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Comment by JansjoFromIkea | Hacker News Reader

My very selfish reason for becoming pro cabin bag charges is how much quicker it has made boarding planes.

The way people took the piss with the bags they brought on board before was ridiculous and resulted in a big delay of people trying to find space for their oversized bags of stuff they absolutely don't need for their weekend trip.

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at least in the US they started asking people to pay for checked bags first, so the airlines caused this whole "rush for the overhead bins" problem.

In Brazil too. There used to be plenty of space on the overhead bins, and people used to get in and out of the plane without any hush or messy corridors.

I've been a bit skeptical of this theory. It's not really true of budget airlines but business travelers and frequent flyers with status just don't want to check bags because it takes longer and can have complications with flight changes.

Personally, I rarely check bags (mostly if I need checked for outdoor activities) but the money has basically nothing to do with it.

Sorry I wasn't even thinking about non-budget airlines when I commented. I was talking about budget airlines (Ryanair, specifically) with my comment

Fair enough. I've never taken one of those airlines.

People started doing it in part because the airlines were taking outrageous times to get bags.

Ironically, that’s been very much improved. With Delta and Alaska now, it’s actually quite rare that I get to baggage claim and my bags are not already there.

True. Recently flew Alaska. They announced on speaker that if your bag didn’t come out within a certain time (I think it was 20min), you were entitled to some compensation or even the refund of the flight

It really depends on the airport not so much the airline.

I think not charging for checked bags and some sort of friction for carry-on bags would be best.

Maybe checked bags are free, and people with carry-on bags board last (unless they have kids)

Basically what spirit does is charge you $65 for a carry on but $60 for a checked bag. Fastest boarding/deboarding experience I’ve seen short of when you get to walk on the tarmac and access the plane from both ends.

Yeah this. Also the plane tickets are so bloody cheap these days that the baggage doesn't hurt a bit.

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