I often say that you do not want to board first. You want to board ‘not last’ so that the plane hasn’t run out of overhead bin space by the time you get on. Boarding early is about one thing only: not having to gate check your carry on bag.
That’s why I absolutely love a quick overnight, and on a two night trip sometimes stretch myself to travel with just my laptop bag, so that I don’t need overhead bin space. I can show up at the airport later. I can work productively in the lounge. And I don’t have to rush boarding. As someone that values every 5 minutes in my day (I really do keep myself that busy), this matters to me.
- Why on earth does first class board first, instead of last?
- Why is early boarding a benefit and not a punishment?
In an idealized world this seems right:
Screw boarding a plane first. Why would I want to sit on a plane and wait for everyone else to board? I want a special ticket that allows me to board *last*. And I get to board 5 minutes after they say boarding is now closed. And when I walk in they play my theme song and I do a
— Noah Smith (@Noahpinion) June 6, 2024
While this is true, priority boarding is still important, especially on U.S. airline domestic flights, or else you won’t have access to overhead bin space. People even get an airline’s credit card just so they can board earlier and spend more time in a cramped seat because overhead bins will be full by the time you get on if you board last. Plus when you board last you’re just going to be stuck behind a line of people on a backed up jet bridge.
Overhead bin space is less of an issue, at least in theory, when bin space is assigned by cabin (a first class bin says first class on it) but that doesn’t guarantee coach passengers won’t use the bin or that first class passengers won’t take it all placing their personal item up there – plus, flight attendants may be using it too, and sometimes there’s equipment in the bins taking up space as well.
I’ve had airlines ask me whether I wanted to board first or last when flying first class. I always prefer last, unless it’s a new cabin product I’ve never taken photos of and want to get in early for blog content.
Of course these are cabins where overhead bin space isn’t going to be an issue, either because the seat itself has the needed storage (even for a carry-on bag) or because worst case there’ll be plenty of closet space. I’m not risking overhead space, and I’m not going to get caught on a jetbridge.
What I’d love to see is overhead bins reserved for passengers in each row, with each row receiving designated space. Wouldn’t it be nice if you’re stuck in the bulkhead row of first class – with no underseat storage area – not to have to worry about having space above your head?
U.S. airlines, sadly, don’t often even have the closet space that they used to. It’s been sacrificed, along with seat pitch, galley space, and size of the lavatory, in the name of squeezing in an extra row of seats.
The other worry about boarding last is that the TSA has treated this as a security flag that you might be a terrorist.
A true premium experience would be the ability to board last without the consequence of losing out on overhead bin space and either having to gate-check your bag or (best case) having it stowed in an overhead bin eight or ten rows behind you. But U.S. airlines aren’t in the business of delivering true premium experiences on domestic flights.
The other option is the board from the rear, deplane from the front. Best way possible, and cheap, too.
This is basically what it is all about: “A true premium experience would be the ability to board last without the consequence of losing out on overhead bin space and either having to gate-check your bag or (best case) having it stowed in an overhead bin eight or ten rows behind you.”
We could stay in the lounge another 30 minutes and walk on last. I’d love that.
Gary,
When I flew on Thai Airways in first class, this is exactly how they did it! They would bring me, via golf cart, from the lounge to the aircraft after the coach passengers were loaded.
Overhead space should be allocated by seat assignment. Every seat gets a space assigned. If you get to your seat and a bag is in your space, it goes straight to checked bags regardless of other available spaces. The whole carryon debacle started when airlines started charging for checked bags, so reverse it – give a free checked bag, but charge for carryon. You can still allow for a free personal bag, limited to personal bag size.
If the flight attendants would supervise the overhead space. It would take away, the incentive to board first, keep seeingthe people in the back of the plane taking all the spaces in the front of the plane. And also the front seats taking the overhead space for the first three rows.
