I don’t want to check my bag at the gate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG people just check a bag.

No need to squeeze your sunscreen into multiple 3 oz bottles you bought from Target, or wash your underwear in the sink every night, or stress out about your boarding group.

Some airports the checked luggage gets to baggage claim before I do.

You forgot the $35 per person each way part.

.

A lot of people don’t pay it (Southwest, credit card or FF status etc) but also it’s waived for gate checked bags so you could just assume it’ll be gate checked and then be happy if it’s not.

that’s what I do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the flight attendants announce they will be requiring gate checking of bags, there is no “carry-on anyway”. It’s not optional.

You aren’t getting past the gate agent with a carryon. They have all the power and will use it. If they make an exception for you, there will be chaos.

Either check it or carry only a backpack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I typically fly American. My last 10 flights they have demanded people in groups 6 and higher to check bags at the gate. I'm usually group 4 or 5 so I'm never forced. But I can see what a PITA it is because AFTER the flight you end up with a big group of passengers blocking the passageway leaving the plane as they wait for their bags to be delivered. Plus I'm sure there are lots of people (who don't fly often and don't understand how the "check at the gate" works) who assume their bags will be at baggage claim and leave the plane, terminal and security and only figure out then that their luggage is waiting back at the gate on the other side of security.

I gate check frequently (and usually happily), and I haven't picked up my bag at the gate on quite some time. Lately, the gate checked bags on flights I've been on are always sent to baggage claim (which isn't nearly so convenient).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OMG people just check a bag.

No need to squeeze your sunscreen into multiple 3 oz bottles you bought from Target, or wash your underwear in the sink every night, or stress out about your boarding group.

Some airports the checked luggage gets to baggage claim before I do.

We fly with my daughter's figure skates in a carry on. I'm not checking them, because if they don't make it, no competition. Others travel with medical equipment or special food that needs to make it to their destination. So, no, sometimes it's not just someone being a diva.

Presumably these things don't need to go in a wheeled carry-on that would be caught by gate agents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I typically fly American. My last 10 flights they have demanded people in groups 6 and higher to check bags at the gate. I'm usually group 4 or 5 so I'm never forced. But I can see what a PITA it is because AFTER the flight you end up with a big group of passengers blocking the passageway leaving the plane as they wait for their bags to be delivered. Plus I'm sure there are lots of people (who don't fly often and don't understand how the "check at the gate" works) who assume their bags will be at baggage claim and leave the plane, terminal and security and only figure out then that their luggage is waiting back at the gate on the other side of security.

I gate check frequently (and usually happily), and I haven't picked up my bag at the gate on quite some time. Lately, the gate checked bags on flights I've been on are always sent to baggage claim (which isn't nearly so convenient).

+1, gate checked bags go to baggage claim (which they announce). The only time I ever have them arrive plane-side is when it's a very small commuter jet where none of the roller bags will fit in the overheads so they take them all at the end of the jetway when departing and return them there at the destination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OMG people just check a bag.

No need to squeeze your sunscreen into multiple 3 oz bottles you bought from Target, or wash your underwear in the sink every night, or stress out about your boarding group.

Some airports the checked luggage gets to baggage claim before I do.

We fly with my daughter's figure skates in a carry on. I'm not checking them, because if they don't make it, no competition. Others travel with medical equipment or special food that needs to make it to their destination. So, no, sometimes it's not just someone being a diva.

Presumably these things don't need to go in a wheeled carry-on that would be caught by gate agents.

Exactly. Competing daughter can put her skates in a backpack with a change of clothes and medicine.
Mom can put her medical equipment in a backpack with a change of clothes. etc.

[Anonymous]

This is why you should fly private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why you should fly private.

You again? Just go away troll

[Anonymous]

I just got an e-mail from Lufthansa as their flight is full. My backpack fits under the seat and that's all I take for ten day trip.
Less is more clearly; no waiting for your bag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OMG people just check a bag.

No need to squeeze your sunscreen into multiple 3 oz bottles you bought from Target, or wash your underwear in the sink every night, or stress out about your boarding group.

Some airports the checked luggage gets to baggage claim before I do.

We fly with my daughter's figure skates in a carry on. I'm not checking them, because if they don't make it, no competition. Others travel with medical equipment or special food that needs to make it to their destination. So, no, sometimes it's not just someone being a diva.

Presumably these things don't need to go in a wheeled carry-on that would be caught by gate agents.

Exactly. Competing daughter can put her skates in a backpack with a change of clothes and medicine.
Mom can put her medical equipment in a backpack with a change of clothes. etc.

Sure they can but it’s annoying to have to. The airline says you can bring a bag of X size (which your actual skate bag is) but then in order to actually get on the plane you have to repack your things into a different bag you aren’t going to use at the final destination. No way does anyone want to lug all their competitive figure skating equipment around in a backpack the whole trip. We used rolling bags even in the 90s to drive to competitions.

