tjtenor4

Or any other hub... or on/at high-volume dates/times... etc, etc. Sure, if you're in the back row of Y and somehow still entitled to red carpet boarding (last-minute ticket purchase, or same-day change to nearly-full flight, for example), you're probably absolutely golden on overhead space. But particularly on the Airbuses (and also the CR7s and E70s), if you're in F... overhead space is almost always at a premium.

I wonder if flyinbob might further explain what motivated him to make this post??

mrswirl

These are some photos I snapped in SEA a few weeks ago of the RC line a full 20 minutes prior to boarding.

Notice the Econ line is completely empty and the RC line in pic #2 where the guy is not fully on the carpet but partially blocking the others from moving forward too.

http://img841.imageshack.us/i/20101027143700.jpg/

http://img337.imageshack.us/i/20101027143643.jpg/


.

tjtenor4

That looks like a prime candidate for a polite "excuse me, are you in line?"

Granted, that could be pretty awkward when the people BEHIND him jump on you for trying to cut the line... but it might be worth taking the hit to make it clear he's boxing everyone else out.

RandomTaiwanese

why not just go stand in the regular line then??? i recall after landing in NRT and connecting to ORD, the priority security was full of people who got out before me in C and F. so i just went to the regular line and cleared before most of them~

SFOSpiff

Several times I've had people stand at the beginning edge of the red carpet, forming a line, and when I've asked "excuse me, are you in line?" I get a snide response along the lines of "yes, isn't it obvious?" which clearly it isn't.

Maybe we need another term, like gate slugs... they're like lice but don't know how to do it right.

flyinbob

Right. I made a million miles (almost 2) flying UA without using a hub.

I just don't panic, or carry 15 carry-on bags, or have a hissy if my bag is in the bin a row behind mine. "At a premium" I took to mean ANY available bin space, not the precise bin that so many who board the coveted "red carpet" seem to think belongs to them.

You're right. I should have realized that "red carpet" gate lice are perpetual whiners with an overblown sense of entitlement that apparently extends to overhead bins. Next time I'll just tiptoe on to the next thread.

PTahCha

+1 ^

DaddyRabbit

The Gate Lice problem is getting worse on ALL airlines. What a great post, but for the Zone 4 first in line, the GAs need to stop them them and ask them to step to the back of the line and wait for the Zone 4 call. That sill stop this Gate Lice issue.

rankourabu

maybe this thread title should be changed to:

1Ks are the worst gate lice, and proud of it!

N1120A

I don't mind having my bag in a bin a row forward or back, on either side, but I do mind having my bag 6 rows back. That almost certainly guarantees I'm the last one off the plane and is not exactly fun with a close connection.

AAir_head

Wow! That's a bit much...I think we all understand two is the limit, and as N1120A pointed out we're all flexible within reason.

As for me, I don't usually bother showing up at the gate until 5-10 minutes prior to boarding time (that's why I bought the RCC membership...)--if overhead space is a concern for me on that particular flight and I'm in F, I get in line (or stand clearly off to the side to wait for the 1K call if not in F).

Standing on the red carpet before the first boarding call doesn't bother me a bit--it's a benefit UA granted and I'm not the least bit ashamed to use it.

cheers and safe travels!

aisleorwindow

I respectfully disagree. I think the gate lice issue can be traced to when the checked bag fees started. People started carrying on much more luggage, thereby limiting overhead bin space.

Until those fees disappear, gate lice are gonna "infest" the boarding areas.

IMHO.

tjtenor4

Good sir, as has been pointed out, the issue is not always whether or not the bag (please do note the singular; I'm pretty sure no previous mention had been made in this thread about needing to find overhead space for more than one bag) is in an overhead bin directly over one's row (although that in and of itself can make, and has made, the difference on tight connections). The issue can also be whether or not the bag makes it into the cabin at all.

In general, I simply don't understand the criticism for wanting access to overhead bin space. Before I had any status on any airline, I cared about that, too. It wasn't a sense of entitlement, it was a sense of, "boy, I sure hope I get on this plane early enough that I can put my bag - a bag I carefully packed following all the TSA regulations regarding liquids, gels, and aerosols, even though that meant going out to the store again and getting things in small-enough containers that I wouldn't otherwise need to have bought if I were checking a bag, but I didn't want to check a bag because it adds significant time to my trip since I don't have any elite status and so I have to wait in a long line at the airport to check my bag and it always comes out last on the carousel on the other end - in the overhead bin so I don't have to end up gate-checking it anyway." I think I wasn't alone in that sentiment; while the following is perhaps a small sample size, I know that my friends and family who fly sans status feel similarly.

Well, that same principle still holds now that I have some status. When I'm flying as a 1K on UA (or Gold on Delta, or Platinum on CO), I don't feel "entitled" to the overhead bin space. I am happy with the fact that due to my status, I generally am provided (by the airline) with earlier access to it than most other people boarding the plane - but it's not because I think I'm better than them, or more deserving. Entitlement has nothing to do with it. A flyer's desire to get his allotted one bag into the overhead bin doesn't become greater or lesser because of the color of the FF card he has in his wallet - but that flyer's ability to do so is affected by it, since boarding earlier (if one so desires) is a published benefit. Am I entitled to the bin space itself? No. Am I grateful for the the airline's decision to provide me with earlier access to it? Yes. But there's a huge difference between those, and while perhaps some elites may act (or even feel) entitled, it seems unfair to assume we all do... especially when we're actually acting no differently from non-elites in the same situation.

And mahasamatman - here's a preemptive "I'm sorry" for FTT

bmvaughn

I have no problem with gate lice provided you're actually in line.

Now if all the rest of the F cabin on an A319 lines up before me, 45 minutes early, it sucks... because my bags are going in row 6, and I want to use those 45 minutes. But do I blame them? No... they just prefer to stand in line for 45 minutes.

Oh, and I agree with everything tjtenor4 says above.

KSinNYC

Maybe people in non-bulkhead rows line up now because too often the space over their seat is already taken... perhaps by the bulkhead pax.

I'm just curious... to all you folks who love the bulkhead... would you be willing to carry on less stuff in order to get the bulkhead seat? After all, if you're in a bulkhead then in reality you're pretty much the same as anybody else who takes space that isn't "theirs." I mean, the person in row 2 doesn't really care why you can't store your stuff...