Tag Archives for overhead bins.
A business class passenger sparked controversy by removing an economy passenger’s bag from the overhead bin, claiming entitlement to the space. With nowhere left to stow the coach passenger’s bag, it was gate checked.
Ashlee Powers was flying American Airlines to the US Olympic Marathon Trials. She has an American Airlines credit card so that she can have priority boarding, which should mean better access to overhead bin space.
Despite plenty of space available still for bags on board, including directly above her seat, Ms. Powers was stressed on the way to the most important moment of her life, having been made to give up her Olympic running gear.
The announcement that overhead bins were full, and everyone still remaining to board would have to gate check their carry on bags, came at the worst possible moment for one American Airlines passenger. She was carrying her mother’s ashes.
When she explained that to the gate agent, she says she was told to “take them out of the bag and hold them.” She doesn’t share whether her own reaction to this was intemperate, but says that she was “yelled at” and threated with arrest.
When you’re flying in the ‘back of the bus’ you don’t get a lot of person space. Airline coach seats are small. You get the space underneath the seat in front of you for your feet. And there are overhead bins.
Traditionally, you can bring a carry on bag on board and a personal item. That carry on goes in the overhead bin, and the personal item like purse or laptop bag goes by your feet. But these are social norms, not rules. Some passengers are going to put their personal item up in the bin, too. What do you think about that?
One of the most common complaints I see about airlines in social media, paired with photos, is overhead bins with plenty of space after a passenger is forced to check their carry-on bag because, the gate agent had said, ‘the bins were full’.
This is frustrating for customers, who aren’t just inconvenienced (separated from their belongings, they have to wait at baggage claim – and risk getting lost). It’s also perplexing. Why was the gate agent lying to us? The reason is actually simple.
Should the first class overhead bins be for first class passengers only? And if so, should a passenger get kicked off of the flight when they disagree – even if they move their bag back to coach?
An American Airlines passenger, sitting in the bulkhead row of economy, complained that another passenger was storing their luggage in ‘his’ overhead bin. He’s already seated, and has more luggage than he is allowed, and he doesn’t want anyone else adding to the bags above his row.
Though several airlines have put in larger overhead bins, there’s still not enough space, and one of the biggest frustrations passengers express in social media is being forced to gate check their bags. The rush for bin space can be a war of all against all, but that includes passengers versus crew too.
It’s long been said that there’s only two kinds of luggage, carry on and lost – and airlines don’t yet even have to refund checked bag fees for luggage that’s lost (though the Biden administration wants to change this).
Banning carry on bags might save several minutes during boarding and deplaning, only to cause even greater delays at the baggage belt.
JetBlue will ban basic economy customers from bringing full-sized carry on bags on board, and will finally eliminate change fees on other ticket types, which their competitors did last summer.
Elites used to get waived change fees, but the airline says they aren’t contemplating any new elite benefits in exchange – what they do for members is already enough.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
