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You don't have to go on the plane as soon as they start boarding. Definitely don't line up. You have a reserved seat, you can sit and use the internet for an extra 15 minutes until they make the last call. If you're the last one on the plane, you also won't have to fight with other people to use the overhead compartments.

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Which means that on a smaller plane on a full flight, you may have to gate check your bag, leaving you lined up on the gateway when unboarding.

I agree with you -- lining up sucks. What I tend to do is review my seats when I check in electronically, and if there is a decent number of open seats, I can count on the overhead space being available. If there's only a few open seats, it might be worthwhile to line up to avoid gate checking.

Of course, you can always just stash your carry on underneath your seat to alleviate that problem.

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