@ Gary — We will never agree on this. I want to board first and get settled and out of the way. I don’t want to stand at the gate, nor do I want to wait in the lounge and potentially miss a flight (happened before).
Before United added 1K ‘pre’ boarding I would regularly get on last for short trips, with only a duffle and under seat laptop bag as a carryon. Worked for me and avoided the scrum.
The perverse incentive of the 1K pre boarding ‘benefit’ now has me getting on early. It’s less of a scrum than say DL or AA big tent boarding but is it worth getting to the gate that early. My jury is out on that.
if you want to board last, board last. premium passengers are allowed to board whenever they want either first or last
Boarding early means getting your carry on into the overhead bin before someone else does. Even if you’re flying in F.
I have seen coach passengers start loading their carry-on’s into the F overhead bins simply because they don’t have to lug them down the aisle and can pick them up on the way out. Guess what happens when a F passenger boards later and the overheads are packed?
This is why I board early – people are selfish and take advantage of others.
I’d like to see an airline implement assigned overhead bin space, with bins partitioned for a single, upright bag of allowable dimensions. These could either be tied directly to seat number, or purchased separately just like your seat. You get no more space than you purchased or is allocated to you.
With the need to stampede on board for overhead bin space eliminated, now you can board in the most efficient way: 1) main cabin window + parties of 2 with adjacent window/middle seats + parties of 3 with adjacent window/middle/aisle, 2) main cabin middle + parties of 2 with adjacent middle/aisle, 3) main cabin aisle, 4) First class. To make things even more efficient, you could queue up in descending order of seat number, with numbers placed on floor to indicate position.
If I wanted to waste a billion dollars on founding a startup airline, this would be the boarding process for MantisAir.
Yep, you have to get there early because people put bags in bins as they walk down even in economy and not where they sit. You get there late with carry on and can’t load your bag. It would be nice to be like European airlines that charge more for a carry on than a checked bag. I would pay extra so I would have the opportunity to fly with my carry on and not have to wait in line in checked bag lines because that in itself is like a 1 hours process. I would give away a free checked bag and charge a carry on.
“Why on earth does first class board first, instead of last”
“Overhead bin space is less of an issue, at least in theory, when bin space is assigned by cabin (a first class bin says first class on it) but that doesn’t guarantee coach passengers won’t use the bin or that first class passengers won’t take it all placing their personal item up there – plus, flight attendants may be using it too, and sometimes there’s equipment in the bins taking up space as well.”
+++
seriously. dude. c’mon.
part 121 wall street reality: there is no problem with bags; thus, cabin crew will not be instructed to intervene or enforce any rules, which don’t exist anyway, and as with all problems that don’t exist, the pax will pay to solve the problem with their time or their suffering; there is no problem with bags, and the street is fed
commercial air travel in 2024 captured 3rd-world UsA: personal combat, everyone for themselves
Standing around or sitting on plastic chairs is not a time I want to prolong while waiting for I couple of hundred passengers to board first. Get me in my nice comfy up front seat ASAP.
Back in the old days of civilized air travel. When overhead space was never an issue I’d always board last regardless of what class I was in.
Now, especially flying US domestic, if you don’t board as soon as possible you run the annoyance of not having overhead bin space even in first class. It’s usually less of a problem on international because most can’t fit a trip in carry on. That’s not to say I haven’t seen people with an amazing amount of carry on going international.
For me it has nothing to do with the fees – at my status on the airlines I usually fly it’s 2 or 3 free checked bags. It’s the inconvenience of baggage claim and the airline losing/damaging the luggage.
Best solution I’ve thought of is to tag all bags on the plane with labels that allow the bag to be checked.
Show the class of service by flight. Bulkhead passengers get two overhead tags with bulkhead on them, everyone else one. Block space for bulkhead.
If someone puts their economy bag in business or first class it gets removed from the bin and checked.
And give status passengers digital tags so they can skip the bag tag area.
