The Big Air Travel Trends of 2018: More Comfort and Price Points – Wendy Perrin #WOWWeek
Wendy Perrin had her WOW Week this week talking about travel trends, and I was asked to participate with an article about flights. Here are the five trends I pointed to. You can see everything on Twitter with the hashtag #WOWWeek.
Your airline overhead bins may now be reserved – MarketWatch
American is starting to reserve overhead space for Main Cabin Extra travelers, and I was asked why.
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“Reserving”overhead bin space?? Just something else that cannot be policed (short of putting locks on them and no I am not kidding) and others will ignore.
It’s imperative that they get on amongst the first couple of groups. I know it’s not always practical since they might be late arriving connectors or they got held up in security.
You should see how people react when asked NOT to put bags in the first class cabin when all customers are not seated in first and they are in row 34. They act like someone shot their dog.
American is getting the raw end of the deal in that story. Delta has had placards on the overhead bins of first class and economy comfort etc for months if not years. There is a flight attendant in first class doing onboard ground service and I have never seen a coach passenger try to put a bag in a first class overhead bin. Delta usually has a flight attendant positioned about halfway through the coach cabin during boarding and who can see the economy comfort area and I have seen very few passengers try to put bags in the overheads if they aren’t seated there.
Both first class and economy comfort/plus board before regular coach on Delta; the only group that precedes them are special assistance passengers – and there is plenty of overhead bin space available for them above their seats.
I don’t see putting placards on the overhead bins as a problem and I expect the vast majority of passengers will comply on AA just as they do on DL.
AA is copying a DL idea that works. Any reporter that comments on the story should be aware of the full story.
United has been doing the same thing. In Economy Plus, there are signed that say the space is reserved for Economy Plus passengers. Period.
How about the flight attendants just PAY ATTENTION to what people are doing – like call someone out when you see them putting their bag in a bin and then walking 20 rows back to their seat ?
Boarding is the busiest, most stressful part of the flight AND the crew aren’t getting paid at that point to boot. Just saying.
During that time flight attendants are: sorting out the gallery, hanging coats, trying to monitor bag space, dealing with special customers ie armed wheelchairs kids. Also sometimes the pilots stroll on and want to conduct a briefing at this time. They might not even have the galley yet.
When they get the galley, they have to check that there aren’t any major screw up sich as short meals, no ice, not enough bottles of water etc.
Then people get pissed if they don’t get their Bloody Mary in a timely manner.
So there’s tons of stuff going on within a 20-25 minute period and god forbid if you aren’t ready to close the door on time even if the agents have continued to board until the last minute.
This may come across as a complaint but it’s just reality as to all the stuff going on at the same time.
Yes, you are right. I have worked for airlines for 35+ years so I know what you are talking about……..so my comment below is a possible “solution”……Not your bag in my overhead bin ?…..then I’m letting the FA know after I take it out.
You may have worked for the airlines for 35+ years but you clearly have never been a flight attendant.
Indeed. Those FA’s don’t have anything else to do; they can fill up those empty minutes by being bin monitors, too. Perhaps the answer is just getting rid of overhead bins in total….if you can’t stick it under the seat, it ain’t commin’ aboard. And none of this free carriage of stuff you’ve trundled to the gate—nope, if it don’t fit, it stays.
I saw that happen once, a twenty-something year old guy put his bag in the first coach bin and went to the back of the plane to his seat. The FA took it out and brought it back to him.
S/He should have gate checked it and put the bag tag in the spot where the bag was :)
Impossible situation. I can tell you that if I get to a row in the front and the bin is filled with many pieces, I will start asking “whose bag is this, I’m moving it over”. If no one answers, it comes out and is given to the flight attendant as a stray bag. Maybe they can page the person who is sitting all the way in the bag to get it !!!!!
I’m still waiting for airlines to figure out all those bins add a lot of weight and remove them altogether and go back to an angled shelf to hold just coats. That will speed up boarding if everything needs to be checked except for a small under seat bag, plug save on fuel needed to just carry the bins in the first place.
If airlines could figure out a way to drop off and pick up bags at the gate for 737 and A320 series planes, similar to how they do it with RJs, and still get all the bags back in a reasonable time (say, < 10 minutes after the first pax gets off), I'd be all for it. Even if they could get the bags to the baggage claim in a reasonable time (< 15 minutes, say), I'd be all for it.
Business travelers would revolt at the mere hint of not being able to walk out of a jetway with a rollerboard and straight to the rental car, however, so this would never work.
All of these indignant comments about bin space would be convincing… except that I’m sure frequent travelers like you are the same people casting self-satisfied glances at the proletariat heading for the luggage carousels and saying “should’ve packed light and carried on.” Seriously, y’all, lighten up.
I have never seen cabin bags as large as I have seen in the US. Those roller boards are huge!