davie355

I just boarded a CRJ-700 where my seat was 2A. Stepping onto the aircraft, I saw one space left in the overhead. It was above 1CD. I stowed my bag in that spot and sat down.

The passenger in seat 1A began to stare me down. I noticed she had a bag in her hand, “waiting” for the spot which I had just taken. She must have boarded well before me. I would guess she needed to grab something from her bag before stowing it. While I sympathize with her plight as I’ve been in her exact situation, I had understood overhead space to be first-come, first-serve within the same class of service.

What should I have said or done?

What I ended up saying or doing was nothing. After intensely staring at me, 1A asked a flight attendant what to do about her bag. The flight attendant squeezed her bag right beside mine in the 1CD overhead and closed it.

mahasamatman

You should have said nothing and did exactly what you did.

Repooc17

I would have done exactly the same. No amount of staring is going to change anything.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

If one is ready to stow their stuff overhead, one should proceed to do so at the most convenient space in their cabin. I feel sorry for the lady, but too bad - it is what it is....

I have a notebook-sized pouch that has things I’ll need at my seat. It’s in my carryon until the boarding area, where I pull it out to toss on my seat as I stow my bag (either that or I have a backpack that fits under seat). I’ve never fumbled through my bags to get stuff after boarding.

zkzkz

I dunno, I get really annoyed the folk who walk onto a plane, park their bag in row 10 or whatever and then march to the back of the plane. Like, what are the people in row 10 supposed to do?

But you didn't put your bag a million miles away when there were better places, you took the last spot. Unless she had her bag up there and had just taken it down for a moment to remove stuff ... Whatever.

*This* is the real reason I commented however. I swear every time I get told, like clockwork, as I'm entering the plane "oh the bins are full" I *know* there's plenty of space. Only once in all the years of flying have I failed to find a space where someone put their bags in sideways or left half a bag's space on on either side or put a coat between the bags leaving the space above void. That's probably my biggest pet peeve flying. And you get passengers like this just staring at a half full storage bin wondering what are they to do...

Guate87

Was this because the airline did not give any overhead bin space to 1A? That is a common airline problem.

Row 1 pax are the only First Class pax who cannot put items under the seat in front of them. Therefore, each row 1 seat should have extra overhead bin space and not have to share with row 2 or with another row 1 pax.

The airline is to blame for not designing sufficient overhead bin space for row 1. Airlines should store FA equipment, blankets, etc. anywhere except for over row 1, because row 1 has zero floor storage space.

Deplaning presents an additional problem created by insufficient row 1 overhead bin space. Because of all the airline stuff occupying the bins, row 1 pax have to walk or reach over other pax to grab their purses, laptops, backpacks, etc.

Some airlines make row 1 the worst row on the plane because of the lack of overhead space. Hopefully this owes more to lack of planning and less to intentionally creating problems for FC pax, but there us no excuse for this.

cfischer

You flew FC and put your bag into an available FC overhead bin. Unless you had more than your allowed # of bags ... no issue at all.

eng3

You did nothing wrong. It's first come first serve. You meet all kinds of passengers from the infrequent travelers to the crazy ones. No need to be concerned until an actual issue occurs.
If anything, UA (and more airlines) routinely scare passengers into worrying about getting bag space which makes then line up super early, rush to get on the plane, then panic and stow their back in the first row when there is actually plenty of space in the back. Although some planes seem incredibly inefficient (ie 777), I find most people (and FAs) are very lazy and make zero effort to arrange bags in a manner for maximum storage. I've even been yelled at by an FA for trying to help him find a space for a bag. My mistake, best to just take no action until forced.

Finkface

I would only say you were in the wrong if she had had her bag up there already and just took it down for a second. It has happened to me in row 1 where I have put my bag up and realized I forgot to take out my phone or airpods or whatever. I pull out the bag for a couple of seconds to grab what I forgot and someone snipes the space. But when it happened, I just said to the guy that I had my bag there and was just grabbing something out of it and he moved his. When you are in row 1, you have no other choice. But if you got there first, fair game.

mahasamatman

If I forgot something, I either grab it without removing the bag (unzip and get the object by feel), or wait until everyone has boarded and stowed their bags before pulling my bag down. There's nothing so urgent that it can't wait a couple of minutes.

Carolina2Cali

British Airways Overhead Locker - Ownership?

Well we pretty much this conversation the other day in British Airways. See link above.

The only difference of opinion I might have here is that, had she already put her bag there and then taken it out later still during the overall boarding process? Obviously, you wouldn't have known that. Had she mentioned this fact and asked nicely, you may have obliged her... but the truth is, a lot of us, myself sometimes included but often not, are wildly scared of the most minor confrontation but have no issues being insanely passive aggressive, i.e .the stare. Especially since you know if it goes poorly, you have to see that person just a few feet away with no escape for a few hours.

Unless there were NO SPOTS around though, who really cares, its a few extra feet.

Guate87

From seatguru.com for UA CRJ-700:

"no overhead space on the A side of the aircraft."

"row 2 affords some precious [underseat] storage space unavailable to row 1."

1A is a First Class seat, with no underseat and no overhead storage space. This is a disgrace for "First Class". Perhaps neither 1A nor 2A were aware of this problem.

It is the airline's fault for not designing storage space for 1A on a CRJ-700, forcing them to use 1 C/D or 2 C/D's overhead bin space.

FA on CRJ-700 and similar planes should know this is a problem and offer for 1A to use the forward closet.

If 2A uses 1 C/D space, 1A has to use 2 C/D space or walk back to Economy and find a spot. This causes problems on deplaning, forcing forward pax to walk towards the back.

The issue is First Class Row 1 seats not having overhead bin space for every seat. Of course it is not DP's fault.
@avie355 and the pax in 1A should never have been put in this situation.

Too many FC Row 1 seats have overhead bins stuffed with FA luggage, blankets, equipment, etc. Since they can't store anything underseat in front of them, they are often the worst seats on the plane for storage.

Finkface

Not everyone is tall enough to reach into their bags when they are in the bin. While I am fairly tall for a girl, I’m not tall enough to get something out of my bag without pulling it down first.

uanj

There was nothing for you to do other than smile nicely if she was looking your way or staring at you. Don't worry about it, the other passenger was probably having some frustrations that day.

trm2

Pfffft, I’ve been married for well over 3 decades now, I’m used to having a woman stare me down for something I’ve done.