News and notes from around the interweb:
- Why do ‘gate lice’ line up early for a flight? Psychologists explain that people are afraid of missing their flight, of missing out on overhead bin space, and engage in swarm behavior following the cues of other passengers who line up early.
Reicher, who studies group behavior, added that because of that uncertainty, the consequences of not acting like there’s competition when there is can feel greater than the consequences of acting like there’s competition when there isn’t.
“In the case of the former, you might miss your flight and miss your connection at the other end, in the case of the latter you have stood up for a few minutes for no good reason,” he said.
“There are social costs to factor in: To be last in the queue and have to give up your bags makes you a real mug,” he added.
As more people line up, the dangers associated with not lining up (losing your bag or missing a connection, for example) become more real. “Queuing may be dysfunctional but it is not irrational. What people do makes perfect sense given the context they are in,” Reicher said.
- Tipping in non-restaurant service jobs down 7% year-over-year (WSJ, HT: Jeff W) people are fighting back.
- How Vietnam Airlines is thinking about its frequent flyer program
- This is, apparently, true.
Funny story I heard about the new Four Seasons in Nashville.
They didn't put laundry in the building…
And there are no outsourced providers in Nashville that could handle the hotel's scale.
So they send the laundry to Alabama every day.
4 hour drive.
Side-note:…
— Shashankh Aryal (@aryal1994) December 10, 2023
- American Airlines: Government subsidies for me but not for thee, $22 million to spend on its Tulsa maintenance base.
- The shadow knows.
Bless you Gen Z. Hopefully tipping gets eradicated period
‘Me First’. Bottom line.
Re: gate lice psych
There is much blame for airports and airlines too.
Alternate explanation: airlines condition travellers to “hurry up” then team up with airports to provide incongruent, inadequate, and inaccurate information at the gate which encourages a significant percentage of those lice who agglomerate to do so. We know how early airlines and tsa in the us typically tell passengers to shows up for check-in and security and what time is printed for boarding on the bp vs what time boarding actually begins. Then consider when’s the last time you could hear the boarding groups being called on the speaker at your gate? Or you experienced a gate go into rolling delays for boarding time every 15 mins with passengers including all those “preboarding” top elites also adding to the lice? Or see a clearly displayed sign indicating boarding group currently boarding everywhere at the gate or (gasp) an airport or airline employee verbally informed passengers through the boarding process? For the lattermost, I have occasionally at non us airports and guess what? Fewer lice. And for signs? Only one airline have I ever seen implement it effectively: luv. And guess what? that works too too reduce lice.
Having read the wp piece but not the primary lit, I can’t say if this is just bad reporting or also bad science but let’s just say there’s not a monopoly on thawt-leading.
As far as the gate lice go…in some airports, there is insufficient space to wait in the gate area where announcements can be heard. But; mostly my observation is that people think it is courteous to keep lots of space between each other. So, often there is much space available but large groups spill out into the corridor where people are trying to get to their gate…considering others I often will move into the gate area and just make sure I’m out of the way for those boarding ahead of me although being an elite customer, I’m an early boarder normally I only have to wait a bit. It does bother me when people who are group 9 are trying to board early.
As far as tipping goes…I do feel tipping us critical when service matters…without tipping service would suffer.
Gate LICE gives me so much stress.
Even me ……..flying BIZ …….and i have no bags of the coveted overhead bins.
WTF
people
You don’t gate lice and your bag likely gets checked. If that’s going to be a problem standing around for a while makes perfect sense. The cure for gate lice is to not overcommit bin space.
Stealing your luggage against your will instantly removes your control of your destiny.
The FAA should require the use of overhead bins to be sold and those bags easily identified with giant bright tags so anything not licensed for overhead bin use never makes it past TSA or down the jetway.
