Checking a carryon

If there isn't any overhead space left I would assume they would gate check your bag. In that case it would be there for you got pick up as you get off the plane. I've had that happen on a couple of domestic flights. In those incidences they did not charge for me having to check the bag, as it wasn't my choice.

Same here. Nothing to worry about. It easy and no charge :-)

If gate checked, most likely it will be to sent to the luggage pickup area. Once or twice on very small planes the gate checked luggage was brought to the gate but haven't seen that in years.

I had to gate check a bag on the way to Houston last September. I got off the plane and there it was, just waiting for me to take it and be on my way. It was not a small plane.

As someone who flies often, I often pick my seat assignment way ahead of time and sit towards the front of the plane in coach. Almost all of the airlines I fly board passengers starting with the seats in the back of the plane. More often than not, by the time I get to get on all of the overhead bins in the front of the plane, where no one is sitting yet, except those with special needs or little screaming kids, are all full. Way too often they are filled with carry-ons belonging to folks sitting in the back of the plane who did not want to have to carry their stuff back to where they are sitting. I can not tell you how many times I have suggested to the airlines I fly that overhead bins should be assigned to the seats below them, but to no avail. So if anyone reading this has a carry-on, please take it to where you are sitting. I have changed my previous practice such that the carry-on I take onto the plane will now fit under my seat. Happy travels everyone

A carrier-solicited gate-check is free and goes to the final destination and winds up with everything else in baggage claim. A no-room-left stash gets tossed downstairs and is waiting outside the door where the strollers and stuff are also waiting.

You should be prepared. Do NOT give them them your laptop, other electronics and critical meds. If these were not in the bag that will fit under the seat in front of you, have them accessible and pull them out before handing over the bag.

In my experiences, my gate-checked bags were on the regular ol' luggage conveyer belt...Ask the flight attendant who takes your bag where you should expect to collect it, but don't bet the house on his/her answer. Check around the airplane door on the jetway, any other place that looks like luggage/strollers/etc. have ended up, then head to the luggage carrousel. Put a sheet of paper with your name, contact email/ph number, flight info in all of your bags in case one of them ends up gate-checked; if something happens to your your external luggage tag, you have a back-up inside your bag. Or...just take any stray bags in your overhead space and plunk them into the aisle ;-) You should never be charged for a gate-checked bag that is regulation-size and not over your luggage limit (number of pieces-wise).

And hopefully that bag you pull out will be Eileen's. :). (Talk about bad advice, the overhead is not assigned to any particular seat).

I think Eileen was just trying to be funny when she suggested taking bags out of the overhead space.

I'm sure Eileen was kidding, but it is also irksome during colder weather when people take up valuable overhead bin space on a completely full flight with their coats to the extent that there's no room left for even a small bag. Oh, and that SOB is sitting in the rear but taking up the bin space above your seat in the front with his coat. Makes one want to throw the coat on the floor. :) As far as collecting a bag checked by an FA, I've seen it done both ways. Most times, it will be at the carousel. Especially on commuter flights (like on a smaller CRJ jet), it could be right there when you de-board. It's probably a good idea to ask and look.

Never fear - if I'm serious, there won't be a winky-smiley face. (notice the lack of a ;-) immediately above?) OK - to rephrase - I've never seen a flight attendant not happy to plunk an 'unclaimed' bag on the floor and put someone else's bag in its place, then gate-check the bag s/he removed. Happens all the time in my experience. It's amazing how the bag always gets clamed as the attendant is walking up the aisle with it...Flight attendants get as ticked-off about that practice as the passengers do. ;-) kidding, although sometimes with a dry humor ** ** not kidding

The numbers on the overheads are the identifiers for the seats beneath them. They have no relation to allocating storage spaces. Any space is up for grabs. Why you would get excited about something not being exactly over your noggin and want it moved is beyond me. If you're in the middle of the boarding heap, the chance of having a free space directly overhead is unknown. The trick is to get it as close to you as possible but still forward of your seat without screwing the next guy too badly. Getting it aft of your seat means that you have to walk back and get it while everybody patiently waits for you to resume your place in the debarking queue. I'm now on the ground. To get where I am required seven flights in sixty mean hours. All I had was self-tote. Not once was the larger one directly over my head. I won't express my thoughts about people who had a carry-one, a computer type thing, a purse, a coat, and a shopping bag.

Steven is just concerned about no overhead storage space and what happens with checking his bag, not where his overhead space is. I think his question got answered.

I faced this situation just once (gate checking). I was worried because I had a rather expensive camera there (I managed to take off the notebook with me onboard just in time). Now, I try to prepare to this worst-case scenario by having a second, very light bag where I can, in 10 seconds, put my camera and notebook in and take with me, even if to travel under my feet/on my lap, to avoid risk checking it at the gate and then God knows what happens.

I have had bags gate-checked a couple of times on international flights and they were waiting at the door of the plane when I got off for me to grab as I stepped into the tunnel. Sometimes the person at the gate will tell you ahead of time one of your two carryons will need to be checked because the plane is so full and she will tag it as such. As you get ready to step through the door of the plane, you sit it at the door and it is there for you when you get off. Other times, you just run out of room in the overhead bin and the attendant takes it for you for gate check. I agree, have the important stuff in the smallest bag and make it one that is shaped to slide under the seat in front of you. If it is square and not "flat" in one of the dimensions, it may not fit. I use a canvas briefcase-shaped bag for this purpose.