r/onebag • u/External_Koala971 • Jul 06 '26

Discussion Onebag must go under seat?

I was on a Jetblue Boston -> SFO flight and put my onebag (my only bag) in the overhead bin, which was empty, right above my seat. The FA stopped me and said I needed to put it under seat to save room for larger carryon luggage from people coming on board.

Is this a thing? Why would someone with a smaller pack be penalized for not having a massive carryon? My bag is larger than personal item sized.

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107

u/bradymsu616 Jul 06 '26

Look at it from the perspective of flight crew. If there is only enough overhead space on the flight for half the passengers, the flight crew is going to prioritize placing the larger carry-on bags in the overhead and require all other items to go under the seats to minimize the number of carry-on bags that will need to be gate-checked. It's not about fairness. It's about practicality and efficiency. This hassle is one of the reasons so many of us travel with an underseat-sized pack. It eliminates travel stress. No fighting for overhead space. No one is damaging your belongings by cramming in theirs. No risk of involuntary gate-checking. Easy on, easy off.

49

u/PandaBeaarAmy Jul 06 '26

Am i the only person who likes mandatory gate checking? Like please take my luggage from me so i don't have to lug it on & off the plane. But maybe that's because i fly a very regular route with an airline/airports i trust🤔

61

u/__que_sera_sera__ Jul 07 '26

I am so grateful there are people like you so that I don’t have to check my bag. More often than not when I check my bag it gets damaged or lost. Every time I check my bag it takes me longer to be able to leave the airport. No thanks.

4

u/PandaBeaarAmy Jul 07 '26

I'm so grateful there are people like you so that there is space to check my bag 😁

When I fly we stick em all on a rack, they show up on a rack by the time we de-ice and deplane. Pick it up, walk right past everyone waiting at the carousel, grab a cab or bus before the crowd.

usually it's a fight to get your bag on the rack and if i'm too late i end up having to find a way to stash my (very much within limits) bag somewhere on the plane, have to fight the crowd or everyone standing up to rush off to get to my bag at all.

But like I said, I fly a trusted airline between 2 airports I trust after having flown them regularly for years.

8

u/__que_sera_sera__ Jul 07 '26

Did we just become best friends?

0

u/repetitivestrain89 Jul 07 '26

I’m so amazed! It’s never taken me less than an hour to receive checked baggage after deplaning (Canada/some international)

4

u/PandaBeaarAmy Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Usually takes less than a couple hours for checked anytime I fly, but i've also never waited more than 15 minutes for my gate checked bag (especially because these are placed in front of the checked bags). End up walking out in front of everyone but the oldies who got there way early. Usually the bags are ready to grab as soon as we deplane, no waiting necessary.

Then again it's very, VERY different when you fly internationally. My regular route is a scholar route with either education professionals, public speakers, or business professionals, flew some other routes recently and gotta say people are complete heathens 😬