Eric_sean

I’m sorry if this has already been discussed. I don’t post on here often and I couldn’t find this in any other thread.

This weekend, I was flying from SEA to PDX on one of the Embraer E175. I was upgraded to first class and was seating in seat A.

The gate agent said that I couldn’t bring my roller board suitcase on board because it wouldn’t fit in the overhead bin on the A seat side of the plane. I told that agent that it fits on the other side (above seats C &D) and he told me that if I’m seated on the A side of the plane, I can only use that side of the overhead bin. He then forced me to gate check my bag. I was the second person boarding and the bins were not already full yet.

Is that really the rules? Has anyone else ever had a gate agent do this?

formeraa

I would call AS Customer Relations and report this immediately. That is ridiculous!

bescobar

I've flown in 1A on the E175 on several occasion and have never had a gate agent prevent my carry on bag from getting on the air craft. Odd behavior on the agent's part. Usually lots of room for the all carry on bags in first .

Was your bag gate checked to the terminal or to the Cart?

nearlysober

That is indeed ridiculous. The overhead bins are a shared space, FAs often make a point of reminding us about that on flights. And while they try to hold the area above FC for those passengers, I've never seen it strongly enforced (aside from bulkhead rows, I've sometimes see them guard those which is nice as you can't put stuff at your feet). If the area over FC fills up, then move some bags back.

Hate to sound elitist, but make the dude flying saver fare boarding last gate-check his bag when the bins are full, not the 2nd person on the plane who's in first.

Have you used that bag on an E75 before on the C&D side? They're pretty small overhead bins even on that side... but even if the GA thought it was just too big, that's a stupid explanation he gave.

Often1

Don't call. Send a written note with as good a physical description of the agent as is possible. Make very clear that the agent specifically told you that as an "A" passenger, you were prohibited from using the "C-D" side OH.

It's fine for AS to limit bag types by type of aircraft, but there is no requirement that passengers place their bag in the space over their seat.

jrl767

< rant >
for the record, it's a ROLLABOARD suitcase, **NOT** a "roller board suitcase"
< /rant >

as far as prohibiting someone in an A seat from using the bins above C/D, that's beyond ridiculous and absurd

Eric_sean

Thanks for the responses. I thought it was odd too and even the guy behind me in line said I’ve never heard of this rule before. I’ll send an email to Alaska tonight.

also, to answer your questions, yes, I’ve used this bag on E175 before and it fits above the C&D row. It was a gate check where I picked up the bag at baggage claim.

Kacee

Definitely a made up rule. That said, it can be dicey carrying on a roller on the E75s due to the very limited overhead space.

beckoa

Ridiculous.

Especially from a station such as SEA- they know better.

gtslow

This happened to me a couple of months ago on an E175 to Edmonton. I took the gate tag and tossed it. My bag fit comfortably above 2C.

RAD_PDX

I think I would have started laughing and assumed it was a joke. They win the "make up the most absurd rule you can" prize for the week.

Close2KADS

I always place my bag in the overhead bin across the aisle. That way I can keep an eye on it.

ctporter

Ive watched several FC passengers on the C-D side board late enough that there was no room on "their" side for their bags in the overheads and ended up having their bags gate checked. One guy even asked me if I would gate check mine (I was in 2B, his group was 3A, C & D) so all of their bags would not fit in the overhead. I just said sorry, but no. Another time, I was in 3A and the guy in 3C came on board last and was very upset at not having room for his bag, he muttered about being this not being the way to treat an MVPG yadayada. The FA was not happy with that, but remained very courteous and gracious to him, but then made a point of thanking me for my loyalty as a MVPG75k MM. So yes, while it is shared space -it really is first come first served as there is NOT enough room for all of FC to put the max allowed size carry on bag in the overhead. All that said, the GA should have only said that to the last FC passengers that boarded and only if they were alerted that the overheads were full. (as others have noted, sometimes everyone does NOT bring stuff that needs to go in the overheads)

Hotel_junkie

Yah the A side overhead for A seats is a bogus rule. I would have called the GA out on that. Alternatively, when I have had to check my bag as a FC patron, they usually valet
check it so I can wait on the jet bridge for it at my destination.

I really hate hate hearing about bogus excuses that GA/FAs use ... seems like a power trip to me

FlyDeltaConnection

Sigh, why do airlines continue to hire morons as "gate agents"?