The FAA should require Flight Attendants to enforce the licensed use of overhead bin space – no coats, personal items or other stuff that does not have a SOLD BRIGHT TAG until each and every SOLD roll-aboard tag is accommodated or the doors have closed, at which time all the small crap can be crammed in above and around the roll-aboards, if space is available. Deploy undercover enforcement officers to observe and document FA behavior. Fine the FAs that don’t intervene in disputes.
Never sell more than 90% of the available roll-aboard capacity. Dynamic pricing based on demand. In the event of downgrade in metal due to irrop etc. auction tag surrender in the gatehouse like oversold situations.
BRIDGE & TUNNEL AND KETTLES should receive a DISCOUNT on their airfare if they check their shit in the hold.
You want on-time departures? Calmer cabins? Gatehouse civility?
SELL THE BINS.
in addition to the comments above regarding overhead bin space – which is in airline’s control – airports do not have enough seats in most gate areas for the number of seats on a plane esp. given that some people spread out over more than 1 seat.
And, as much as some want to think this is only a 1st world problem, it is far worse in some other countries – and better in others.
Relative to other travel nuisances, gate licing ranks pretty low for me, mostly because it is not likely to change.
Gate Lice is all about the Overhead bins. Full-stop. That’s one reason I don’t actually mind flying Southwest. You literally know where you stand (in the queue). If you’re “C” or higher, think about checking your bag (for FREE). If I have a big suitcase to check on AA, I board at the very end of the process…stress free.
I know people like having assigned seating, but there is no stress when boarding a WN flight.
As someone who has flown more than a 1000x Not sure why this is an issue. For me it’s not. I board when it’s my turn. Who cares what everyone else does.
The term gate lice is a pejorative used by trashy entitled people. Airlines are all about creating entitlements so they can profit from them. I have boarded as soon as possible for my group and I have boarded at the very end when they make the last call and done it on purpose. Never did I consider other people gate lice because they wanted to get their lives in order as soon as possible. I suppose that wheel chair lice will come into use soon. I have read studies that conclude that first come, first served boarding is the quickest way to fill an airplane.
@ Mark. As far as tipping goes…I do feel tipping us critical when service matters…without tipping service would suffer.
How does it feel to be brainwashed? That is a true American attitude. There is a whole world out there where tipping is not expected or encouraged. I retired to Malta five years ago. Wages in the EU for all employees are livable, vacations are given, and healthcare is included.
You want to start a revolution, refuse to patronize workplaces that don’t provide for their employees. Your actions enable the restaurant owners to pass on employee wages to you. How does that make you feel?
I am a proud gate lice and will remain a proud gate lice until airlines stop treating passengers like gate lice.
@alan
And yet in the EU they have less of everything, from housing area per capital to discretionary spending.
Personally I think it’s great that the same newsletter publishes articles about the capriciously limited and inefficiently packed overhead bins, followed by articles where psychologists conduct studies on the insultingly-named people who mysteriously seem to want to get on the plane first. How will we ever solve this conundrum!
We only fly domestic FC to our jump off international point. Mainly for the extra baggage allowance since we are both underwater photographers with extensive luggage flying out for weeks at a time..
It’s a pain to have to shove through some gate lice in row 58 to board. Even if they have a priority line, they hover all over like row 58 is going to be called first.
First world problem,I know. But I am a senior with some mobility issues and they act like its an affront when you try to excuse me by them.
The only joy I get is from getting settled in with my PDB and watching them check my seat number as they go by to see if row 58 has miraculously been moved to the front.
Overhead space became a problem when airlines started charging for bags. So flyers stuffed all they could in a carry on in order to save the bag charges.
Then airlines hype it at the gate with “we are completely full so gaye check your bag” announcements.
Finally, airlines are pushing people to board so quickly in order to turn the aircraft sooner, it gets people in a frenzy and push to the front.
If the counter people for the airlines did a better job of not allowing people with bags too big for the overhead bins, or too many carry on bags, to get to the gates, it might alleviate some of the problems. But than again people are people and some just are nervous and some are looking to sneak on early.
