Originally Posted by
aztimm
Welcome to Flyertalk MissyH!
Whether or not they allow it, I think the main issue I see is when will you be boarding? Do you have status?
Nearly every flight I've been on in recent memory has been full, if not oversold. By the time group/zone 4 is boarding, all of the overheads are full. If you have status, or I think the credit card, you'd board in zone 1 or 2. But otherwise, what would you do if you get on the aircraft and there's no place to put your things? Would you feel safe gate checking?
To this excellent point, if OP does not have Status, it might be worthwhile to spend the money for a Choice Seat simply to make sure s/he has Zone 2 boarding instead of having a violin go in the underbelly.