Why stand in line to board an airplane?
The seats are assigned. People have been standing in line for 15 minutes now. Why on earth would anyone want to stand there, when they could just sit and wait until the line clears?
I understand wanting to get off a plane ASAP, but boarding? You just end up sitting on the plane, waiting for everyone else to get on.
The seats are assigned, the baggage compartments are self-serve.
A long time ago most airlines checked at least one bag free. I used to always do this and as op suggests, not stand in line. It was great not having to take a bag through security and haul it around through airports and connecting flights, and avoid the stress of if the overhead space would run out.
But airlines have done everything in their power to make boarding and the whole flying process miserable in attempt to suck every dollar they can from you for their upgrades and priority boarding.
I do often take advantage of the airlines offer to "we expect a very full flight, overhead space is limited, and will check your bag for free to your final destination"
and then wait for the baggage at the other end? no thanks! carry on luggage I get to walk straight out no waiting
We've largely done this to ourselves. The cheapest price is king in air travel. Unless you're traveling for work, everyone goes for the cheapest option, so airlines are incentivized to get the base price as low as possible. Like if the option was to pay $100 more and get 2 checked bags, a meal, and more legroom, I'm still not going to do it.
The price of air travel has come down astronomically over the past few decades.
Now they've even started offering this at the check-in counter! Critically it's after the "pay us $35 to check your bag" screen. It says it's a one time special offer but I've done it a half dozen times now on American and twice on United. Bag just is supposed to be carry on sized. I don't even have to take it through security when this option is available.
Delta AMEX offers a "free" checked bag on domestic flights.
I just flew with 2 kids and 4 carry ons. We had to go to the service desk to check 2 car seats anyway, so I asked the lady if we could gate check our carry ons while we were there. They did it free of charge. I don't know if all airlines/ airports will do it, but Delta did. It was super convenient to not have to lug around 4 bags through security and around the airport/ layover airport while chasing 2 kids. Unfortunately, I'm flying United back who only allows a "personal item" so I'm assuming that's not going to be an option on my return flight.
I didn't realize this factor until I started traveling with my wife, who packs much more than me. I've always fit everything into a single personal item that goes under the seat, which has always meant casually reading a book until my zone is nearly finished boarding
Also now i go from a medium checked bag with plenty of space to a large bag half full of her stuff and weighing it at home to make sure its under 30kg or whatever the limit is.
And methods have been worked out to load passengers smoothly and efficiently. Alternate sides, every other row, if I recall correctly, leaves plenty of space and time. But nobody uses this.
these methods don't account for all the variables that reality has. People across all boarding groups will be late, there will be people that need assistance from flight attendants, there will be people who want to switch seats to be near their family, there will be people who can't sit in the exit row, there will be people who need to use the rest room, there will be people who've never been on a plane before.
There is no great, full proof way to handle it because people are unpredictable
No the most recent conclusion is random works best if the participants are "normal". Any strategy about this seat or that row first requires trained participants to maximize that effort.
It’s a practical, demonstrative example of scarcity. It causes people to act internally rational, even though there are far more efficient methods.
But you can fit your hand-luggage under the seat in front
Limited overhead space. If you wait, you increase the chance there won't be room for your overhead bag.
The real answer. I sometimes have a laptop in my carry on. I'll be fucked if I'm going to hand it over to the savages on the tarmac.
Overhead bin space for carry-on bags.
As someone who travels with carry-on only (as much as possible), if I'm in economy I make sure to board as soon as I can to ensure there's space in the overhead bins for my bag.
Man, I hate traveling carry-on only (unless it's a short enough trip that the required change of clothes can fit in a backpack). I'll pay the $50 or whatever it is to not have to worry about needing to cram all my stuff up into the overheads.
It isn't about price. In fact some airlines are starting to charge more for a carry-on.
I'm also really good at bringing less. I travel months at a time with carry on only.
I used to wait until the last minute to board, until the time I had to put my carry on bag at the back of the plane and my personal item under the seat and ended up being the last person off. One of the more uncomfortable flights I've been on.