I’ve switched back to mostly scheduling long-haul international trips so that I leave on Day X and am back by the end of Day X+1 or during the day of Day X + 2. It means I don’t care as much about overhead bin space since I can stuff what I need into a backpack that can fit under the seat in front of me. But how often do I need to even place the backpack on the floor during such trips and leave it there? Not once in the last couple of years. So boarding last is then not a problem at all for me. And that is even in economy class.
I think everyones situation is different . I usually sleep on flights and sometimes wake up after takeoff so i like the early boarding and i dont have to climb over anyone. I also get annoyed by the long lines of clueless people not knowing what to do during boarding and trying to drag large baggage as carry-ons. Better to settle in, read, make a quick call, text or sleep
@ Greg — I have enjoyed our GS boarding priority. They often seem to pause following GS, and we get a minute or two to settle in. Not worth the cost, but nice anyways.
I am a big believer in boarding last at least when I’m ending my day on a CRJ (no airlines regularly send Embrarers) to my home airport of South Bend. Most of the time the short-staffed ground crew send the gate checked bags to the baggage claim anyway so everyone has to go to baggage claim unless you have a tiny bag that fits in the small overhead bins.
Generally when I board last my other (done it for up to a 4 day trip without needing nice clothes) is a backpack that technically fits at my feet. but being tall I much prefer nothing at my feet. By boarding last I’m generally able to jam in it in a space in the overhead bin where a regular suitcase wouldn’t fit and I don’t get any scholdings from flight attendants for not putting it under the seat in front of me.
Recently (with the restoration of our direct train to Chicago – it was being busituted for 2 years part-way due to the South Shore Line double-track project) I flew out of ORD for the first time in a long while and due to a miss-connection on my way home, instead of having 3 hours to take the Blue Line downtown and make the last train home I knew I would be cutting it really close. I was rebooked on the next flight and given Row 9 in Premimum (Alaska Airlines) and a super high boarding group, I boarded early since I knew my new bigger backpack that I bought for this trip doesn’t fit under the seat in front of me and having to even backtrack to the back of the plane for bin space would have been the difference between getting home that night and making the last train home or getting a hotel or a $200 rideshare ride. This huch panned out when I made my train, getting out of my Lyft with 6 minutes to spare (Amtrak) at Union Station.
Earlier I felt so silly just sitting there first at the gate and then on the plane and not spending more time in the Centuron Lounge (which was a nice coselation price to misconnecting in Seattle).
It used to be this way. In the 1970s and early 1980s when I crossed the Atlantic monthly on BA First Class. We all went to the lounge in Terminal 7 in JFK and when the other passengers had boarded, Mrs. Macdonald would say, “Well gentlemen, we are ready to board.” She would lead us down the jetway, we boarded, doors were closed and we took off. We never saw the other passengers especially not to jostle for boarding order at the gate. Things have deteriorated.
No.
My dad used to be a senior government official. When I traveled with him (rare), we would board last. Security took our carry-on bags from the lounge ahead of time and put them in the overheads above our seats. After everyone was on and seated, we would be taken from the lounge by car to the plane, board, and then they would shut the door and we would push back.
Another reason is because AA stair-steps delaying flights in their system. You have fewer options once you board if your great connection turns into a missed connection.
When I fly long haul F class. Specifically BA first class. I am the last to board typically. I hate the mad rush at the gate and besides. I can hang out in the lounge. I will still have plenty of time for food and drink on a 10 hour flight. So the first on the ground champagne round isn’t really necessary.
It’s nice to board a 388 with a jet bridge specifically for only 14 people and be the last one to board. Very quiet and civilized. And plenty of space for my stuff!
With the state of lounges nowadays, I’m usually just as comfortable in my domestic FC seat as I was in the lounge. As soon as I get on, I start watching whatever show I want on my tablet with noise blocking earbuds. So why not board first? It also ensures I’m not waiting on a hot (or cold) jetbridge.
