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Comment by labcomputer | Hacker News Reader

Plus, carry-on luggage:

The problem in practice with boarding people in back first is that:

1. They tend to put their carry-on in the first bin they find in the front of the airplane. So people sitting in the front have to put theirs in the back. This is a disaster later in the boarding process because there isn't enough room for people to circulate back up to the front after they stow their carry-on.

2. Frequent fliers and people who purchased premium economy seats expect to be able to bring a carry-on. They tend to sit in the front the plane, so the problem for #1 affects them more.

This is relevant to United's new policy because boarding people with windows in the back board before people with aisles in the front.

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You've asserted this first-encountered-bin idea twice in this thread that I've seen. I always fly economy so I'm generally on after most others have boarded, but I don't think I've ever seen the behavior you describe at least on US domestic flights over ~20 years flying now. From observing while departing the aircraft it seems the vast majority of people place their things above their own seats. Is this something that you see often personally or something you heard / was observed by somebody else somewhere?

Edit: I guess I'll have to keep a sharper eye out from here on to see if it's actually as common as you claim.

It's this new asshole meta to not carry your bag further in the plane.

So many people have status (especially late in the year) so that Boarding Group 2 doesn't guarantee overhead at front of plane.

It's also a matter of getting to your seat at the back, finding no space, and then having to walk up and finding any remaining space has been taken... the non-asshole approach can be risky.

If you're boarding last (as I do voluntarily and involuntarily), you just shove your stuff wherever.

I guess in optimized boarding setups, anyone that voluntarily boards last is an asshole, but they tend to escape judgement.

> It's also a matter of getting to your seat at the back, finding no space, and then having to walk up and finding any remaining space has been taken ... If you're boarding last (as I do voluntarily and involuntarily), you just shove your stuff wherever

I get what you're saying, but I pay extra (a lot extra) to sit in the front and have more leg room, and forget about the fact you hate rich people, there out to be a place for my one carryon near where I'm sitting. Because if I have to walk to the back of the plane to stow, how will get to my bag after we land?

the asshole approach really is the asshole approach.

I know, I know, rich and asshole go together. Me paying for that seat, that comfort, should be balanced by me not being able to get my bag till everybody else has left the plane /s

The parent's point isn't even responsive.

People like the parent who are boarding in later groups aren't causing the issue.

No.

Your situation is irrelevant because you're boarding last. Of course you're looking for any empty space.

It's common once the bins start filling up. You don't want to get to your seat to find no overhead space, having to go further down the aisle and then awkwardly shuffle back. Then when you land you now have to wait until everyone gets off to go to the back to get your stuff.

I have about 800k lifetime miles and see this on every flight. A lot of people do put their bags right next to them. A lot of people also drop it off on the first space that is available to them.

When I had status I used to sit in first class a lot. Some people try to dump their bags there, but get yelled at 100% of the time. People really love opening the bins for the people in the first row (no under-seat storage because there's a bulkhead; bins closed to make them less attractive to the dive bombers), but also usually get yelled at for that.

I have even seen this happen way in the back. I was sitting in row 21 or something and someone sitting in the last row put their bag right next to mine. Chuck it in there, walk to the back. Hope they put a passcode on their iPad!

I used to fly JFK-SFO and JFK-LAX a lot. Not sure I saw it as much on those routes.

> They tend to put their carry-on in the first bin they find in the front of the airplane

I personally haven't noticed this and I don't think it's very common. I thought that most people preferred to have their carry on in the bin closest to their seat in case they need to pull something out mid flight.

If you watch on domestic flights, it's about a 60-40 split between people who put their carry on near them (60%) and people who throw it in the first free bin (40%)

But how much of that is because boarding is a complete mess, and the last thing you want is to get to the back of the plane where your seat is and that's all full already because for some reason all the people with status are also in the back. Then you have to wade "upstream" to put your bag somewhere.

If the plane was more reliably boarded in some sort of order, I'd be more relaxed about it.

In my experience, it’s super common.

That’s the whole point of boarding earlier, securing carry on space.

I’m little skeptical. Even before most airlines started charging for checked bags, they had first class board first, and then boarding groups by status. When checked bags were free, the overheads didn’t fill up very fast.

Frankly if I’m at the lounge, I’d much rather stay there another 15 minutes than spend it in a metal tube at the gate.

I think people want to board earlier because the airline says that earlier boarding denotes high status, and people love to be on top of a status game. It’s great to have the velvet rope open in front of you and be told you can go first. Unfortunately at the airport going first just means you get to sit in the tube longer.

> Plus, carry-on luggage:

> The problem in practice with boarding people in back first is that:

> 1. They tend to put their carry-on in the first bin they find in the front of the airplane. So people sitting in the front have to put theirs in the back. This is a disaster later in the boarding process because there isn't enough room for people to circulate back up to the front after they stow their carry-on.

What if every section had to put their bags in the compartments directly above them? Rows 50-60 get overhead section 50-60, rows 40-50 only put their stuff in overhead section 40-50 etc?

Or they could just start charging for carryons too. Then there'd probably be way less of it.

There's just not enough room for a dedicated carryon space per seat. And carryons i've seen lately are massive they don't even fit long wise into the compartment.

This is the real problem. It used to be free to check bags, so not everyone needed a carry-on. Now it costs money to check a bag so everyone needs a carry-on plus a personal item (in practice, a giant backpack that they shove their whole purse, laptop, and jacket into before awkwardly stashing it protruding out from under your seat and into the back of your feet).

There used to be extra room in all that overhead storage for a ton of blankets and pillows.

lol the inevitable guy with the huge hockey bag that fills the entire bin is on every single flight

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