Yeah I kind of get this but at the same time, it's rare I have an issue finding a spot for my bag very near my seat. I've always been of the same attitude as OP
I get that it's a hassle to find overhead space late, but I've never been in a situation where there wasn't anywhere at all to put my bag. At the very least, the flight crew can usually put it aside somewhere.
Granted, I haven't flown US domestic in years, so the nightmare might be worse than I imagine.
I flew around 26 times domestically last year and most of the flights ran out of space. It's really common for the airline to ask for volunteers to check their carry-ons. If you aren't in the first 2/3rds of people on the plane, you'll likely be forced to check your carry-ons.
This problem has gotten worse over the years because airlines have increased the prices for checking your luggage so many people opt to bring carry-ons instead.
Two reasons:
I always take window seats, and don't really want to hop over someone to get to my seat.
And it also means I don't have to fight for overhead space for my carry-on.
Surprised no one mentioned this, but carry-on bags are no longer free for all - only free for the first ones in line.
People who use up more than their third of the locker, forcing others out of their own space are subhuman.
Really? I haven't flown in awhile but I always thought if your carry on doesn't fit they will check it for you. Has that changed? Could be different for each airline.
Yep, you're right. If you don't want your carry on checked, then be in the front of the line.
These same people will all stand up at once the moment the plane stops.. and continue to uncomfortably stand there for like twenty minutes.
On my last flight my gf sprung up and was irritated that I wasn't doing the same. Like where the fuck you going to go? One foot to the left? Just, why? I'm chillin.
Yeah, no. I'll stand up right away, help people around me reach their luggage, along with getting ours down and prepared to roll. Nobody behind me on the plane is going to appreciate it I'm fumbling around with my bags while they're trying to get off.
I will happily defend you on this point. Down vote away people. As long as you don't shove past the rows in front of you or bonk me with luggage, we good. I try to remember the passengers who had to store luggage father back and see if I can get it passed forward. I will totally boss people to sit back down if someone needs to get to the front ASAP due to close connections. If it is going to be a while, I will try to grab my backpack and sit back down.
Now, people with oversized rollerboards? Yeah. I get pretty irritated over that and the vast number of issues that causes with boarding and deplaning. The airlines make it worse with price hikes. I personally check all of my luggage and rarely run into issues. If I have any major concerns I will throw a couple things into a bag that will fit under my seat or FedEx it if we are really going there.
Anxiety (especially now that planes are oversold and standby passengers are nearby waiting to grab empty seats...), the need for overhead bin space, not wanting to have to climb over people, illogical impatience, etc.
Yes, in the US, 14 CFR part 250.7 means that they can't throw you off after you're checked in and your ticket has been scanned at the gate during the boarding process. It was changed by Congress after that doctor got thrown off a United flight in 2017. The airline can still throw you off if you're disruptive, and my understanding is that a pilot in command can order you off for pretty much any reason, as they have full command of the aircraft, so if you're ever in that situation then you better follow the pilot's instructions. But if the pilot does throw you off due to a bumping situation then the airline is breaking the law.
Airlines can also make their own policies on which passengers have the highest priority to get bumped, which can involve check-in time, and I imagine can involve basically who is at the gate, ready to go. So there are some advantages to being there and queuing early.
If you have a bag to put in the overhead compartment then you want to get on sooner since the space is limited. I personally only ever take a bag that can go under the seat. I wait until everyone has boarded regardless of my group.
This is the correct answer. If I'm on an overseas holiday I'm usually carrying an extra bag of medication.
If I wait I run the risk of no storage space near me and it getting stored away from me
Overhead space. The only upgrade I pay for is boarding group, and I want to maximize my upgrade purchase, so I want to be at the front of group 2.
I only travel with an appropriately sized carry-on but I'm a bit tall so I can NOT have the bag by my feet.
So I want to guarantee I have the overhead right above my seat.
I also generally work on the plane so I can get my laptop and such out easily while standing at my seat, then put my bag up worry free.
This is the answer. Trace it back to the early 2000s when airlines started charging for checked bags. That created an immediate premium for overhead space and kicked off the Boarding Wars we now find ourselves in today, where airlines and passengers alike contort themselves literally and figuratively in an attempt to work around this one massive consequence of corporate greed.
