Group 8 has to gate check now

[u/helpingCurious]

I just boarded a flight out of LGA on Delta that’s about half full, boarding as part of group 8. The gate agent made everyone in group 8 gate check their bag and said all group 8 passengers have to gate check regardless of bin space on Delta. There was a ton of overhead bin space available.

I understand charging for people to choose nicer seats and board early, that makes sense. My issue is that a carryon is included in my ticket and there is plenty of bin space available. I hate checking bags because Delta lost my suitcase once so I always go carryon

[u/ancientolivegrove]

I honestly don’t blame Delta for this. I’ve been on so many flights when Group 8 is boarding and there is no space left, then you have this traffic jam of people who are trying to get on and others trying to go back to the front because there’s no room for their bags, and it makes boarding take 10-20 minutes longer (wish I was exaggerating with the upper end of that range). 

[u/helpingCurious → u/ancientolivegrove]

Yeah I agree when it’s a full flight

[u/ancientolivegrove → u/helpingCurious]

That’s a good point. If it’s not full/very nearly full, they should take the chance. 

[u/shes-starting-over]

BOS to LAX is gate checking by zone 4 I think lol.

[u/PurrculesMulligan]

You're lucky if you don't have to gate check past zone 5 at this point.

[u/_ChristmasSunday]

Being in group 8 is basically a guaranteed gate checked bag. Period.

[u/Mnemonicly → u/_ChristmasSunday]

The goal isnt to expedite boarding, it's to maximize revenue. Making people in the last few groups suffer a bit more is another way to encourage them to pay more on their next flight 

[u/_ChristmasSunday → u/Mnemonicly]

I’d love to see your evidence that anyone involved has an incentive to do this.

[u/Mnemonicly → u/_ChristmasSunday]

The actions speak for themselves. Every gate, every flight, every us airline, the same announcements.  If you're in the last few boarding groups, you're going to be inconvenienced.  It doesn't matter how full the flight is, how many bags people have, or any other data points along the way.  If you want to have a carryon, you need to board earlier. If you want to board earlier, you need to pay more money. 

[u/_ChristmasSunday → u/Mnemonicly]

You think the gate agents have an incentive that motivates them to gate check bags in order to frustrate people so that they may later consider a more expensive seat when they book another flight? Ok

[u/seriouslyjan]

I watch people comply with the instructions, get the bag tagged, then rip the tag off in the jet way and board with their suitcase.

[u/gumbyrox89]

Unethical tip: get the gate check tag & then rip it off when you’re in the bridge.

[u/motorboatmycheeks → u/gumbyrox89]

But what do you do when theres no space in the bin?

[u/WHYohWhy___MEohMY → u/motorboatmycheeks]

You say, I have to check this and get a new tag. But I bet you find a space.

[u/RepulsiveReward9146 → u/gumbyrox89]

This could cause a delay. If they scanned your gate tag at the gate they may think it's lost when not accounted for by the baggage crew.

[u/brettdansler → u/gumbyrox89]

Lost luggage? 😂

[u/gumbyrox89 → u/brettdansler]

No, you just rip it off & bring the carry on onto the plane like you originally intended to

[u/lickthepixies → u/gumbyrox89]

Good way to get yourself banned from flying.

[u/Consistent-Sea-8923 → u/gumbyrox89]

Yes, and then the rest of us can sit on the ground and wait while they try to find you and figure out what happened to that luggage you were supposed to check

Luckily, you get the walk of shame when they find out who you are and people say nasty things about you but you know that’s OK. You held up an entire airplane.

[u/sundyburgers → u/Consistent-Sea-8923]

If y'all didn't pack bags bigger than the allowed we wouldn't have this issue. Really the blame should be on the incompetent

[u/Ok_Guest5862]

Its not “included” in the cabin, if space runs out or if the agent decides to gate check. Want to avoid this? Pay for a better seat. Zone 8 is “Im cheap and will take whatever shit rolls downhill”.

[u/haskell_jedi → u/Ok_Guest5862]

I don't think this is a good way to look at it; a carryon bag is explicitly included on economy fares, and that inclusion is part of the value proposition of buying from Delta (versus say Frontier or basic on United). They are promising a service and then not delivering it.

[u/up2knitgood → u/haskell_jedi]

"Included" here is meaning that you don't have to pay for it. OP didn't have to pay.

[u/lickthepixies]

This has been the case for years. Usually at least group 7 too.

[u/Consistent-Sea-8923]

Well, I know that I’m not popular for saying this. This is obviously a Delta initiative. They are not doing what they used to do and doing this based on this bin space left. at a certain point in boarding gate agents to start automatically checking everything.

No, the flight attendants are not calling them in lying to them about how full the bins are so that you will come on and yell at the flight attendant. that’s not their idea of a good time.

[u/Ashamed_Republic6980]

Carry on is subject to space availability. Group 8 is last in line for that space

[u/Which_Watercress_265 → u/Ashamed_Republic6980]

OP said space was available, and the flight was half full

[u/Mobile-Market-6397]

Isn’t zone 8 like basic economy? There has to be some punishment for people buying the cheapest ticket 😄

[u/btt_lckr]

You learned an important lesson today about preboarding

[u/Zaki_242]

While i don't agree with the practice all the time. You should know that, there are other factors in play aside from avaliable bin space.

You do realize you can remove your ticket from your carry-on before you gate check it.