The protip is absolutely to time it so you're not in view of the gate agent until the queue has gone down a bit then you can join. They're too busy then to hassle you.

What is bothersome is that I have seen several older folks not understanding this is not a good thing, being effectively forced to check their (perfectly within size) bags. I overheard one person who was connecting say their medicine was in the bag which was now on its way to be loaded onto a l/h connection. It's not obvious to less frequent flyers that this means you won't see the bag until your final destination.