jonsail

All of the fuss about who gets to board in what order mainly comes down to concern about being able to put your carryon in the overhead bin. Because every once in a while a checked bag gets lost or delayed and it is a giant inconvenience, to say nothing of the fact that it is nice to walk off the plane without having to go to the baggage area.

Even flying first class doesn't guarantee a late boarding first class pax overhead space.

So even though seats are reserved, there is this overhead bin availability anxiety.

Wouldn't it make sense to let pax pay for a designated overhead bin space, adequate to fit the max. legal carryon?

mahasamatman

I don't think that would ever work.

notquiteaff

Are you thinking of physical dividers that create carry-on sized slots in the overhead bins that people can pay for?

oopl

No way. It would just prolong boarding time as people argue over it.

Michael D

As more rows and seats per rows are added to planes the overhead space remains constant.

This might be the future.

emcampbe

This. Its going to be another area that encourages conflict.

Let's not forget that overhead bins were never designed to hold the amount of luggage allowed into the cabin. Years ago, people didn't all bring a full carryon. Now, many more do.

That said, not everyone does, so if you reserved bin space, who gets the unused? Bags have different dimensions, so reserving a specific space with X dimensions isn't going to work for everyone. And what about with BE...how much space is in the bins above those buying BE, and who gets to use it...and how much variation on BE uptake is there on flight one vs. flight two, and where are all these people sitting (many probably in the back, but soem probably scattered throughout the cabin).

On paper, sounds like a good idea. But IME, wouldn't work in practice.

flyerbaby19

I think it's a fantastic idea. 1k/GS/FC get it free, others pay. Bag dimensions are listed on the website so it can be allocated based on those dimensions. No pay, no roll aboard. Just like BE. They know exactly how many they can sell. It's another monetization opportunity in the world of unbundling. Makes sense to me to give it a try.

Catbert10

F overhead space should be reserved for the F cabin. Otherwise, reserved overhead space in Y will only lead to slower boarding ans increased conflicts.

Which means UA will probably implement it soon.

COSPILOT

I would be all for this. Much like you pick a seat, you could select your overhead space in advance. Bulkhead 1st gets 2 each for obvious reasons, everyone else gets one. Your bag doesn't fit the sizer and would have to go sideways? Buy a different bag that complies.

HoustonConsultant

Dividers in the bins would eat some amount of space (1/4 or 1/8 inch dividers spread across an entire plane eventually adds up (as well as adding some amount of weight to the plane).

More problematic is that it would end up wasting space. I reserve bin space, but my bag only takes half that space or 3/4 of that bin space, the rest goes unused.

JBord

First, this should never ever happen. I can't imagine the problems reserved bin space would bring, but I''m sure they'd be bad, and sometimes possibly violent. There aren't enough bin spaces for everyone to have a slot. This is the main fact to consider.

Second, it should NOT be a benefit only for certain elites. If any airline were to try this, it should apply across the board. Here's an example why:

So, in your scenario, a non-frequent flier could pay for a bin space a month before a flight while a last minute elite who does a SDC or even books a flight a few days before, has to check his bag. I can hear the argument with the GA or FA about how he's entitled to bin space as a benefit.

Plus, why stop at 1K? Plats, Golds, Silvers don't get it? So if they don't pay, over half the bins in the plane could be empty???

Not to mention how it would slow down the boarding process as the GA checks the size of each bag in the non-bin-entitled group to make sure it fits under the seat.

I could come up with 100 scenarios that make this a really bad idea that would be difficult to execute.

Tblack15

While I agree that it's not a good idea, I could find 100 reasons why airbnb & uber wouldn't work. Not to mention how many VC's laughed them out of their offices. Let's not be so shut down.

OP sees a problem and proposed a solution.

I saw a pretty cool schematic that allows everyone a slot in the floorboards for their carry-on instead of overhead.

walkerci

It would be very helpful to keep crew bags out of the FC overhead unless they are seated there.

JBord

In my experience, it's not a bad idea to shut down bad ideas, as long as it's based on facts and logic.

Uber and Airbnb are significantly different. Service-oriented business geared toward individual customers. You would have similar issues if you tried to stuff 200 strangers into a single room Airbnb or an Uber bus.

Now, your point of finding alternate ways to store carry-on luggage has some merit. That's a solution. But simply finding a new way to charge people for something that already exists as part of a standard fare doesn't seem like a solution, or even worthy of discussion, unless its in a smoke-filled room of airline executives. Just my opinion of course.

GoSh4rks

They already are more or less, and it doesn't work.