boarding process / overhead strategy?
 

I'm considering flying Independence for the first time on a one-way ORD-IAD-SYR and am hoping for others' observations on how they do the boarding process, e.g. is it back-to-front or more of a Southwest-style first-come-first-serve situation -- couldn't find anything at the company website. My concern is that I travel with a $30,000 piece of fragile wood (violin) which fits in any overhead (even NW Dash-8s) but not underneath the seat, so I need to formulate my strategy to guarantee that I get first shot at the overheads. Thanks for any advice.

I've flown them six or seven times now, and it's always a free-for-all (but with assigned seats, of course). I usually select a row closer to the back of the plane and have never had a problem with overhead space.

if it's a full flight out of a linestation, they will board from the rear of the aircraft. in dulles, they will have a preboard before general boarding. maybe use the preboard. and yes, the rear of the aircraft usually has a better chance at getting first dibs on overhead space

Thanks for the advice - I booked the ticket, hopefully it'll turn out okay.

cool,
let me know if you have any other questions. i'll try to answer to the best of my knowledge. also if you are on the CRJ (50 seater), in the very rear on the seats C and D side there is no overhead room. it's blocked from use because of the emergency flight attendant kit, i believe. so the Seats A and B side will be you best bet.