American is changing its carry-on bag policy to favor passengers with underseat bags.

[randomness]

From Matt Yglesias at Slate, today:

American Airlines is looking to speed boarding times on its airplanes by offering advanced boarding to people who don't want to stick roller bags in the overhead compartment.

The basic idea is that folks with just an underseat laptop bag or purse can shuffle in quickly and sit down, and then everyone else will get on and start wrangling bags into the compartments. That way, in theory, you won't have as many people stuck waiting in the aisle while others are fussing with the compartment doors.

It makes sense, but it underscores the extent to which airlines are tying themselves in knots with different priorities.

...

It seems to me that managers need to step back, take a deep breath, and decide what their overall objective with the boarding scheme is. Do they want it to be as efficient as possible, or do they want to degrade average efficiency in order to optimally serve their high-volume elite customers?

The linked AP article notes an interesting loophole:

The airline said that it will let passengers check a carry-on bag at the gate at no charge. That means savvy travelers will be able to move up in the boarding order and avoid checked-bag fees — $25 for the first bag, $35 for a second on flights within the U.S. — although they'll have to retrieve their bag at baggage claim after they land.

...

Chris Lopinto, president of ExpertFlyer.com, said the key could be American's offer to check bags at the gate for free. It won't appeal to business travelers on a schedule, who don't dare check a bag — ever.

"But that loophole would be great for people who don't care about checking a bag or have a lot of people in their party," Lopinto said. "If you're a family of four and American is going to gate-check your bags, that can save you $100 (versus checking the bags) and you can board earlier."

Jami Counter of travel website TripAdvisor said American's free gate-checking offer was so attractive that it could reduce the amount American makes from checked-baggage fees.

"Why would you ever pay a baggage fee if you can gate-check your bag for free?" he said. "That's a loophole you could drive a truck through. I see that being tightened."

Counter said passengers might swamp gate agents with requests to check their bag for free. "Now their two-minute savings just turned into a 15-minute delay," he said.

I generally check a bag when I fly, but I also tend to be flying internationally so I don't end up paying a fee. So this is interesting.

Comments

[tla]

I don't even get that really - once you've had to lug the bag to the gate, including getting it through security with all the attendant restrictions, why check it and slow yourself down?

[donnad.livejournal.com]

My thought on this is it's going to slow people down at the security xray checkpoints. They will be opening more bags at security because of toiletries and questionable content. I almost always check my bags, because of my allergies I have to bring my own toiletries whenever I go anyplace. And I would rather not have to drag them around the airport or if I have to change planes. I don't mind paying to check my bags because it is more convenient for me. I have a wheelie backpack that fits neatly under the seat in front of me that I use as a carry-on.

I plan to never be in a hurry to get out of the airport, usually by the time I deplane, use the restroom, and get to baggage claim, I have a very short wait for my bag. If the two of us fly together, I wait for the bags while G goes and gets in line at the car rental counter. Since our bags are all wheelie bags, I can wrangle them myself.

I once had to change planes in SF on my way to LAX. The plane we switched to was boarded from both the front (from the terminal) and the rear (down a flight of stairs, out a door onto the tarmac and then via stairway into the rear entrance of the plane.)

They also boarded window seats first, then middles, then aisle seats. Families could board together provided they were all in the same row.

It was very efficient and made the boarding process go very quickly. We were saying we wished all the airports had the capability to board planes like that. It also stopped people seated at the back of the plane, from tossing their bags into the overhead bins before they got to their seats in back thus leaving no space for those seated in the front.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

Because the more bags your party lugs to the gate one way, the less money you have to pay for checked-bag fees,
and you still don't have to lug the bag as far on the other end. or for your connection?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you can only gate-check a carry-on bag, not something that would have been too big to carry on. So anyone with a full-sized suitcase is still going to need to check.

[irielle.livejournal.com]

This sounds a bit like what Sun Country has been doing unofficially. If the flight is jam packed, they've asked people to voluntarily check their carry-ons that would need to be in the overhead bins. We did that just to try to be helpful, then at boarding time we discovered that we got to board right after first class and elite passengers. It was nice! Since they only offer this as needed, and during the hour or so before boarding, I haven't noticed any delays because of it. I imagine American's policy would have at least slightly different results.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

I compliment you on your userpic, because it took me a minute to realize why it was so creepy. If it was also a picture of Twin Peaks it would be some trifecta of 90s creepy.

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

I would actually like this, but I hate American for so many other reasons I guess I'll never know. :-)

[contrariety.livejournal.com]

It's like airlines keep trying to think of new ways to make passengers either humiliate/inconvenience themselves/jump through pointless hoops if they're part of the economic underclass.

[jendaviswilson.livejournal.com]

So in my experience of flying with small children mostly during the holidays and summer:

Airlines must have done the math and figured out that they make lots of money in baggage fees, and that offsets the costs (or moves them to airports/TSA) of delays due to people cramming oinboard the biggest bags they can get away with. I have yet to take a flight where the gate agents didnt ask people to gate check. I offered to gate check early once, and they turned me down, so when they asked for volunteers later I scoffed, but probably they just want to discourage that big loophole. Though the boarding delays have to cost something.

Maybe they should charge fees for carryons bigger than underseat size that cost more than checked bags ($30 per rollerboard carryon, vs $25 checked)?