Gate lice’ beware: American Airlines is catching early boarders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

Remember that the flight attendants aren't even being paid during boarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

I wish the flight attendants would actually, you know, attend. Plenty of people just need a little help. My elderly mother asked for assistance and it was her fellow passengers who helped out as the “flight attendant” could not be bothered. I once asked for help when I was 6 months pregnant and the “flight attendant” actually rolled her eyes at me. Fellow travelers are usually the ones to assist one another and make things pleasant. So now that I’m not pregnant I do my best to keep an eye out for people who might need a hand storing bags the correct way. We’ve all been there as parents traveling with young kids, we’ve all been there as people traveling to a funeral in a daze of grief, we’ve all been there when we have shoulder or knee injuries, or infirm parents to assist, etc.

Let’s help each other out with patience as fellow travelers. Because goodness knows the “attendants” are usually attending to rolling their eyes at passengers, giving knowing looks to one another and having little inside jokes over the intercom, and fawning over the passengers who look rich, hot, or both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

Remember that the flight attendants aren't even being paid during boarding.

All the more reason they should hustle to get the flight boarded and get in the air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

Remember that the flight attendants aren't even being paid during boarding.

All the more reason they should hustle to get the flight boarded and get in the air.

DP.

Snort.

Will that make them any MORE $$$?

No.

Why on earth would an FA do that?

They take an unbelievable amount of crap from rude and clueless passengers. I'm routinely astonished at how polite and helpful most of them are given customer behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

Remember that the flight attendants aren't even being paid during boarding.

All the more reason they should hustle to get the flight boarded and get in the air.

DP.

Snort.

Will that make them any MORE $$$?

No.

Why on earth would an FA do that?

They take an unbelievable amount of crap from rude and clueless passengers. I'm routinely astonished at how polite and helpful most of them are given customer behavior.

I have flown extensively, domestically and internationally, and I 100% have seen and partaken in a lot more passengers-helping-passengers, passengers-being-great, than I have seen and experienced flight attendants helping. When an obviously pregnant woman gets an eye-roll, when an elderly woman is flat-out refused help, there is simply no excuse. None.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they actually boarded by rows/sections, then flight attendants could actually monitor where people are putting their carryons.

We’ve all seen people put their roller bag and backpack and jacket in the overhead bin. Nobody stops them.

Fwiw, I’ve seen gate agents tell people trying to board early that their group hasn’t been called yet and they are asked to wait.

Everyone lines up early, so they could easily put up signage by rows/sections or simply call by rows. Since you have to pay to be closer to the front, those rows should be called first.

Actually, I get ticked off when I pay to check a bag and then am told that I have to put my backpack at my feet to make room for a freeloading carry-on. That's the whole point of enduring the inconvenience of waiting for my bag.

Exactly. It punishes people who carry on less. I actually shifted to a rolling small suitcase specifically because I was asked to put my knapsack at my feet, taking up my foot space. Instead of being rewarded for carrying on less, people with knapsacks end up with less foot space.

What is a “knapsack”?

Look it up! You might call it a backpack.

But why would you say “knapsack” if you are talking about a backpack?

Because it’s an equally acceptable term for it?

If you are 8 million years old, I guess.

It’s a British term. Either PP is foreign born or trying to sound worldly.

It's not a "British" term, it is a common English word with a German root. Amazing what people will argue about here, let alone insult someone over.

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=knapsack

DP

NP
I don't usually have a knapsack, but I do like to put my pocketbook under the seat in front of me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

I wish the flight attendants would actually, you know, attend. Plenty of people just need a little help. My elderly mother asked for assistance and it was her fellow passengers who helped out as the “flight attendant” could not be bothered. I once asked for help when I was 6 months pregnant and the “flight attendant” actually rolled her eyes at me. Fellow travelers are usually the ones to assist one another and make things pleasant. So now that I’m not pregnant I do my best to keep an eye out for people who might need a hand storing bags the correct way. We’ve all been there as parents traveling with young kids, we’ve all been there as people traveling to a funeral in a daze of grief, we’ve all been there when we have shoulder or knee injuries, or infirm parents to assist, etc.

Let’s help each other out with patience as fellow travelers. Because goodness knows the “attendants” are usually attending to rolling their eyes at passengers, giving knowing looks to one another and having little inside jokes over the intercom, and fawning over the passengers who look rich, hot, or both.

Obviously we all.have just personal anecdotes, but on the vast majority of my flights the FAs have done those helpful things, including reminding people to load bags "on their side, like a book", and quickly rearranging bags in bins to make more space, when they have an opening in the aisle.

[Anonymous]

this post WAS about the folks trying to board early - not about how to load luggage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

Remember that the flight attendants aren't even being paid during boarding.

All the more reason they should hustle to get the flight boarded and get in the air.

DP.

Snort.

