Generally speaking, there are a handful of different “teams” who fly on commercial planes:
“Team checked bag” and “team carry-on”
People seem to be very ensconced in whichever team they’re on. To be honest, both have their respective pros and cons.
“Team window seat” and “team aisle seat”
- If you sit in the window seat, you have a window to look out of and a wall to lean against. The space under the seat in front of you may also be a little bit bigger.
- If you have an aisle seat, you have the ability to stretch out into the aisle a little, as well as have easier access to stand up, walk around, etc.
“Team middle seat”
You wouldn’t think there would be people who PREFER the middle seat, but there are!
Getting onto the plane
If you were to look at the gate of any commercial airline in the U.S., chances are you’d see lots of gate lice milling about, blocking everyone’s way, waiting for their group to be called so they can rush onto the plane.
PC: Frequently Flying c/o BoardingArea
Used with permission
You can call them gate lice, or A-holes, whichever you prefer. But they’re also part of yet another team:
“Team get on the plane first”
And then, off to the side is the passenger unlike the rest. They finish their sandwich and coffee, then mosey down the jetway because they prefer to get on the plane last. They’re:
“Team get on the plane last”
Of course, if you’re on Team GotPL, you already know why you’re on that team. But for everyone else:
- You get to finish your sandwich and coffee in peace
- You don’t have to be in, or walk through that swarm of gate lice
- You don’t have to hang out in the (too cold/hot) jetway, shoulder to shoulder with everyone else
- You’ll be on the plane for X number of hours; why spend any more time on it than you need to?
- If you have an aisle seat, you won’t have to get up when your seatmates arrive. You also won’t have to get hit by every bag going past you (because they’ll already be past your seat by the time you board)
A Caveat!
After reading why some people prefer to board the plane last, you might think it sounds like a pretty decent deal. Maybe you’ll want to give it a shot. And that’s fine, but heads up that in this day and age, where every seat is sold almost all the time, and people bring as much carry-on with them as they can to avoid paying for checked bags, the last one to board might not have any overhead space for their carry-on bag.
Of course, if you’re flying first or business class, they’ll always have overhead space ready for you. Or if they don’t, they’ll find some for you. And if you’re flying in such luxury, you may want to be among the first to board anyway.
But for the rest of us, being among the last to board could well mean having to gate check your carry-on bag. Whether or not that’s worth it is a Your Mileage May Vary sort of thing.
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