Something I've wondered about every time I fly - how does gate checking of bags work? Does it differ per airline, or domestic vs international?

I have no status (I just don't fly often enough, and would rather switch airlines to get the cheapest fares than stay with one to gain miles), and I'm always worried that there won't be space for my laptop bag in the overhead bins by the time I board. It's normally full of all the gadgets I don't dare check in in case they get lost or stolen - if I had to gate check it, would it be safe? Does it go out on the carousel with the other checked bags, or do you fetch it from the FAs?

If you gate-check a bag because the overheads are full it goes in with the rest of the checked luggage and ends up on the carousel at the final destination. If you are flying on a plane with smaller overhead bins the airline may offer a similar feature but the bag will be returned to you at the end of that flight rather than at your final destination.

Either way you shouldn't put anything valuable underneath. Find a way to get it under the seat in front of you if there is no overhead space left. You can always aim for a seat towards the back so that you board earlier and are more likely to have space still available in the overheads.

Right, gate-checking a bag means the agents will put your bag underneath with all of the other checked baggage and it will be on the carousel. It's different, as you probably know, from gate-checking baby seats/strollers. Those will be on the jetway when passengers get off the next stop/final destination.

I would NEVER put my laptop in a checked baggage. Airlines do not cover electronics if they are stolen or lost or damaged.

If all else fails, take the laptop out and stick in the pocket in the seat in front of you and make them only take the bag to check. Good luck!

It depends. On some regional routes served by props/RJs, gate checking may consist of keeping the bags in a dedicated hold, and returning them to you on the tarmac. This is commonplace at airports like LCY.

For me, gate checking has been a regular occurrence for years, but always propjet and "RJ' commuter a/c, and in my experience always returned on the ramp (small airports) or at the jetway (DFW & the like), never in the carousel - outside of security, and damnably awkward when connecting.

Although the terms are really interchangeable, I still like to differentiate between "gate check" and "ramp check." On mainline (larger) planes, bags that will not go into the overloaded bins are gate checked as mentioned above and will go to the baggage carousel. On smaller, regional planes, bags that are too large to fit in the bins are often "gate checked" or "ramp checked" at the plane door and will be available planeside as you deplane at the next destination. The distinction is pretty important if you are making a connection where going all the way to baggage claim and then reclearing security prior to your next flight is impractical. "Ramp checking" a bag is no big deal. I do it all the time on the regional connections. "Gate checking" to baggage claim is evil. Avoid it.

I would recommend that you take a seat in the back of the a/c. After elite boarding, most airlines start with groups in back of the plane and work their way to the front of the plane although some do window boarding first. Check the procedure with your airline and take a seat that will insure that you will be in Groups 2 or 3 (or one of the first rows to board if your airline still boards by rows). Therefore, you should still have sufficient access to overhead bins.