Being partially disabled, I use a wheelchair in the terminal and boarding. I always fly FC/BC and appreciate the extra time it takes me to get seated. I usually have an aisle seat and as far forward (not row one) as I can book.
I am amazed at the FC/BC class passengers that have a large carry on and a brief case and try to find bin space for both, then stand up halfway through boarding to open their briefcase to get the laptop, earphones, etc. out of the briefcase they should have stowed under their seat, causing economy passenger to wait for them to clear the aisle.
ps, I only carry a small messenger bag onboard with me.
Flight attendants needs to store their stuff at the back as well. I don’t care about their needs – they’re paid to do a job. We’re paying for the trip and they don’t get to take our baggage space.
If First Class and Business class service actually did their job boarding first would have more value. Provide a pre flight drink and treat elites appropriately
Boarding last is disrespectful to elites
Yup. As always the problem is people.
Since the pandemic I always board last. I have not seen AA FAs ever even attempt to serve a drink (in most cases even water) in the last few years. Many cases still when they try to save on fuel and only use ground power to cool the plane (it doesn’t) … So what’s the point?
It’s true that unfortunately that comes as a sacrifice of having to check the luggage – which is a huge risk with AA as well. Premium tags mean nothing – so good luck waiting in the sweltering heat in places like Miami and that is if your bag arrives at all.
Doug’s leftoevers will never fix this airline.
BTW – TommyLeo is right – Thai has has the best lounge to seat experience.
I agree no carry-ons would solve the problem if implemented correctly. Make everyone check luggage for free and only pay $$$$ to carry-on. Can’t charge for both checked and carry-on like the so called discount airlines. Then board from back of plane to front or use two jet bridges to load up quickly.
On most international flights that I have traveled in business class and first class the call to board is made in the lounge after most of the economy passengers have boarded and there is a separate boarding lane which leads directly to the business class or first class areas.
They need a Kiosk – that print cabin baggage tags with seat# and first inital/last name (for upgraded pax at Gate). As well as a scale for said cabin baggage.
The kiosk then prints out carry-on handle label “approved Cabin baggage”.
Elites may/not get a 2nd cabin baggage tag.
We flew Fiji NAN – HNL earlier this year (737-800 flight time about same as HNL-PDX/SFO).
That said all cabin bags -had orange handle tags “Approved Cabin baggage” with brown Fiji Air logo.
This with a Seat ID and first initial/last name would handle the overhead squatters and solve 95% of overhead issues – also if they added a barcode for gate checking pax on cheapest fares/no status etc. when necessary.
Also GA can then divert PAX with multiple bags but only one overhead bag tag and then charge them to check the bags at the gate.
It also makes it easy for FA to simply gate check – overhead bag squatters (just have lawyers add legal verbiage to Terms of Carriage) .
They could also add Red colored med labels -for people traveling with medical devices that can’t be gate checked (POC/CPAP/BiPAP LiON battery packs – the only reason I always pre-board on domestic flights).
The airlines can still chatge for checked bag fees. But it also empowers FAs ro make space by removing personal items (no overhead bag tags) and returning to customers.
This is why the 757 will always be the best narrow body — 2L boarding means there’s always overhead space for me in First.
It’s a major perk of flying Delta and I can get away with tighter connections with less stress than other airlines.
In the UK in the 1980’s, quite a few First Class passengers boarded towards the end.
For international business class. I board somewhat late. Overhead space is not an issue.
No airline has first class board first. First boards whenever they want to. First just has the OPTION to board early.
Some people like to get situated and/or have anxiety about not being on the plane. If you’re not one of them, board last.
How are you going to prevent people from taking up the upper bin space. Nope. I thing first and elites, who pay more for the service should be boarded BEFORE everyone, and I mean EVERYONE!
Half the plane is full on United before group 1 first class can even board the plane. Ridiculous!
How often have we seen economy passenger stow ther bags at the front of the plane (in F or J) on boarding then walk down to their seat in Row 35 ?Most FAs couldn’t care less, or do not notice.