I was at Dunkin Donuts today they wanted a tip for putting my muffin in a bag. WTF no way
We were in Finland last week where there is no tipping and it is obvious when at a restaurant where there was NO service, no how was the food, would you like more coffee, would you like more water, would you like your bill.
Is there a spray for these lice?
I’m actually disabled, not just disabled to get an early boarding. If I don’t linger, lice like, around the boarding area, people refuse to let me through for an early board. Then, they are very sad that they have to walk behind me as I walk slowly down the jetway, with my cane and my service dog,( a real service dog, that cost over 15 grand to train and is impeccable). It’s not like I signed up to be like this. I would much prefer to sit in some nice seat by the little desk. Then get up and do my slow crip walk when pre boarding is called. The system is broken, that’s all I can figure. Remember when flying was not horrible?
Stan,
the obvious reason is that Europeans pay far more in taxes than Americans. It isn’t a surprise that Europeans have much less of their own.
Well, some airlines actually seat from the back forward, which takes half or less time than from the front. Then some of them decided to change back because entitled customers wanted to run into the plane and sit down according to their priority. I guess not too many peeps want to change their habits for the good of all. If loaded from the rear, the plane gets to depart on time or early. Less time at the gate allows the airline and airport have more departures. I personally would rather do that, even if I was in Comfort +. I much prefer to sit in a seat at the gate than to be squished in an airline seat early for no apparent reason. Yes, it’s nice to get your carry-on in the most optimum location in the whole plane. Sometimes my luggage is a dozen or two aisles away from me. It’s not going anywhere. Most of the time when deplaning, I finish my movie or look at messages and wait for the peeps anxious to get off the plane do so, find where my bag is, and leisurely stroll off the aircraft. I think we would all live a lot longer without the stress we add to airline travel. My two cents.
It’s the overhead bin space. I’ve gone in and had no space above my seat or nearby. I asked around who’s bag (which would be small enough to fit under the seat) was above and a guy two seats back said me, but said it won’t fit under the seat. I love flying.
I am a “Gate Lice” for one reason only, overhead bin space. I’m 6’3″, and since there is no room for my carryon under the seat, ALONG with my feet, I make sure I’m first in line for my group so I can put my items in the overhead bin and my feet under the seat.
Too many frippin categories starting with pre board and thereafter. It’s become ridiculous to say the least.
Sometimes it’s a matter of ethical culture. Where I reside the locals which rhythm with jerks habitually performs the gate lice practice as though someone will steal their seat, line up at the gate way before calling, block the business class from boarding when called, and as economy class passengers once onboard stow their over abundance of carry-on luggage up in the business class overheads. No boundaries, no consideration for others. And the airline does nothing to counter this selfishness.
Sometimes it’s a matter of ethical culture. Where I reside the locals which rhythms with jerks habitually performs the gate lice practice as though someone will steal their seat, line up at the gate way before calling, block the business class from boarding when called, and as economy class passengers once onboard stow their over abundance of carry-on luggage up in the business class overheads. No boundaries, no consideration for others. And the airline does nothing to counter this selfishness.
Sometimes it’s a matter of ethical culture. Where I reside the locals which rhythms with jerks habitually performs the gate lice practice as though someone will steal their seat, line up at the gate way before calling, block the business class from boarding when called, and as economy class passengers once onboard stow their over abundance of carry-on luggage up in the business class overheads. No boundaries, no consideration for others. And the airline does nothing to counter this selfishness.
I don’t agree with the psychology…. If people are worried about their luggage, check it or bring a carry on you can fit under the seat.
Gate lice are annoying. They stand in the way if others who need to pass by. I always smirk at people standing in line and bitching about the slow boarding. And often it is the same jerks who bring too many carry ones.
People stress themselves out unnecessarily. No way that dozens of people are worried about their connecting flight but rather want irrational amount of overhead space.
You can feel the tension surge. It’s palpable. I also hate gate crashers. Add to that people who take their good old time after final boarding announcement as if the aircraft is their private jet.