Judging by how viral a Tik Tok video went for calling out people for placing their coat in the overhead bin of an aircraft, it appears the issue of whether to keep your coats with you or place them above you is quite controversial.
Put Your Coat In The Aircraft Overhead Bin? Patience…
A popular “influencer” called out a pair of passengers for placing their coasts in the overhead bins. Is it always rude to do so?
@onmylisttravels Are we wrong for thinking jackets in the overhead is a crime? #airlinetiktok #airplaneetiquette #hillnpootravel2 #traveltiktok
My answer is very simple: wait until the overhead bins have been filled with larger bags, then place your coasts around them. Overhead storage space is intended for larger items for a simple reason: large bags cannot be place under your seat but coats can.
I think we can all remember a time when we had to board late and check our bag at the gate or jet bridge. Wouldn’t it have been nice if there wasn’t a need for that because selfish travelers did not needlessly fill overhead bin space with their coats or small bags?
But what about when you are only traveling with a coat and have no bag? Should you be entitled to place your coat in the overhead bin in lieu of a bag?
I would say the answer is the same as above. In all but the oldest of overhead lockers, once the bags are in there is room around them for coats.
So again, first larger bags, then smaller bags, then coats around them. The only exception is if you are traveling in a bulkhead or emergency exit row, where the storage of personal items at your feet may be prohibited.
It is true that in Europe, many carriers have coat hooks on each seat, which are intended (of course) for your coats. The problem is that if you hook a winter jacket onto it, you legroom is even more constrained and you cannot open the tray table. That means you have to rest it in your lap or on the floor when you open the tray table, which make is much easier to spill on it.
Thus, by all means put your coat up…just be patient and put it up once everyone has had a chance to store your bag.
CONCLUSION
I understand that in the days of tight legroom and thin seats in economy class, you really don’t want to deal with bulky coats invading what little space you have. However, since an aircraft cabin is shared space, proper etiquette dictates placing coats in overhead bins only around larger bags or when boarding is complete. Anything else strikes me as rude.
image: @HillnPoo / TikTok
The rule I follow and wish others would is: put what you can beneath the seat. Then, once you’ve done that, put what’s left in the overhead. If I have only a backpack, I put it under the seat. Full stop.
Then again, I try to think of the collective good, rather than staking out a claim to some entitlement of shared space.
The real problem with overhead bin space is the lack of enforcement for carryon items by the airlines other than RyanAir which many avoid. The excess baggage too many passengers bring aboard creates the problem, especially those that bring the largest allowable roller bag plus a backpack and a personal item and often more. I would prefer to see airlines allow two free checked bags and charge for everything carried aboard. This would likely cut down on the delays always encountered in boarding and deplaning and facilitate on time departures and arrivals. Despite the many advantages this policy would bring I won’t hold my breath waiting for it to begin. There are simply too many who don’t want to check any bag.
I can’t recall anyone in recent memory putting their coat on the floor of the overhead bin. Many do place their coat on top of their carryon item in the overhead bin. This is quite acceptable and is not even close to being rude. What is not acceptable is being asked to put one’s coat on the floor especially given the some of the pieces that have appeared on Live and Let’s Fly and similar blogs in respect of the cleanliness of airplane cabins. I have not seen the floor specifically mentioned but given that passengers have walked through the terminal and likely used the restrooms before boarding; placing my coat on the floor is never going to be an option I will consider.
The same flight attendants who allow passengers to board with excess baggage then sometimes face the task of asking other passengers to place their smaller carryon item (eg brief case, document carrier or back pack) under their seat. This happened to me on an Air Canada flight where the carryon rules were ignored. I politely declined and the female attendant suggested that the plane was full and my document carrier would fit under the seat. Again I politely responded that I was sure it would but with my size 13 feet I would not be comfortable for the rest of the flight. I also added that if they enforced the carryon rules we would not be having this problem. Unfortunately, this is a problem that is not going away and is not getting any better. If one takes the time to write the airlines be prepared for platitudes in return.
Sorry, I disagree. If I am only traveling with a backpack and overcoat, I’m putting them in the overhead because I want the extra leg room under the seat in front of me. That’s one of the reasons I generally travel with only a backpack. Also I’m old and it isn’t easy for me to bend over to retrieve my stuff.
So if I board with zero carry ons, why shouldn’t I be entitled to that space to store my jacket?
