized, plus they will bring a drink while everyone else boards.

So it is a choice between you stressing due to not having boarded between start of boarding and final call and him stressing due to fear/hate of flying during that same time period. While sitting on board. Without the plane actually flying or even moving and the door(s) still open.

Your fear of missing the flight is a fear that can be realized (not likely but possible). His fear of flying can't be realized. The plane isn't going to crash during those 20 or 30 minutes.

Boarding often closes early for US-bound international flight, to give time for secondary screening.

For example, Continental's flight from Hong Kong to Newark is 10:25a (or 11:25a in winter) on CO's schedule. But at HKG, all times show 10:15a or 11:15a. Northwest is even more extreme. All signs at HKG shows 7:50a, 20 minutes earlier than NW's schedule.

If you show up at 7:55a, the flight may have been closed.

ttt