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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I know being a gate agent is a hard job.  They get yelled at and have to be the bad guy a lot, so I go out of my way to be friendly, smile, say thank you, etc.

I am also a very frequent flyer (weekly, highest status on United and American), so I know the drill and have it down - pre boarding, carry ons etc.  I have used the same luggage roll-on for 15 years, so I know it’s carry-on size (yes it fits in the metal sizer) and I know it fits in the overhead bin on a normal size plane (and I’m on a very large plan this morning).  But every now and then I get some gate agent on a power trip who wants to give me a hard time and scold me by telling me my bag is too big.  And not in a nice way.

I am petite (5’1, 100 lbs) and young, and I am convinced there is some sort of thing happening where because I am small it makes the bag look proportionally bigger and/or they just assume I’ll say “omg, so sorry, ok take my bag”.  That is the only fair explanation I can come up with.  Because even today I’m in line with a 6’+ man whose bag is definitely bigger than mine (side-by-side so no question) and nobody said anything to him, but this male gate agent tells me my bag isn’t carry on size.  At which point I have to explain, no really it is, yes it will fit, I fly all the time and it always fits, and he’s welcome to put it in the sizer (while everyone waits for him to do so).  Looks again, and says go ahead.  Maybe I’ll be roasted for this but hey United, I’m global services, pretty sure I can pack a bag at this point, you’re pretty sure it can fit, and [b]I have no incentive to fake it since I get free checked bags anyway. [/b] I’m all about them enforcing rules and I would check my bag if it didn’t fit, but it does!  I’ve even had this happen with my roll on that is small enough to be designed to go under the seat in front of you!

I wonder how often this happens to others and how much revenue is generated from this.  It’s just such a weird flex / power dynamic and is terrible customer service.  [/quote]

I disagree with the bolded . Everyone has an incentive not to check a bag, regardless of the cost. Most people I know go out of their way to not buy or pick up extra items on their trip, pack a lot less than they normally would, and anything else to avoid check luggage and that entire process of dropping off or retrieving the bag.[/quote]

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