Originally Posted by JHake10

I fly on business routes for work (SFO-BOS) and group 1 is like half the flight. And the only reason why we are all lining up early is so we can get overhead space near our seat.

This wouldn't be an issue if UA had 1 free checked bag (not that they would give up the revenue stream on that). I don't know how this would work exactly but since you get 1 carry on anyway, If there were a way to say I would like to check that carry-on ahead of time (at check in) that can speed things up as they do this at the gate anyway. The only drawback to that is making sure people who selected that option only board with one personal item, otherwise they are forced to check a bag at the normal rate.