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Obviously with children or impaired people it makes sense, but single people who rush to sit on the plane just to sit there doing nothing for literally an hour before takeoff. Why? I actually find it a troubling curiosity of humankind that people get so cutthroat to board a thing that won't leave until everyone is on anyway...
Wondered the same.. although I have never flown first class so.. maybe I don't get it.
Depending on the carry on I have, I try to be one of the last on the plane.
Unfortunately, not all frequent flyers. I make a lot of trips each year, but the majority of them are short regional trips (I'm in NC and primarily travel the east coast) and it seems like I have to take a different airline every time, depending on price or budget. So it feels like it will take most of my lifetime to build up to any sort of status level for any given airline. :-(
I have had to put my luggage in the bin past the one over my seat. The people just passed it up, but it was light. I didn't even have to ask. Maybe it helped that I am female and was smiling at the person who stowed it for me. ( he was male and probably Canadian as this was when I lived in Calgary.)
My husband travels more than I do and he rushes on, but I always want to be on the plane midway through. Not first, but not last. He travels 20+ times a year and I only go a handful of times.
The problem is airlines don't bother enforcing the carry-on rules, so you end up with gigantic duffle bags and other monstrosities that clearly are NOT the proper size.
We've all seen passengers loaded up like sherpas. A roll-around, a fold-over suit coat carrier, computer bag, coat... One person could take up the entire overhead bin.
I wish the airlines would enforce the rules.
Last time I flew, an elderly couple had two roll-arounds that not only were so big they had to go sideways, they were so heavy they couldn't lift them up in the overhead bin. Others had to help them.
When we landed, the husband, in an attempt to show he was still the man he used to be, pulled it down on top of him and knocked himself to the floor. It was quite the fiasco.
We've all seen passengers loaded up like sherpas. A roll-around, a fold-over suit coat carrier, computer bag, coat... One person could take up the entire overhead bin.
I wish the airlines would enforce the rules.
Last time I flew, an elderly couple had two roll-arounds that not only were so big they had to go sideways, they were so heavy they couldn't lift them up in the overhead bin. Others had to help them.
When we landed, the husband, in an attempt to show he was still the man he used to be, pulled it down on top of him and knocked himself to the floor. It was quite the fiasco.
The bolded sentence made me LOL. It's true, too. This was the case even before all the checked baggage fees. I used to fly much more frequently than I do now. I've been hit on the head more than once by people trying to remove their heavy "carry-on" from a bin above me.
Part of it is the "look at me, I got my first class upgrade or my special card that lets me get priority boarding".
8 pages of responses, and only one person attempts to delve into the psychology if it all. Boarding order is just another manifestation of status and pecking order! He who boards first, can gloat in appearance of being superior. Everyone is crammed into the same aluminum tube, so everyone is equal in that sense; but those with the "privilege" of boarding earlier are more equal than others.
As for the whole question of insufficient overhead space for luggage, I submit that the main culprit in recent years is the proliferation of rollerboards. They are incredibly voluminous and space-inefficient. Years ago, when people carried duffel bags and conventional suitcases without frames or wheels - soft things that could be stuffed against each other and compacted - the same amount of junk could be packed in a smaller space. Now people schlep those ridiculous armored boxed-on-wheels which hold a baseball cap and two pairs of underwear, while occupying a cubic foot (or more) of precious space... all for the putative luxury of rolling their luggage instead of actually carrying it by hand.
As the wife of an airline employee who has flown more times than I care to count, it's hard for me to believe it's about overhead space. Since my husband is an employee, we fly as "non-revs". This means we are among the last to board, and only if there are seats available. Even so, I cannot recall a time where we have not been able to find space in the overheads for our carry-ons, and most times right over our seats. But we flew Continental (now United) the vast majority of those times. Perhaps it's different on other airlines.
I've always thought that one possible solution to many of these issues is to adopt a boarding process similar to JetBlue. After the priority boarding, the rest of the plane boards from back to front. Not only does it minimize the line of passengers waiting for people to get seated, but it also ensures that the overhead compartments will fill from back to front. JetBlue boarding is so much smoother than other airlines, even Southwest (I've never understood why people like their boarding process).
As much as I travel (more than once a month), I've never figured out the arbitrary "zone" boarding process used by so many airlines. There doesn't seem to be any correlation between my position on the plane and what zone I am assigned.
I haven't flown JetBlue so I didn't know they boarded back to front. But every time I go through the chaos of haphazard zone boarding on the various airlines that I do fly, I wonder why in the world they don't board back to front. Why have people seated in the middle of the plane clog the aisle while they stow their rollaboards overhead, and no one can get past them to get to their seats further back??? It has never made a bit of sense to me. I would love to know what reason the airlines have for this.
Maybe it was the person sitting next to him, or across the aisle, or in the row in front or behind him.
Have you ever actually been on a plane?
Yes
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It's true, too. This was the case even before all the checked baggage fees. I used to fly much more frequently than I do now. I've been hit on the head more than once by people trying to remove their heavy "carry-on" from a bin above me.
Yes 
