I’m an etiquette expert and you’ve been boarding flights wrong – it annoys crew
NEXT time you are waiting to board your flight, you may be annoying the crew without even realising.
Queueing in a boarding lounge can be a stressful situation, but it can be made worse by people who don't pay attention to whose turn it is get on the aircraft.
Airlines divide the plane into boarding groups, so that a steady stream of passengers can quickly and easily board, but often keen passengers will just queue without waiting for their turn.
According to Bonnie Tsai, founder of the etiquette consultancy company Beyond Etiquette, this just creates a bigger line and slows the whole process down.
Instead, she calls for patience and says that waiting your turn will make things better for both passengers and airline staff.
She told : “You should steer clear of standing in line at the gate before your boarding group.
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“It may also cause other travellers and the gate agents to become
frustrated.
“Lining up before your boarding group is called won’t get you to your destination any sooner. Be considerate, and you’ll all get where you’re going.”
People who do this are given a name - gate lice.
Flight attendant Rich Henderson added: "Just stay as out of the way as possible of the boarding area until your group is at least close to being called.
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"If our frequent fliers and top-tier people aren't even close to getting on the plane and your crew isn't even close to getting on the plane, you really have no business standing right at the gate."
Bonnie isn't the only person to have offered plane etiquette tips recently.
Earlier this summer, a flight attendant explained who gets to use the armrests in the middle seat on a plane.
Speaking to , the unnamed cabin crew member said: "If I could give an airline-etiquette PSA, I'd say I wish more passengers knew middle seat armrests are for the middle seat passenger — both of them."
Here are five things you should also never do when travelling on a plane.
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