-20 airline professional
Also, when you will likely be sitting for 2+ hours, I like to stretch my legs a bit before then. I don't need to sit at my gate for an hour before going into a plane to sit for 3 more hours.
I'm hard of hearing and terrified of standing in the wrong place at an airport and missing the visual cues to board the flight. Once boarding starts and people start queueing up, I usually get in line because it's helpful to see what everyone in front of me is doing - the order that they hand over paperwork or get carry on double checked. I can't guarantee I'll be able to hear the attendant if they ask me questions at the gate because it's so noisy, so I like to at least feel like I'm prepared.
One time I was flying with crutches and qualified for early pre-boarding because I needed the plane wheelchair (skychair). I sat right next to the gate desk and waited, then I started seeing people queue up so I quickly joined the line, wondering how pre-boarding works when the whole plane of passengers are already vying to be at the front of the line.
I get to the front, the attendant looks at my ticket then after some awkward back and forward eventually I realised they were telling me I'll have to wait till everyone has boarded to get the sky-chair on. I should have come to the desk when pre boarding was announced. I pointed that I was sitting right in front of them... Apparently they were called my name 3 times over the loudspeaker.
Apparently airports can only comprehend one disability at a time (if that!) they knew I was hard of hearing (it's on my ticket) but still thought calling me over the PA was the best way to get the attention of the deaf person sitting 80cm from their desk.
So I sat back down and waited for the line to clear, then I got back up when there were 2 people in line, and after another back and forward I learned that they had tried calling my name again about halfway through boarding because they only had one skychair and it was now or never because the chair had told fly with the other passenger because their arrival airport didn't have a chair, or something, I dunno, anyway I kind of had to crawl down the ailse to get to my chair because in the past I've just used the backs of chairs to swing myself along, but the plane was full so I couldn't do that.
Hard of hearing also. It’s so frustrating that text signs that list announcements are so rare.
Captions on television/movies and games are commonplace, but in the real world, very few places care.
Might be because I’m in a red state for a few more years due to family; blue states likely tend to be more aware of issues like ours.
I did see written callouts of upcoming tram stops once, but I can’t recall which airport. It may have been ORD.
Man I once spent three hours in an urgent care waiting room with a really bad ear infection and impacted wax.
Turned out they called me like 6 times in the first hour and I didn't hear it once. They assumed I'd walked out or something.
This is a valid reason.
My cousin gets serious panic attacks and had to fly alone. He was so nervous, I had to be on video call to help him at the customer service desk. We worked out for him and he was standing "near" line for about 45 minutes, which was more comforting for him than just waiting in a seat.
Wow. Talk about Murphy.
Yup, exactly what I think. So I used to sit in the gate area until the last possible moment until I found out that if you wait too long, they'll give away your seat. Plus since they are charging people for checking luggage through, you have to get that overhead bin before it's gone, unless your carry-on fits in front of you, which it doesn't if you're on a bulkhead. So, now I stand in line, frustrated by that and all the other crap we have to go through when traveling by plane these days. Looking at you TSA.
I was a flight attendant with TWA, so take this as what it is: advice from 20+ years ago.
If all the overhead bins are full they will gate check your bag; tag it, send it down the external stairs of the jetway, and it will go in the belly with the other checked luggage.
Yes, this is also true if you board the plane and your luggage doesn't fit (for example, regional flights on a CRJ or ERJ). As long as it's within the airline's policy for carry-ons, they'll gate check it for free.
People are posting a lot of maybe more rational reasons, but I think there's another answer that's more in line with just being a human. Airports suck, air travel, generally, sucks and the whole process is riddle with both intentional and also just unavoidable misery. Every time a new step in the sequence of unpleasant and boring steps that is air travel nears, we start to anticipate it and get anxious to move on to that next step in the process. It doesn't make it faster, it likely only makes the misery arguably worse, but some times people just can't help trying to mentally hasten things even if in reality nothing is hastened at all.
The sooner I get to my seat the sooner I'm out of the god damned airport and can begin whatever escapism I've chosen for the flight. The thing I truly hate is the airport and being in it.
Especially if that "escapism" is sleeping
I wish -- I can't really sleep on flights oddly but I can fall asleep instantaneously almost everywhere else.
