Originally Posted by orfflyer

It's a vicious circle. Back in the day, CP's, Golds and Silvers would sit quietly knowing that they would be boarded first and that the GA's would not let other folks board before them, even though they would huddle around the gate. That's evolved to now where many GA's will allow anyone to board at anytime and/or many GA's calling "Zones 1, 2 and 3" rather than boarding one Zone at a time. CP's, Golds and Silvers know that at many gates they need to be ready to hop on to have a shot at overhead space. Having said all that, I agree that there ARE a lot of statused gate hogs that must get some sort of thrill by being the first to board, but I think most of the "huddling" is done out of practicality.