Will that make them any MORE $$$?

No.

Why on earth would an FA do that?

They take an unbelievable amount of crap from rude and clueless passengers. I'm routinely astonished at how polite and helpful most of them are given customer behavior.

I have flown extensively, domestically and internationally, and I 100% have seen and partaken in a lot more passengers-helping-passengers, passengers-being-great, than I have seen and experienced flight attendants helping. When an obviously pregnant woman gets an eye-roll, when an elderly woman is flat-out refused help, there is simply no excuse. None.

PP.

I have also flown extensively, and I agree on both counts.

Passengers helping passengers is obviously more common, simply bc of numbers (there are very few flight attendants) and opportunity (they can't be traversing the aisles during boarding).

Also, it's obviously unacceptable if an obviously pregnant women gets an eyeroll or an elderly passenger is refused help.

HOWEVER, in my experience, events like these are VERY rare and are certainly the exception rather than the rule. Most flight attendants are quite happy to help with any reasonable and polite request.

Are you seriously suggesting otherwise?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am on a flight now and the instructions printed inside the overhead bins are crystal clear - if you have a rolling suitcase, turn it on its side and put it in wheels first. Yet people are laying them flat, horizontally, thereby taking up the space that could be used for three bags. Amazing. I wish the flight attendant would be able to ask people to set their bags in correctly but that would take even more time during boarding.

Remember that the flight attendants aren't even being paid during boarding.

All the more reason they should hustle to get the flight boarded and get in the air.

DP.

Snort.

Will that make them any MORE $$$?

No.

Why on earth would an FA do that?

They take an unbelievable amount of crap from rude and clueless passengers. I'm routinely astonished at how polite and helpful most of them are given customer behavior.

I have flown extensively, domestically and internationally, and I 100% have seen and partaken in a lot more passengers-helping-passengers, passengers-being-great, than I have seen and experienced flight attendants helping. When an obviously pregnant woman gets an eye-roll, when an elderly woman is flat-out refused help, there is simply no excuse. None.

PP.

I have also flown extensively, and I agree on both counts.

Passengers helping passengers is obviously more common, simply bc of numbers (there are very few flight attendants) and opportunity (they can't be traversing the aisles during boarding).

Also, it's obviously unacceptable if an obviously pregnant women gets an eyeroll or an elderly passenger is refused help.

HOWEVER, in my experience, events like these are VERY rare and are certainly the exception rather than the rule. Most flight attendants are quite happy to help with any reasonable and polite request.

Are you seriously suggesting otherwise?

DP +1

[Anonymous]

LOL I've never heard this term before.

But I flew on Saturday (diff airline), and the gate agents were super strict! They called zone (whatever), they lined up. They then went through the line asking people "Zone X? Zone X?" If you werent zone X you were asked to step aside. They did that with every zone they boarded lol.

I'm normally like zone 3 or 4, and so sometimes when they call zone 2 (or 3), I wait until the line shortens/no other people actively lining up, and then I'll tag on the end hoping that by the time I get up there it will be time for my zone. They called me out, and made us step aside and then completely finish boarding the previous zone before letting the next zone line up.

I was so impressed with how organized it was, I wasnt even upset about being called out LOL. I think it's a good idea overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why the overhead bin above the seat is not reserved for that seat - unless that person is not using it, in which case anyone could use it. If I have a seat, I should also have space for my bag above my seat.

This would make sense.

There isn't enough space for everyone on board to have a bag in the overhead bin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this post WAS about the folks trying to board early - not about how to load luggage.

Those two things are directly related. People try to board early to get overhead baggage space which is scarce because of how people load luggage, among other reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this post WAS about the folks trying to board early - not about how to load luggage.

Those two things are directly related. People try to board early to get overhead baggage space which is scarce because of how people load luggage, among other reasons.

The main reason is that so many passengers are packed in that there isn’t enough space for everyone even with perfectly packed compliant bags

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they actually boarded by rows/sections, then flight attendants could actually monitor where people are putting their carryons.

We’ve all seen people put their roller bag and backpack and jacket in the overhead bin. Nobody stops them.

Fwiw, I’ve seen gate agents tell people trying to board early that their group hasn’t been called yet and they are asked to wait.

Everyone lines up early, so they could easily put up signage by rows/sections or simply call by rows. Since you have to pay to be closer to the front, those rows should be called first.

Actually, I get ticked off when I pay to check a bag and then am told that I have to put my backpack at my feet to make room for a freeloading carry-on. That's the whole point of enduring the inconvenience of waiting for my bag.

Exactly. It punishes people who carry on less. I actually shifted to a rolling small suitcase specifically because I was asked to put my knapsack at my feet, taking up my foot space. Instead of being rewarded for carrying on less, people with knapsacks end up with less foot space.

Well, it’s not really a moral competition. But I understand the frustration.