No. It means that many agents will regard it as too big and, depending upon the airline, will either force you to check it in and pay penalty fees, or gate-check it free of charge.

That all depends. If your bag carries a standard printed bag tag, AA now shows the bag as "missing" because it has not been scanned onto the aircraft. Had two flights recently delayed while GA came onboard and located the scammer and had him identify his bag in the OH so that it could be moved to the hold. Neither passenger was offloaded, but both were threatened with it.

All of this has to be accounted for in weight & balance. Worth thinking about when you have a short connection and are stressing while your aircraft sits at the departure gate seemingly doing nothing. Carry-ons and checked bags are accounted for differently in the calculations.

Gate check has never happened to me other than on small regional aircraft where the bags are immediately available on the jetway upon deplaning. It has never happened to me because I choose years ago to trade volume for certainty. My carry-on is a B&R U119CX and it is slightly smaller than the maximum dimensions. Even if the gate agents are running people through the sizer they often just wave me through. :)

There really is no recourse here. Either get a bag that fits the sizer, or take your chances, I travel 90% internationally and my carry-on fits the sizers for most EU carriers (i.e., LH group), but if it is a touch overstuffed, it has to be squeezed to fit which makes it "too big" by any gate attendant. I really like my bag and just take the chance. I am about 95% successful. But if I am asked to gate check, I just do.

Be careful about relying on the dimensions claimed by the bag manufacturer.

https://www.consumerreports.org/lugg...carry-on-size/

Also, if the bag is overstuffed, the outward bulge may cause it to exceed the empty size.

The sum of all of the above is that the problem is easily avoided in almost all circumstances by obeying the rules which you agree to when you purchase your ticket. As noted, if you book on some smaller aircraft, certain "legal" bags won't be checked.

On rare occasions, there are circumstances where the OH are full and even a "legal" bag needs to be checked. As it pretty much always makes sense to have a backup folding bag packed, that is your solution for valuables and the like.

It can take 20-25 minutes to board a standard narrow-body mainline aircraft in the US because people insist on hauling their steamer trunks onboard. Same thing can be done 10 minutes in faster in Europe. Why? Because most legacy European carriers don't put up with the bag size nonsense and people learn quickly not to try it.

You know there is a significant difference between a steamer trunk and a bag that is 5 millimeters too wide because someone packed one too many pair of socks? :p For the latter it is a case of whether one is willing to make effort (or "hussfuss" or whatever) in squishing it in to show the employee that it does "fit". :)

So if forced to gate-check on AA, rip tag off the main bag and slap it on the backup folding bag.

Drop the empty folding bag in the jetway and simply don't reclaim it on arrival -- presumably the folding bag is cheap enough to discard.

AA is a stupid airline. We are smart passengers. The airline will lose.

I like this idea. :D

(of course, this would only work if done in the gate area prior to boarding or at the top of the jetway bridge and not where you leave your carry-on to be taken downstairs)

You bring along a throw-away bag just in case you get stopped at the gate and are forced to gate-check?

Or you carry a pair of AA overalls and impersonate a ramper and load your bag yourself.

Or instead of looking for ways to make things hard, you just obey the rules like most passengers and buy yourself a carry-on which does not exceed the allowable dimensions.

Were the bags gate checked because they exceeded the size or because the GA declared that the bins would be full without regard for whether they actually would be and then forced people to check bags needlessly? In the latter situation, I'm not sure I would refer to the person bringing their bag on as a "scammer."

If one is told to gate check, one gate checks.

AA expressly works on estimates. Goal is an ontime push.

Most people who spend time on planes agree with that ontime thing.

Yeah, that was tongue-in-cheek, hence the big smiley face! :)

I volunteer as that means my backpack that was going to be under the seat is now in the bin.