Airlines should charge for guaranteed overhead bin space. Most tickets come with a ‘license to hunt’ for space, rather than overhead bin space proper. And customers who believe they are entitled to bring a carry-on bag on board get stuck gate checking their bag and wasting time at baggage claim at the end of their flight.
This is one of the most common complaints I see on social media with photos, behind only damaged bags. American thinks adding 5 minutes to boarding time is going to fix this, when United and Delta have already increased boarding time and have just as much of a challenge.
Airlines monetize everything else, and bin space is a scarce resource (like extra legroom seats), so in a way I’m surprised airlines don’t monetize guaranteed bin space access. I would pay for this, because it means I could board last rather than first and either get to the airport later or spend more time working in the lounge.
Guaranteed bin space would be an amazing top tier elite status benefit, too, and something airlines could use to entice managed business travel (since their customers likely prioritize carry-on versus checked bags the most).
@AmericanAir As a professional wrestler, when I travel, I have about $5000 worth of custom made gear. There is a reason I don't check bags, it's irreplaceable. Your staff made me check bag bc there was "No room"…. pic.twitter.com/Kd9bJGq8nP
— Greg Anthony (@GoldenBoyGreg) March 2, 2025
Some airlines charge for use of the bin already via basic economy – the idea is if you don’t spend more to avoid basic economy fares you can’t bring on the bags that require use of bins. Yet United Airlines still regularly lacks sufficient bin space for everyone else. Banning customers from bringing on bags isn’t the same as guaranteeing space for everyone else. Real value is in the certainty of bin space access and that’s something that could be charged.
Of course that would require something like Delta’s test years ago with boarding passenger carry-on bags in bins themselves (but you don’t want to do this before boarding starts, or it undermines the whole point of showing up to the gate later) or assigning a new task to flight attendants and actually ensuring uniform execution. So this is hard! But it’s revenue clearly being left on the table.
If all bin space was charged, there’d be no shortage. People would board faster. That would be a big savings for airlines, who would operate on-time, more efficiently and at lower cost (now that several pay flight attendants for boarding time). They might even make first checked bag free.
There are a lot of ways that airlines could monetize passenger travel, improve their economics, if they weren’t so status quo-focused. Better paid food in first class seems like an obvious play. Selling premium wine is harder to make the case for but I’d love to avoid the swill that airlines serve domestically, and that American Airlines serves internationally.
Airlines might enlarge lavatories and pay for it with credit card ads on the walls and lobbying to permit onboard gambling would generate $1 billion in revenue annually for a large airline.
At the very least, these ideas should be pursued. There’s only so much margin that can be squeezed out of testing routes like Austin – Harlingen. And Elliott Management has the plot all wrong, merely trying to turn Southwest into JetBlue or American. Go big and get creative!
Why don’t you advocate for no bags in the cabin. No more problem. Thanks for making us all pay more. Dbag
People do not seem to understand that the underlying problem is the customer’s common sense. It’s true that people are entitled to their overhead bin space but it’s also true that their personal item, coats do take space. Airlines work against time and the crew members have very important duties and it cannot be expected from them to also police the passengers’ behavior with their belongings while also maintaining on time performance. Sure there is enough space if everyone brings their trolley (is there?), but if an entire bin section ends up being occupied by a couple of passengers (2 trolleys, 2 coats, 2 personal small bags, duty free bought before boarding, et cetera) what could be the solution?
I’d say as someone who has to fight this issue daily the good solution is always perks rather than fees. Give passengers a substantial, appeasing amount of miles if they come trolley free, perhaps?
Charging for space doesn’t solve the root problems.
The root problems of overhead space are threefold
– There are, roughly, 2x as many seats as there are overhead spaces in most jets. For a standard 3×3 config, each overhead bin can only fit about 3 rollaboards for 6 seats. This is due to the airlines jamming as many seats as they can.
– The overhead space is not policed and the under seat storage is very poorly utilized. If people were forced to keep their coats, backpacks, purses and other nonsense under the seat then there would be far more overhead room
– If the airlines offered sky check as a standard, where one could leave and pick up their bag on the jet bridge with reasonable assurance it makes the flight, then far more would make use of that option. No one LIKES rolling luggage up and stowing in the overhead, we are forced to because to do anything else could result in missed connections and inability to grab a standby, not to mention luggage being lost.
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@Steve you’re right.
Last summer I bought one spot above my seat guaranteed when my party is four traveled on Condor. Carry-on was included but this seemed to guarantee a spot.
I bought just one spot out of curiosity on how this works out.
There seemed to be not enforcement when we boarded, perhaps since the flight wasn’t too full.
Duty free should not go in the overhead bin nor should the personal item that each passenger is allowed with the exception being seats with no footwell under the seat in front of them. Coats and jackets should be kept with the passenger except if there is a closet for hanging them as there was in first class many years ago. If those rules were followed, there would be enough room for carry-ons for most if not all passengers.
The problem is people bring a ton of bags and take up space then shouldn’t. I got to my seat once and no one was in my row but the overhead was full. How ? No one was seated in my row and across me were only 2 people. I had to put it on the bin behind me. Which is a pain as you try to deplane and you have to each behind a row to get your stuff as people try to push past you. Only time I’ve seen the overhead policed was on Spirit and that flight attendant was not messing around lol
We could start by simply limiting people to a carry-on and a personal item. Every airline claims this, and yet I’m constantly watching people get on the plane with three or four bags. If you can’t even get that part right, how do we expect them to enforce who puts what in which location once on board?
Gambling in the cabin? Have you seen people after a large losing streak? Some are fine, some get suicidal, some get violent. You don’t want that 30k ft up in a confined space
I sat behind a couple that took the window and aisle seat (No one took the middle seat)… They got on board first, I was one of the last to get on… I had to look for space to put my carryon, not near my seat… It ends up the bastard couple, put all four bags in overhead!!! Two of the bags were supposed to go under the seat!!! Needless to say I had to wait for everyone to get off board to get my bag and almost missed my flight because it was on the other side of the airport!!!
Why is this sh it allowed????
So I generally come to Gary’s defense here but YOU ARE WRONG here, and we should not be pushing for any further fees, especially under the guise of “better service” that never seems to actually be consistent, does it?
I think of a flight ticket as a rental/lease. You are leasing space from the airline, and it is reasonable to assume that this “space” also covers the space for your accompanying items. We don’t see anything with extra space rental fees on other forms of transportation like buses or trains, do we, other than perhaps “extra” items, for example ski equipment, do we?
This is adjacent-to, if not the same type of argument as monetizing the bathroom access like RyanAir tried in the past.
Personally, I find all this talk about “bin space” to be overblown. I’ve generally flown monthly for the last few decades and the only time I’ve seen any kind of issue is when EVERYONE is flying on/around the holidays and then since most are traveling for family and extended periods bring more. If airlines gave incentives to actually *check* baggage, even just for peak periods (say for example, they reduced the price to check a bag to $5 for 12/14-12/28 or something like that), this would likely go a long way to improve efficiency and would actually save them money.