Proof that charging for the first bag sucks
 

IAH-ATL this past Monday: Approximately 10 bags gate checked, including one that I would have thought was too big to go through the baggage x-ray at security. It wouldn't have fit on board even if the bins on the 73G had been empty.

IAH-ELP this past Monday: Departure delayed by almost 10 minutes while 5-10 bags are gate checked. This was on a 735 that was only about 60% full; there were only about six middle seats occupied in all of Y. But yet the overhead bins were overflowing and not all roller bags would fit.

ELP-IAH this morning: At least 15-20 bags checked at the gate after the bins on the 735 were full. Departure delayed close to 10 minutes while waiting for this. I boarded 25 minutes before departure and was in 1A; my bag had to go over 19E. My bag was the last one that went in a bin.

IAH-CLE later this morning: No bags gate checked, but it was very, very close. Maybe the fact that the flight was close to 50% elite had something to do with it, since all of those passengers don't have to pay the first bag fee. In fact, most of the big bags that came on board happened after the EliteAccess boarding.

CLE-ATL this afternoon: Of approximately 35 passengers on the ERJ, there were 26 waiting in the jetway at ATL for gate checked bags. Yes, 26. That's close to 75% of the passengers on the plane. It took nearly 15 minutes to get all the gate checked bags up to us. I saw the bag cart going to baggage claim through the jetway windows and it had maybe 5 or 6 bags on it.

The only reason I carried my bag on this week was because I had very early departures before 6:45 AM on both Monday and today, and I could get to the airport a few minutes later if I wasn't checking a bag. But this is getting ridiculous fast. It's quickly turning into a situation where the non-elites are carrying everything on to avoid the first bag fee, and in the process, causing delays in boarding and departure while bags are checked at the gate. And they're trying to bring on bags that are well over the legal carry on size in some cases.

I had one of those on ATL-EWR today. And she didn't handle it well when the FA called her out. The FA was equally rude to everyone on the flight, but too-big bag girl got a heapin' helpin of :rolleyes: from ol' Whatshername the FA with no name tag.

The only thing I'm not sure of on the gate-check evidence is the ERJ flight. Even most normal carry-on bags would have to be gate-checked on an ERJ.

Yes, but given all of the times I've gate checked on the ERJ/CRJ/Saab (which is a lot!) I've never seen this many passengers waiting in the jetway. Not even close. Again it may be entirely coincidental, but it certainly fits the pattern I've seen over the last week of an increase in carry-on bags and the number of gate checks.

You guessed one ;)

Is somthing wrong with the pda site or is it my phone. I keep geting a server error message.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Looks like it is the server. I can get to the main site but not /info.

USPS Express Mail sucks. A package that shipped "overnight" on Thursday didn't arrive yesterday or today. I now have to wait until Monday for it. Not happy at all. :mad:

Did IAH-CLE-ALB and back this week. Uneventful and smooth flights. Weather was fantastic on both travel days (Mon and Fri). Albany is gorgeous this time of year. Foliage was peaking.

Upgrades were non-existent, but I was on a Q fare yesterday. Those flights are very elite heavy these days. In fact, they boarded yesterday by splitting up elites by row. In other words, they split the plane up and boarded rows 16-29 for elites first. This seemed very inefficient to me, as I figured that there wouldn't be very many elites in the back of the plane. Wouldn't it make more sense - and be more fair - to board by elite levels? I wouldn't think this would still be hard to figure out.

PDA site is working for me, but it's very slow. Maybe it's timing out on your mobile device?

Good Saturday Morning, Box! :D I'm happily posting from my restored desktop that is finally back in working order. ATL pics and others are processing as we speak, will post links when done.

That's too bad - I've never had a problem with Express Mail.

Note to the Box: There is no reason to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua unless you have kids that are under 8.

Eeesh. I'm osrry you had to endure that one. I saw Max Payne earlier this afternoon; not terrible, not the greatest film. 3 out of 5.

Note to myself: When you are at your son's Frosh football game and the other team's receiver is going out for a long catch, do not yell offsides, as if you are at a soccer game. :D

We lost the game but my son made two great receiptions, both for a 1st down.

I actually got a call at 3pm during the intermission of the matinee of the ballet I was at from the woman at the post office. The package arrived late this afternoon. Since it was around the corner from the theater I actually picked it up during the intermission.

On the plus side, I now apparently have a friend for life at the Old Chelsea Station NYC post office and the package finally arrived. Sadly, it turns out I didn't need what I bought as I was able to fix my wife's laptop instead of replacing the screen. Anyone need a screen for a Dell Latitude D410? :rolleyes:

On the travel front, I booked PHL-IAH-SMF and back for the week after the SNA-OKC run. Should be a fun couple weeks of flying, and at least I'll make Silver for next year, whatever that's worth.