Kudos to flight attendants who catch the dreaded bin hog


An overhead baggage bin hog is irritating.


bin hogFrequent travelers all have pet peeves. One that is high on my list is the overhead bin hog.
They come in many varieties, like their bags, which tend to be large.
Travelers who put both carry-ons overhead, instead of one under the seat, are the most common bin hogs, but equally if not more anyone to my mind are the folks who decide that their bags need to ride up front, even if they don’t.  So while they might be sitting back in row 35, they stash the bag in the first available bin.
Why? Presumably so they don’t have to carry it down the aisle as far. Plus, for a bin hog it eliminates the worry of finding space in back if others have boarded, and it makes picking up the bag, or bags, upon deplaning easier, because they absolutely won’t even have to double back even one row.
Alas, this “first available” overhead bin practice is common, especially because most flight attendants won’t stop it. This post is in praise of one who did.
The United flight was from San Francisco to Houston on a Friday afternoon, with a lot of delays at San Francisco. Presumably, a lot of people had close connections. I’d been lucky enough to have a waitlisted upgrade. I arrived early to the airport because it was going to be a completely full flight.
During boarding, even into the middle boarding groups, the first class section wasn’t full. This was presumably because of late connections or traffic delays. But the overhead bins were filling up on the plane in general. At this point, an adult man heading to one of the forward rows in economy walked on, saw the closed bins in the front of coach, and put his rolling suitcase overhead in first class.
The flight attendant informed him, correctly, that there were late-arriving first-class passengers who would be coming, and they needed the space above their heads. He grumpily took it back into coach.
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But apparently he didn’t find a space near enough to his seat to make him happy, so when the flight attendant went into the galley to get drinks, he quietly walked back to first class with the bag, put it into the same open space, and slammed the door shut.
But she either heard the slam, or caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, because as soon as she finished serving the pre-flight drinks she opened the bin door, took the offending bag out, and went back to coach, telling him, more nicely than I would have, that if there was no space she would be happy to check his bag for him. At this point he looked really, really grumpy. Especially, perhaps, because after all this time there was no more space left overhead in coach. Finally, he gave her the bag. I wanted to applaud.
Now, this isn’t supposed to be a “class” issue on planes. When you board, you should put your overhead carry-on bag in the space above your head, period, unless directed otherwise by a flight attendant. (I have been on planes where the flight attendant tells late-boarding passengers to just take any available space, because all confirmed passengers should have already boarded.)
It’s not just courtesy, it also helps planes depart on time, and disembark on time. Passengers who can’t find room above their seats usually end up walking to the rear of the plane until they find space, then head back “upstream,” and repeat the process upon landing. This slows everyone else down.
Alas, most flight attendants, while they may glower at a bin hog, don’t say anything. Kudos to those who do.
How do you feel? What has your experience been with bin hogs?

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