I’m about to be seated for five hours straight with no possibility of standing or moving around. I’m standing while I still have the opportunity.
Stand, don’t stand, I don’t care. But I’m sitting in the marked disabled seats, with a gate checked walker, and only similarly disabled people or people wrangling little kids are getting on before me, so standing in front of me only tempts me to run into the back of your legs with my walker to bulldoze you out of my way. Leave those of us with extra trouble moving a little space, please!
In general, people should mind their surroundings and those around them just a little bit. So many people find it OK to just stand talking in front of doors, stairs, even escalators.
no doubt. major pet peeve of mine, people enter a building (IE store) and just STOP blocking the entrance. I get you need to get you bearings but step out of the wat to do it!
I didn't used too get in line. But I've had a number of times someone took to much carry on (how I don't know) and took all of the overhead space, refused to fix it, and the airline didn't give a fuck either.
This is why I do. I typically just take a small bag for under the seat and a small carry on suitcase. Some people have so much shit, usually after a long flight the last thing you want is to be the last person off the plane because your carry on is 8 rows behind you.
Overhead space for carry-on bags.
I rarely sit when waiting for a plane (at least not for maybe an hour before). I'm about to sit for hours, so I don't want to start now.
This right here for me, I'm pretty tall too and can't afford first class so if I'm about to be cramped for 3+ hours I'm gonna stretch my legs first
I'm about to sit down for the next six hours. I'm happy to stand for a bit.
Because you do not have assigned overhead bag storage, and people bring either bags that are too big, or bring multiple bags
Exactly. The airlines created this situation when they began charging for check-in bags
Haven't they "solved" it by charging for hand-luggage too?
CGP Grey has a good video on a better way to board planes.
I know he acknowledges the capitalistic barrier to this solution but the other issue I see most often are folks simply not being there by boarding time. These methods all assume you would have everyone ready to board in their respective groups at once. I would imagine that throwing a few folks out of order in even the modified Steffen approach could bring down the theoretical time by quote a bit.
I like Bill Burrs stance as well
I think the reason people aren't there at their zone's boarding time is because they only print the initial boarding time on the ticket and just wing it after that.
Why does it seem like everyone in the comment section takes flights all the time? For me, flying on an airplane is for vacations abroad only, and I maybe get 2 flights a year at most. I assume this is one of those US things I'm too Asian to understand.
lots of tech and business people use lemmy, we have to fly often.
Yep.
Used to fly all the time for work.
After that, flying with my wife and kids, or standing in TSA line with the normies who don't know what to do gets incredibly frustrating.
I remember getting stuck behind one Karen who was pissed off she had to toss out a giant bottle of hair conditioner, in like 2017. Like, lady, yeah, it's dumb, but the 311 rule isn't new. Get over yourself.
I live in the US and I consider it unusual to fly more than once every two years.
It really depend on your job.
I know contractors that fly all over the place to get to different jobs and such.
I was flying 4-5 times a year when I worked remotely for a tech company. First few times was neat. I got over it fast. A bunch of cities/airports really suck and treat you like cattle.
We don't have cool trains like you do in many parts of Asia.
And the Asian countries that don't have trains are probably small enough that you still don't really need to fly to get from one side to the other.
Standing in line brings me joy
Found the Brit.
Even worse, people have to pay to be in an earlier boarding group. I think they use limited overhead bin space as a hostage.
I'm actually in that group 1 position right now, in a LatAm A320 premium economy seat. Besides the service upgrade and baggage allowance, it's just economy with the center seat reserved. Oh, and free messaging WiFi, too, which somehow includes Lemmy Sync.
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I was just mentioning this to my lady before boarding. I found that video absolutely fascinating.
Not all airlines assign seats. I learned this last year. Southwest doesn’t assign seats but you get assigned groups for boarding. You can probably pay for earlier groups but I don’t know, I wasn’t the one who purchased the tickets directly.
Anyways, you line up in order of your boarding assignment. The earlier you get on the plane the better seat you get.
I hated it. Just assign seats.