I honestly think it would make more sense to just have the airlines state a smaller size (fits under the seat in front of you) did economy carryons just so there’s no ambiguity or doubt. And maybe only charge for large checked bags.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I typically fly American. My last 10 flights they have demanded people in groups 6 and higher to check bags at the gate. I'm usually group 4 or 5 so I'm never forced. But I can see what a PITA it is because AFTER the flight you end up with a big group of passengers blocking the passageway leaving the plane as they wait for their bags to be delivered. Plus I'm sure there are lots of people (who don't fly often and don't understand how the "check at the gate" works) who assume their bags will be at baggage claim and leave the plane, terminal and security and only figure out then that their luggage is waiting back at the gate on the other side of security.

I gate check frequently (and usually happily), and I haven't picked up my bag at the gate on quite some time. Lately, the gate checked bags on flights I've been on are always sent to baggage claim (which isn't nearly so convenient).

+1, gate checked bags go to baggage claim (which they announce). The only time I ever have them arrive plane-side is when it's a very small commuter jet where none of the roller bags will fit in the overheads so they take them all at the end of the jetway when departing and return them there at the destination.

This is airline specific. We flew British Air recently and gate checked bags were on the jetway after the flight. Domestic flights are usually sent to baggage claim, but again, it’s airline specific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the flight attendants announce they will be requiring gate checking of bags, there is no “carry-on anyway”. It’s not optional.

It’s not the flight attendants who make this decision, it’s the gate agents, and they don’t relay this to the flight attendants.

A flight attendant

Our family was targeted in Amsterdam for gate checking while transferring to another intra-Europe flight. Not sure why. A gate agent approached us at the gate well before boarding (while we were sitting waiting for the flight) and asked if we were so and so, when we confirmed, they asked us to gate check. We asked if we could decline and they said no. Actually it was the three of us that shared the same last name. The fourth in the party was not on their list probably because of a different name.

That felt pretty crummy to be picked out like that. Not clear why either. Nothing happened on our previous flight that should have picked us out as people with unusual baggage or anything like that. It was selectively applied to people based on the passenger roster. Maybe based on row location. But our seats had working bins overhead.

I think it's pretty much that making one family mad is easier than making three separate flyers mad.

We were flying British Airways in Amsterdam to London earlier this month, they forced us to check our Carryons while checking in. All bags were delayed for the rest of our trip, only getting back with us once we returned to DC, and still waiting on one more carryon bag 2 weeks later. So frustrating.

[Anonymous]

We have had this happen, or almost happen, a few times. So frustrating. If you really want to make sure you do t have to check your bag maybe get a carry on with a built in (non removable) charger?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG people just check a bag.

No need to squeeze your sunscreen into multiple 3 oz bottles you bought from Target, or wash your underwear in the sink every night, or stress out about your boarding group.

Some airports the checked luggage gets to baggage claim before I do.

Have you ever been on a week-long Caribbean cruise where your checked bag never reaches you until you reach the airport to fly home? I have.

No. Fly nonstop and confirm the destination on your bad tag.

Not every flight can be non-stop.

Learn how to travel like a grownup and stop weeping every time things don’t go your way. Jeez.

I actually wasn't a grownup then. And no weeping was done. But I was on a ship in the tropics for a week with a lot of other impacted people. I didn't have a swimsuit and I'd flown wearing pants because airplanes can be cold. And my whole family was impacted. This was a very unpleasant way to experience an entire cruise. I went snorkeling in Aruba half in street clothes. As somebody else points out below, once your luggage gets lost it can take weeks to get back to you. If there was more reliability in airline behavior, people would be less concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the flight attendants announce they will be requiring gate checking of bags, there is no “carry-on anyway”. It’s not optional.

It’s not the flight attendants who make this decision, it’s the gate agents, and they don’t relay this to the flight attendants.

A flight attendant

I’m sorry that insulted you. It doesn’t change the fact that OP doesn’t get a choice to gate check when it’s required.

She doesn’t sound insulted. She was providing information.

Sorry, FA, it was pedantic comment that didn’t change the point that if you’re told to gate check you don’t the option to refuse.

DP. I'm not a FA but the FA's comment was correcting your erroneous information. It may not affect the information that the gate check was not optional, but it does change the relevant information about who makes that decision. In our very whiny and litigious society, people are always looking for who to blame. Your ignorant comment means that the whiny complainers are going to blame the flight attendants for the decision and may end up giving the FAs a difficult time during the trip because the passengers erroneously blame the FAs for the inconvenience when they had nothing to do with the problem.

This is like people who call to yell at the sales department when they get bad customer service in the service department. Learn to be a little more accurate in your statements and you won't have to deal with people who correct your mistakes.