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.
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
I wish there was just seat designations in the overhead. If shit is in my slot, yeet.
I agree. But this would require them to provide adequate space up there for each passenger. They are squeezing seats together so tightly that may no longer be possible.
Bin designs are just now getting to the point where there is something like a 1:1 relationship between passengers and overhead space. Only a small fraction of the flights operating (at least in the US) have these bins, though.
Some of the new Boeing aircraft, as it happens, so it’s a trade off…
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.
A lot of people shit on Spirit, but I travel with just a small backpack and I upgrade to their “big seat” in row 1. Especially when coming home because they only have 1 gate at MSP and its right at the front of their concourse. When I’m sitting in 1A (I think), I’m outside the airport about 5 minutes after the plane is at the gate.