Skipping the queue. Aer Lingus Gold Circle customer.

I was queuing for an Aer Lingus flight from Nantes Airport to Dublin. This guy passed everybody in the queue saying to each person he skipped that he was a "Gold Circle" customer and could walk up to the top of the queue. Is this true?

Yes. Are Lingus Gold Circle customers are usually invited to board prior to anyone else.

Yup. I had that card for a year and skipping everyone in the queue was awesome! You can also access the airport lounge in various cities which have free food and drinks

I used to be a card-holder and frequent airline passenger and the Gold Circle card was the business. Priority booking, boarding and check-in, free refs, exclusive chill-out areas, etc and reciprocal arrangements with other airlines and airports. Ah them were the
days Jem, them were the days.

It is a very useful card (once you are flying Aer Lingus anyway!). You are generally invited to board first (though it is at the discretion of the gate crew - they can decide to board strictly by seat row number if they deem it necessary), you can usually avail of separate queues at check in and at security as well as lounge access. Very, very useful, especially if you travel a lot. You can't buy an Aer Lingus Gold Circle card with cash so anyone who has one is in all likelihood a frequent traveller (or in the habit of doing business class to the US). When you spend a lot of time in airports, the last thing you want to do is waste time queuing behind infrequent travellers who don't know the routine, take ages to sort out their bits and bobs and generally get in the way Boarding is one thing, but if there isn't a separate queue for check in, I don't think he can pull the card like that. I certainly have never tried to do so and as there is nothing in the rules which says you can it seems a bit unfair to me. It rarely happens that there wouldn't be a speedy option but I haven't flown from Nantes so perhaps there is none there. As a Gold Circle member, I have once definitely annoyed someone when flying from Lisbon. There were two queues, an enormous one, and a very short one marked Gold Circle & Family. As a Gold Circle card holder I obviously went to the queue designated for me but a woman in the other queue took severe umbrage at my cheek queuing up without a family. Clearly Aer Lingus were employing her as a queue monitor because she felt it was her place to shout at me for the temerity of queuing there she was aggrieved when I politely pointed out it was a Gold Circle queue and I didn't need to have a plethora of children to join it .

That's good information. The ground staff at the boarding gate never mentioned anything about Gold Circle. They just invited rows 10 to 24 to board first. I think that they should invite Gold Card members to board first as this guy looked as if he was skipping the queue and just being a tosser.

I just can't understand why this would bother you - or why people queue to get onto planes! Its allocated seating! Plane is not going to go without ya, its not dublin bus.

i hate the whole queuing to get on a plane (generally travel ryanair which is now allocated seating so there is no need to queue!) But, on two occassions now in the last year with Ryanair, i have been in a situation where my allocated seat (which i prebooked online and paid for the privilage) was also allocated to someone else in error! Both times i was already sitting in the seat so that was fine but i wouldnt be impressed if someone was sitting in my seat that i prepaid for (and possibly they prepaid for too!) and had to wait until everyone else was on board to see where there is a free seat!!

They usually add it on as a rider... "now boarding seats 10-24, Gold Circle passengers may board at their leisure". Sometimes they don't say it but they are usually supposed to. If they are being strictly by seat row number they will usually state that and leave out the rider (though I have heard on more than one occasion... "now boarding seats 10-24, strictly by seat row number, Gold Circle passengers may board at their leisure").

As for queuing and RyanAir, unfortunately that does not seem to have been cured by their change to allocated seating. From what I have seen, they still like to get everyone lined up and ready to board. I have not heard of double allocated seats though! That is a good one to watch out for, thanks!

pinkie123 said:

I just can't understand why this would bother you - or why people queue to get onto planes! Its allocated seating! Plane is not going to go without ya, its not dublin bus.

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Yes your seat will be there for you but the locker above your head to place your "carry on" suitcase might have another bag in it. If you sit in the front rows and you board late you often find that your storage space has been taken by someone else who sits further down the plane. Looking at the travellers on my flight I have to say that many of them had oversized carry ons as well as pretty large secondary bags.
On the double booking of seats. I would say that this is more to do with someone chancing their arm and choosing to sit in your allocated seat or being unaware that seats are now being allocated.

I take between 50 and 80 flights a year with Aer Lingus but I am not eligible for Gold Circle membership because they subcontract the flights to a Haulier; Eddie Stobart.
Therefore whenever I can use an alternative Airline I do. I never use AerLingus for transatlantic travel. Talking to other frequent flyers on the same routes they share my opinion. AerLingus lose a lot of business because of their policy of treating some customers as second class. In my company alone they lost out on over €20'000 worth of business.

I had hoped that Ryan Air would buy them and just closed them down but alas it wasn't to be.

SlurrySlump said:

Yes your seat will be there for you but the locker above your head to place your "carry on" suitcase might have another bag in it. If you sit in the front rows and you board late you often find that your storage space has been taken by someone else who sits further down the plane. Looking at the travellers on my flight I have to say that many of them had oversized carry ons as well as pretty large secondary bags.
On the double booking of seats. I would say that this is more to do with someone chancing their arm and choosing to sit in your allocated seat or being unaware that seats are now being allocated.

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Nope, definetely not a case of someone chancing their arm because on both occassions, i saw their boarding cards with the seat number on it!!

Purple said:

I take between 50 and 80 flights a year with Aer Lingus but I am not eligible for Gold Circle membership because they subcontract the flights to a Haulier; Eddie Stobart.
Therefore whenever I can use an alternative Airline I do. I never use AerLingus for transatlantic travel. Talking to other frequent flyers on the same routes they share my opinion. AerLingus lose a lot of business because of their policy of treating some customers as second class. In my company alone they lost out on over €20'000 worth of business.

I had hoped that Ryan Air would buy them and just closed them down but alas it wasn't to be.

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That's not true. You do get Gold Circle points on Stobart Air operated flights but like all these programmes, you will only get them on certain fare types.

You are incorrect. I fly regularly and have queried it with Aerlingus customer service a number of times. There are no gold circle points for flight they subcontract to a haulier.
A poxy 1 hour flight from Dublin to Aberdeen can cost up to €400 on a normal week and far more when there's an event on in Aberdeen. Thats €800 return! There is no opportunity to buy a flexi-fair on that route.

Honestly, check again. There are points on offer for plus and flex fares just like normal Aer Lingus flights. You can also buy flexi fares on the Dub-Aberdeen route. Just booked one there. Well not really since I didn't want to pay €500 for a trip to Aberdeen! But it was available. Someone has been giving you wrong information. I got an upgrade to the states based on my regular stobert flights to the UK.

My Gawd Purple! Have you been ripped off for years? Could it be that some Aer Lingus Customer Service lady who was there when she was a Civil Servant is now getting her own back on you for your suggestions on another thread that the Public Service should not be refunded some of what was stolen from them?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Is your Passport in date . . . they could be on your case next!

Looks like the end of the Circle:

http://www.independent.ie/business/...business-flyer-gold-circle-club-34118164.html