Originally Posted by
ashill
Many in this thread have said that there is room in the overhead bins for one item for every passenger. I'm pointing out that that's simply untrue.
Fair enough. And certainly true.
Originally Posted by
ashill
Speaking as a tall person (though not quite as tall as you) who certainly does his best to have nothing under the seat in front of him, I don't think height gives any special privileges.
I never said my height gives me special privileges. I pack a bag small enough to fit under the seat in case I board late and can't find bin space and my roll-a-board would have to checked. This becomes "too bad, so sad" for me. But this is a big part of why I both maintain status (to have early boarding privileges) and why I have my own minimum connection times that give me the best chance at arriving prior to the start of boarding for my connecting flight, even when factoring in possible delays.
Originally Posted by
ashill
I don't think expecting that someone else with lower status or who otherwise boarded later should have to gate check so I can put a bag that fits under my seat in the overhead bin is not particularly collegial.
I don't think expecting someone else to be miserable for 5-6 hours on a transcon so you can save 20-25 minutes at bag claim is very collegial. Someone with no status or boarding late is going to have to go to the same baggage claim I am on arrival. Why should this bother me or why should I have sympathy for someone having to gate their bag (for free)? I'd have a different opinion if they were being charged but that's not the case, and not one person has provided a good answer to that question.
And why should I bother checking my roll-a-board then if I'm going to be forced to put my "personal item" under my seat anyway?
You tell me which you prefer:
1) I check a roll-a-board suitcase and bring a "personal item" which takes up about 50-75% of the volume of the roll-a-board, and that "personal item" goes in the overhead bin, thus leaving some 25-50% of the space I could otherwise take up for other bags & space under the seat remains empty for me to stretch my legs.
2) In order to prevent people like you from telling me my personal item should go under the seat in front of me, I purposely start packing my personal item in a roll-a-board so that it CAN'T go under the seat in front of me. 100% of the space I could take up is now taken up, leaving 0% additional space. Even though 25-50% of the space in the roll-a-board is wasted as empty space, I still have the space under the seat in front of me empty. Late comers have to check their roll-a-board because my roll-a-board is in the OH bin.
**Worst case with this option, I board late and my roll-a-board has to be checked. My stuff inside is packed in a roll-a-board in way that I can easily pull it out of the roll-a-board and place it under the seat in front of me, so that the stuff I don't want checked isn't checked.
3) Since you're going to make me put my personal item under my seat anyway, I now gain nothing by checking my roll-a-board. I carryon both my roll-a-board bag and personal item and put the roll-a-board in the OH bin and my personal item under my seat. Late boarders still have to check their roll-a-board because my roll-a-board is in the OH bin.
Those are your options. Tell me which you prefer, because I'm going with one of those three options. I posted about it upthread prior to this thread being moved from the DL forum to TravelBuzz. I went with Option 3 on my most recent trip out of convenience (I carried on my roll-a-board and my personal item went under the seat) since I had a late arrival in SEA and wanted to save 20-30 minutes by avoiding bag claim. This was my first flight on DL in a long time where I wasn't in the exit row, C+, or FC. Right after boarding in DTW, I immediately regretted that decision and that 5 hour flight to SEA on a lovely DL 737-900 was one of the most miserable experiences I've had on an aircraft since flying knee-to-knee on Blackhawk helos.