This guy got his full sized suitcase through security to the gate and was trying to carry it on

    by nateblack

    40 Comments

    1. SnowUnique6673 on

      I do this when I fly standby and have a large bag, because I don’t know if I will get on the flight or not. I certainly wouldn’t want my luggage loaded before I am

    2. If the checked bag line is insane I will do this with the intention of gate checking my bag. Most of the time if you gate check, you can also get around the fee depending on the airline.

    3. Probably gate checking. Sometimes they’ll even take them on the jetway itself and then out to the cargo hold.

    4. The security checkpoint only look for dangerous objects, they don’t enforce airline rules, you could bring an 11 piece luggage set weighing 1000 lbs and they wouldn’t care so long as there aren’t guns and bombs in them

    5. I’ve seen backpackers lugging more volume. I want to say they just eat overhead space, but maybe they get gate checked after I forget about them. 

    6. I miss the days when everybody checked their bags and you could quickly board a plane without people juggling suitcases into the overhead bins.

    7. You can bring any luggage through TSA to the gate. If you’re lucky, you can ask the gate attendant if they are checking bags for free. This is the easiest way to avoid paying for a checked bag.

    8. This was me the first time I flew. Had no idea there was a separate area for large luggage and security didn’t say a thing.

    9. bGlxdWlkZ2Vja2EK on

      There are a lot of type of baggaget hat are medical devices that can not be denied as baggage. I get side eyes when I get on with a carry on and my CPAP since nobody knows it doesn’t count against baggage. 🙁

      No idea what is going on with this guy dragging a CPAP around thought me not to judge. 

    10. Am I weird that I have no problem checking bags? I feel like the over head bins aren’t worth the effort vs the time to check my bag and wait for it! It is usually a matter of 20 minutes or so.

    11. I was once late for a flight many years ago and missed the cutoff for checkin. Agent told me to bring it through security and gate check it lol

    12. Had to do this once because they wouldn’t take my bag at the check in counter because I arrived too late. They allowed me to bring through and check at gate so I could keep my stuff. Hardest part was couldn’t have liquids knives etc.

    13. I was on a flight where two women brought full size suitcases onboard the plane. They were clearly not going to fit in the overhead bins—not even close. I was appalled that the gate agent didn’t stop them. It was a full flight and they got all the way to their seats with the bags, and then had to get back out to gate check the bags.

    14. Size restrictions aren’t mandated by the TSA. The airlines do.

      I had a FUBAR scenario where my bags were short checked due to a delay killing my connection/reclaim & recheck time.

      It was wife and I we both checked 2 small rollers 2 backpacks. With the delay, I had to run to baggage claim, I had tried to divert the bag claim delivery altogether and asked them to just make them connect. But no dice.

      So I sent my wife to the gate, I reclaimed and ran to the next airline to check. I missed the cut-off for checking bags. I plead my case, but I was stonewalled by airline 2. So I said, fine, I take it all through security. There was no “contraband” in my luggage that had to be removed so I was able to go through with 2 rollaboards and 2 backpacks. I got a little stink-eye, but all made it through. Running with 2 rollers sucks. But I made it!

    15. That’s an unethical pro tip. If you do that they will sometimes check it at the gate for free.

      Don’t know if that still works, though.

    16. Itchy-Indication3709 on

      In TSA their only concern is whether the bag has prohibited items and whether it fits in the X Ray machine.

      However they hate scanning stuff like this and you will most likely either be rejected from screening or at least get yelled at if u try this. 

    17. This-Above-All on

      You shouldn’t do this every time, but sometimes you have to gate check your bag. If you know in advance and aren’t expecting that thing to be in the overhead bin, I’m fine with it. If you do this every time, no. If you think that’s gonna be in the cabin, no. If this is what you had to do to make your flight, it’s probably not a big deal. I’ve checked into flights at 4AM and there wasn’t any mechanism for me to check my bag and because of the government shutdown, several security checkpoints were closed. The only option was to gate check.

    18. This was me one time when I got to the airport too late to check the bag. The check-in agent told me to just take it through security. It went into the belly as a red tag on the first flight.

      On the second flight, they were offering to check bags at the gate, and I readily agreed.

      I suppose everyone thought I was trying to break the rules, but i didn’t want to lug that thing around.

    19. This was a common travel hack to avoid paying to check a bag. TSA doesn’t care about your luggage size, just its contents. After you get through TSA, wait by the gate. When they say flight is full, be the first to volunteer to check your luggage for free.

    20. I have done this twice, with a bag smaller than this but above the limits. Once because the airport was crowded and the baggage drop had a huge line. So, the employee told me to go in directly and tell the gate staff. Another time when the aircraft was delayed but the baggage drop lady refused to accept my luggage – I was 50 mins before the scheduled time and 1 hour before the actual time. I remembered the previous encounter and the gate agent didn’t have an issue. The flight was delayed further.

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