Did they make you use it?
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Yeah I learned that the hard way myself one trip and I won’t sit there again
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Nope. I used it myself. Our carryon bag fits into the sizer. It was an older plane so the bins don’t accommodate bags side by side.
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I’m with you! Never again!
And I much rather not change planes!
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It’s obviously not always possible, but whenever it is I always book a direct flight. It’s always worth the cost to reduce variables that could cause a delay.
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I totally agree! Tonight, we were one hour short of being home when we had a layover in Las Vegas! We’ve relied on Alaska and United for those nonstop flights to MCO. There tends to be one per day. Then Alaska reduced its presence at SFO!
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The only reason I still use SW is because they are the only airline with a non-stop to MCO. Every other airline forces a layover at one of their hubs.
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we watched someone put their bag into a sizer and it got stuck. 
It became a joke, “How many people does it take to remove a bag from a sizer at check in?”
Moral of the story: Don’t put your bag in the sizer unless you have time to deal w/ the fall out. 
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Consolidation of airlines have reduced our choices as consumers!
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My original question, in the title, “Does Southwest gate check carryon bags?” And the question was specific to SW at MCO.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. After two flights yesterday, the answer is, “It depends!” So, don’t count on gate checking for SW flights!
At MCO yesterday evening, the other SW flights around us were asking passengers to gate check bags, some more militant than others. But our flight did not ask for passengers to gate check. Our flight was completely full.
The option to voluntarily gate check would have helped anxiety on board and sped up boarding. Come on SW! The flight was leaving MCO. Passengers had bags of merchandise, in addition to carry on luggage!
People were having trouble finding overhead bin space. Besides all the extra bags of merchandise, our plane was an older plane and thus, could not accommodate all luggage to be on its side, even if it fits into the sizer.
Our flight leaving LAS asked for gate checking, as well as all the other flights at gates around us.
We typically fly Alaska. On all the flights we have been on, it has always asked for gate checking. My kids have taken advantage of this, too!
We fly United here and there. Request to gate check is inconsistent.
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I just looked it up. SFO is a major airport but not as major as LAX. The only direct flight flights from.SFO to MCO are from United and Alaska. And there are only one or two flights per day.
I bought the air tickets for this past trip late, well sorta. I bought them the week after the war started. As such, airfare was very expensive. I got an okay price going non stop from United. But the ticket home was about $700/person!
Round trip from SFO to MCO is typically $300-$450/person.
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It’s madness right now
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Did you ask and they said no? Sometimes they don’t advertise but I’ve really never heard of ones turning them away.
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We didn’t think of asking because we thought they would charge us.
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I bet they would have taken it.
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Yeah if you had phrased it “are you offering (or requesting) gate check at the moment?” Or something like that, they probably would have taken it. They always like to smooth out the boarding process if they can.
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I felt that if I asked, they would have charged me a checked bag fee. Maybe if I had ask if they were going to request passengers gate check carry ons for free.
Maybe next time I fly SW, which likely won’t be for years…
The boarding process is very slow these days because of the boarding groups. People stand in the aisle trying to get their stuff in the overhead bins while people are waiting to get to seats behind them. I remember the days when the planes were loaded first/business class first and then from the back to the front. There were still boarding groups but was done so that plane was boarded from the back to the front. It was so much smoother.
Now, we get bragging rights to be BG1!
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We are very happy to gate check our bags. That let’s us 65+ not have to struggle with the bags and our personal items (backpack or tote bag) down the very narrow aisles, nor hefting the carryons up to/down from the bins, which might very well not be overhead.
I’m not shy, and during a quiet time before the gate agents get busy, I might ask them, “Will you be asking for volunteers to gate check their bags?” When they say yes, I give them my bag!
Loading people into the back of the plane sounds fine, but only if there are flight attendants positioned along the way to make sure the people also take their bags to the back with them, and don’t stick them in the first available bin.
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Yes this is a good way to phrase it, and what I was getting at.
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If I check any bags (meaning that I will need to go to baggage claim anyway) then I always will ask them to check my carry ons. If it the size of a carry on then they will check it for free. Most of the time they’ll do it in the terminal, sometimes they make you go to the gate. You not bringing a bag on the plane helps them and not you so I’ve never heard of any airline asking for people to pay to gate check a carry on.
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