This is why early boarding is considered desirable.
No ! when they run out of overhead bin space in the main cabin they can use the remaining first class space. We just want an on time departure. No one speaks English in Miami which complicates things further when they don’t listen to instructions from the FA. So a six minute delay can result in a 15 minute push back or runway delay. Go ahead board last as long as you gate check your bag. Do you wanna fly or what ? Why in the world would first class board last ?
Anyone who flies up front knows that boarding early allows you to stow your carryon and not have to fight with some goon in coach who threw his up there on his way by. I’ve also encountered FAs who take up the first two overheads and I have to move their stuff to stow my bag above my seat. I always sit in the first row so I can use my laptop without worrying about its safety. It’s no mystery, it’s just reality … people can’t be trusted to behave properly all the time.
For the last 25+ years I have averaged 20 to 30 flights per year and have never checked bags since my luggage was lost on a JFK- MAD flight in 1994.
Against my better judgment, last month I checked a carry-on size bag when traveling with a group of 14 women who were all checking their luggage. No, my bag did not get lost but it was severely damaged, which reinforced my decision never to check bags.
I have traveled for 3 weeks to Europe, South America and the Far East with just a carry-on bag and prefer not to have to worry about where, and in what condition, my luggage ends up!
Charge Main Cabin for more than one carryon. The end.
Aside from ensuring overhead space, boarding at the start means you don’t have to stand 15 minutes on the jetway. I wish that airlines would refrain from calling the next boarding group until the jetway is clear of the previous group. But they don’t, they just fill the jetway
Sometime in the past 2 years, I was on an AA flight, and an economy pax put his bag up in First and headed to the back. Final first class pax (row 1) had no place for his bag.
Someone who might have been a gate agent came in around that time and was trying to hurry things along, probably to get the door closed on time. He was rifling through the bins to find things to move under our seats, when I pointed out the other guy’s bag and said I thought that didn’t belong to anyone sitting around us.
After confirming this with the others in First, he pulled the bag out, put the First class passenger’s bag in its place, and then I don’t know what he did with the economy bag. At the time, I thought maybe he gate checked it, but that seems a little risky since there could have been lithium batteries or who knows what in there. Maybe he just put it into a closet or something.
I like boarding first, no one forces you to, you can still wait and get on last if you prefer, but it allows me to settle in and to enjoy a glass of sparkling wine while we wait for the cattle to all get on board and get seated.
I check my bags, have no carry ones, and strut like a boss at T-15 to my first class seat, always last.
Easy and civilized. I pity all those poor people who work as baggage loaders instead of enjoying the flight.
Bahaha… overhead bin space is never an issue for some Main Cabin Economy passengers. Whenever I”m near the end of the boarding line, I just open a First Class overhead and put my carry-on suitcase up there before continuing on to my seat. Easy, and plenty of unused space in those bins!
Wow, Gary… this seems like a true 1st world issue that you shouldn’t be complaining about while many are dying in wars and from starvation?: “A true premium experience would be the ability to board last without the consequence of losing out on overhead bin space and either having to gate-check your bag or (best case) having it stowed in an overhead bin eight or ten rows behind you. But U.S. airlines aren’t in the business of delivering true premium experiences on domestic flights.” -Gary
In my experience, even in first class domestic or intra-Europe/Asia flights baggage space is almost always an issue and not just because some “clever” people from economy are trying to drop their suitcases there. That’s why, with all respect, I disagree completely. I’d rather be first to board. Put on my noise cancelling headsets listening to classical music watch the sometimes Jerry Springer like chaos unfold as people do the most comical things while boarding. Especially when it comes to trying to smash oversize bags and other stuff into the overhead bins.
having experienced both sides of the coin, it’s interesting to note that the premium customers can sometimes serve as an exemplar class or a group of people that subliminally keep the economy people in line.