The no seat assignments policy on SW is awesome. You literally just check in on time to get on the earlier groups through a mobile app. Click a button 24 hrs before your flight. Boom you're in group A. B at worst. It's straight first come first served. At worst, you can pay $25 extra for the early bird to be in the A group and not stress about check in. Then then line you up based on your spot, and you just walk on and pick which seat you want. Plus SW doesn't charge you to check a bag.
Egalitarian shit. None of this class based, money grubbing crap. Those types of policies are the reason we have "fast passes" at airports now and then of course then even faster "fast passes".
Other airlines are also charging you after your tickets to choose your seats and they charge more based on the seat. And charging for bags. And everything else.
Assigned seats also ruined the theater experience for the same reasons.
Assigned seats also ruined the theater experience for the same reasons.
Have to disagree with you on this one.
I love being able to choose what seat in a theater I'm purchasing, versus if it's a full theater first come first served and you end up getting a horrible side or front row seat.
I'd rather skip a showing and go to a later showing with a more favorable seating arrangement, and having assigned seating allows me to have that.
This is why I won't fly Southwest unless I have no other choice. Nice planes and otherwise lovely flight experience; shame about the seat policy. Every time I've tried, it's a confused mess of pushy or perplexed people in line, and I end up completely annoyed before takeoff.
On the flip side, it's free birth control. 😋
I'd rather sit and knit until my group is called and stroll up without rushing as I know exactly where I'm sitting. I watch people stress. SMH
Yeah, it wasn’t so bad except for the boarding. But I’m with you. I don’t want to rush to be crammed into a can of sardines any longer than I have to be.
Because airlines have hiked the cost of checked luggage to absurd levels so a large number of people have roller suitcase carryons. I have a small messenger bag I travel with that's soft-sided and I want to get on early so I can make sure it's over my head in case some asshole tries to cram their bag in over mine.
One airline now charges for carry on. Checking in a small bag is free!
Who is that? I want to give them all my fucking money.
Because once through thebgate, there's the line of actually getting into your seat because some people tend to stand in the aisle and block everyone while taking their jacket off. And if you're in a prioritized boarding group you can circumvent most of these by getting into the plane early, which results in more time watching youtube while sitting on my ass.
Source: frequent flier. In fact, I'm typing this from seat 9F on an Airbus A320neo right after sitting down.
There's no way the airlines allow you to take a donkey onboard, surely?
Do you have anywhere to be instead?
On bench I guess
Well, you do it. Other people is not so afraid of a little "exercise"
Same when the plane lands. You must be the first to unclip and stand. He who stands longest wins.
Naaah, leaving the plane should be in order of the seats. Not “I stood up first”. Now you have to play the game of:
I was being sarcastic, in case it wasn't clear.
Standing is superior to sitting unless you are disabled or unhealthy
Big issue for musicians. Many of us have instruments that are just small enough to be carry-ons but just large enough to be a bit unwieldy compared to other carry-ons, so nabbing primo carry-on storage is a must.
Agreed. Can we talk about getting off though? Everyone seems to have their own idea about how to do it and here is my proposal that I am very certain is the most efficient: plane lands at gate, but doors haven’t opened yet. The AISLE seats get up, get their bags, wait patiently in aisle till doors open. The WHOLE LINE of aisle standers files off (they are all ready to just leave), then the next inner seats get up, get their stuff, and file off, etc. Every time someone is “polite” and lets people get up infront of them, they hold up the entire line of aisle standers, and anyone else who could be getting up from their seat and grabbing their things. The entire plane has to wait each time someone says “yes I could just walk forward and leave the plane right now, but please go ahead and take your time getting out of your seat and grabbing your things before I go”
I don’t want to look for my seat with 20 people in front and 20 people behind me, touching my ass cos there is no space . If I have a window seat, then I have to also deal with the people sitting next to me, they get up, walk out, I sit down, they get in blah blah blah
I dont I just chill. Those goobers will fuck something up and I'll stand there for like 30 min like a moron.
People's mentality after waiting at the airport for six hours for a six hour flight ...
THIS IS THE LAST HELICOPTER OUT OF VIETNAM!!!!
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I do it to give the people still sitting something to tut over.
