overhead bins

Tag Archives for overhead bins.

Forced Gate Checked Bags Are Down 10% At American Airlines After Boarding Changes—The Airline Isn’t Saying Why

inside plane
Jul 11 2025

American’s new Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden offhandedly mentions that “we’ve seen a 10% reduction in gate checked bags just within the first few weeks” of the carrier’s new boarding process.

If they’ve made changes to consciously drive down the number of bags they’re gate checking, that’s actually a huge win for customers and they should be shouting it from the rooftops! I just can’t figure out why they’re seeing this result.

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Passengers Are Being Forced To Gate Check Bags—Even As Airlines Leave Overhead Bins Empty. Here’s Why It’s Getting Worse

Mar 21 2025

f you aren’t at the boarding gate when your flight is called, you probably aren’t going to get overhead bin space. If the flight is full, and you aren’t among the first half of passengers on the plane, your carry-on bag is likely going to be taken away from you and gate checked.

Half the time when you get onto the plane, though, you still see overhead bins with plenty of space. You were lied to! The bins weren’t full after all. So what gives?

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United Airlines Is Now Teaching Passengers How To Use Overhead Bins

Nov 17 2024

Unfortunately larger bins aren’t a panacea. Even where bins are in theory large enough to accommodate a full sized carry on bag per passenger, that requires turning carry on bags on their side, and too many passengers don’t know to do this.

Now, United Airlines has a solution. They’re trying to teach passengers how to use overhead bins properly, to get the most bags in.

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