What is a Boarding Group?

On most airlines, your boarding pass shows a boarding group number. This number, usually 1 to 5, decides when you’re asked to board: group 1 goes first, while group 5 gets the glamour of bringing up the rear. Here’s how British Airways handles boarding.

Pre-boarding

The boarding group is entirely separate from pre-boarding, though. Staff will always invite passengers who need extra time or assistance to board before everyone else.

Boarding Group 0

BA Club Gold Guest List Members

Boarding Group 1

Boarding Group 2

Boarding Group 3

Boarding Group 4-6

For some reason, these are blended together, and are sometimes called at the same time as Group 3. Your group will be dependent on the row number of your seat.

Passengers are asked to wait in the terminal until their boarding group is called. Once it has been called, they can board at any time until the gate is closed for departure.

Further details about boarding groups can be found on the British Airways website.

If you’re flying on a hand baggage-only fare boarding first can mean whether you get a space for your luggage in the overhead compartment. With BA Club Gold status, you move straight from Boarding Group 5 to 1. Read: Is it worth getting Gold or Silver status? This might seem a worthless benefit, but with finite overhead space on short-haul flights, getting your bag on first means less chance of your carry-on bag going in the hold and less delays on arrival.

Give us a follow on TikTok and Instagram.