I saw in a flight that the airline mistakenly sold the same seat twice, two persons were fighting for the same seat, and when the stewardess came to review, she saw the error, the flight was oversold and the second man needed to leave the plane.
Not all airlines assign seats. I know Southwest doesn't, you just find an empty seat once you board. In that case it makes sense to stand in line.
Southwest assigns you a position in line. You can pay for a better one. Their passengers don't spend a lot of time waiting in ad-hoc lines before their group is called like other airlines.
But your position in line is assigned. When they ask the A group to line up and the Bs start hovering they're not accomplishing anything.
Absolutely.
Depends on what airline you're taking, Southwest doesn't assign seats
Unless you need/like to stand before takeoff, I don't see the point. I don't mind if people do, as long as they are polite.
Bag space woes? It's real, but seriously see what you can do without. I fly for work at least once a month and I'm a pro one bagger for trips of 4 days or less; more if I'm doing summer weight clothes. It means I rewear things if they are clean and sometimes wash clothes in my hotel, but damn does it make travel easy.
Checked bag fees suck. Be the first to volunteer to gate check. I can only recall one flight in the last few months where an announcement wasn't made. The bag is waiting at the destination gate so you don't even have to handle bag claim. I do it every time I travel.
From the airline's point of view, having the next person right there ready to get in their seat is preferable to having everyone come up one at a time. This is why they have boarding groups. You usually see between 3 and 5 boarding groups because it's a reasonable number between 1 and N (N being the total number of passengers). I'm curious how ~10 boarding groups would fare, but presumably there's a reason airlines don't do that.
Mostly already mentioned I guess.
Bag fees is the answer. And people who’d rather screw over the next person by putting everything into the overhead bin (jacket, backpack, whatever) that should be under the seat.
People don’t want to pay to check more bags, so they cram as much as they can into anything checked and then the rest into a carry on (assuming they check anything at all). These over-stuffed carry-ons have to then be shoved into an overhead bin, and once the bins are full, the airline will gate check it to the destination. Now you have to wait at baggage claim for your bag along with the fear that for whatever reason it won’t make it. People don’t want that, so they line up to make sure they can put all their stuff in the overhead bin.
So there’s everyone filling up the overhead bin with purses, backpacks, and whatever other items that should have been placed under the seat in front of them. Yeah, I get it, space is tight. No, airline travel will never be like “the old days” when you can spend $250 or less round-trip today to cross the US and back. You wanted cheap, you got it, along with commensurate service. It’s no secret that space is limited. However, IMO those people are dickheads for forcing fellow passengers to check a bag because they take half the bin for all the stuff their cheap asses didn’t want to check while they simultaneously complain about the service they wanted to pay bottom dollar for.
brother you and I are the same
I see only one reason, why i would want to be early at the seat. its bcs if i am not, my backpack might be placed above but multiple seats away by the crew, where it is then uneasy for me to have an eye on it whilst easy for theives to take and open them, especially on long flights there would be plenty of opportunity like when everyone is sleeping.
but for this case i use locks on the backpack anyway, so that anyone who wants to open it, either opens it where nothing of value is in it thus no lock, or at least has a much harder time than when trying the very same with other bags...
also on longer flights i usually did not have that problem, but that could also have been just luck
Thieves aren't buying multiple hundred dollar tickets to bip your laptop from your bag man.
<something i forgot>
People are dumb. Mostly.
The question you should be asking instead is why would you shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane?
eh, if youre in first class you could potentially start getting served drinks before boarding is complete. i know i have.
that said, ive often waited til the plane was mostly seated/no line before boarding even if seated in first.
The nice thing if you ever fly first class is that you'll typically get boarding priority and sometimes even your own door on larger planes so that you don't have to interact with the poors (j/k I'm a poor too, I've just booked first/business class before when I have enough points saved up so that it's worth it).
I literally chill til the very end of boarding before I get on. Like you said, my seat is assigned, it ain't changing, and I'm packed light enough to put my backpack under the seat in front of me. Sometimes people don't show up n I sneak into a better seat 🤫. I've only ever been called out for that on Frontier, they know the hustle apparently. I've never bothered trying 1st class or anything, but I've gotten some middle seats to transform into aisles that way.