If you have a bunch of carry ons and are already using the space, then yes wait. If you board without any then put your coat up, after all some of that space is yours to use
Because of people like Chris above, I started putting my backpack in a carry-on suitcase so no one hassles me about putting it in the overhead bin any more. (I had been bringing a backpack only, not ever a carry-on suitcase). But God forbid I take less overhead space than someone with their carry-on suitcase after I went through the trouble of checking my bag. So now it is what is is.
Incidentally this whole thing about the collective good always amuses me. People who talk like this almost always come in one of two flavors:
1) Basic economy ticket buyers who think everyone else should subsidize their cheapness
2) Elitists who call for the collective good from their first class seat, and who would be the first to scream bloody murder if the airline moved them back to economy for weight and balance issues in order to get everyone to their destination
That general principle seems to apply to life too, not just airline travel. We all know each of these flavors of “for the greater good” people.
I’m chuckling about this anecdote: You bring a carry-on simply to be able to put a backpack in the bin without getting a hassle? I can be stubborn, but that beats me!
For me, stowing stuff such as bags/backpacks underneath the seat in front of me isn’t a big deal since that’s only required when the plane is taking off/landing, so after that, I just pull them out and put them behind my legs for the rest of the flight since I don’t feel them there. I never found a problem squeezing my coat into an overhead after the big bags were in there because there always was a crevice to find for it.
Regarding subsidizing the basic-economy cheapskates: Guilty as charged in that it’s hard to say no to saving $120 RT. I don’t cram up the bin with my “backpack” though but will wait until everyone is in and quietly put it in there.
I’m with you, always check a bag and take a backpack, and yes, I’m going to put it and my coat in the overhead.
As with most polite, civilized travelers, put the big bag/rollaboard up in the bin, backpack/courier bag underneath, put the jacket/windbreaker on top of your own bag! Problem solved.
I remember a flight with some entitled dbag who wanted his jacket laying on the floor of the bin. I boarded later into the cattle class portion of the cabin, moved his jacket aside and put my soft-sided duffel up top. Dude got up out of his seat to roughly move the duffel, and reposition his jacket onto the floor of the bin, all while glaring at me for my audacity. (Dude obviously didn’t know much about physics or the effects of acceleration/deceleration on the objects in the bin. Or listened to FA announcements about items shifting during flight.)
As Chris said above, can we drop the entitlement?
I’ve been flying such that I carry as few objects with me while I board, which is usually just a laptop bag and I check in a larger bag. Saves me from wasting time about worrying if there isn’t enough space, gets me through TSA quicker, and avoids the pushing and shoving while trying to board at the gate.
Why would I put my coat on one of the dirtiest places on a plane? All bags that have wheels that were on the streets, airport floors, etc… are inside those bins só the last thing I want is to have my coat there unless I have a plastic bag I can fit my coat inside.
Wondering whether there is one on duty free bags
Who gives a toss what so called ‘influencers’ say…it’s purely to get clicks to make them seem big and influential..
Anyway
What about walking sticks, crutches, medical equipment etc….
I place my coat on top of my carry on (bought to within ryanair allowed measurements ) and my telescopic walking stick collapsed in front.
I also have a tag on the case that says ‘emotional baggage’
I flew intra-European business class yesterday – standard blocked middle seat. A couple were traveling with no other hand luggage except for a small tote bag and insisted it needed to go in the overhead bin and would “bother” them if it went under the seat in the blocked middle seat. Similarly, had a man in row 1 insist the bin above his was “for his items,” but that is another story..
Some people are simply inconsiderate of other people’s needs/concerns when flying and will do whatever they want, sadly.
If I want to put my cowboy hat and J. Peterman long coat in the overhead, too bad. Where else are they going to go?
I agree with the previous comment that overhead bins are full of dirty suitcase wheels, not a good place for one’s jacket. Generally speaking, it’s not a good idea to travel with bulky coats – you are better off using multiple thin layers.
Speaking of suitcase wheels. I would have liked to have observed on one of Kyle’s bag-review posts about how it would be great if most bags had detachable wheels in that some airlines can be strict about size requirements so removing the wheels would add about 2 inches of total size when demanded. (Wink, you can always add them back on after measuring, wink wink)
And dirty bins: That’s why I laugh at the folks who blow what I spend on my European airline ticket on a carry on bag or even a checked bag! Ever see the Samsonite Gorilla commercial? Those fancy bags worth a small fortune are tossed around and, (yuck!) mixed in with the bags of proletariat poor people, such as me! They’re scraped, thrown on dirty surfaces, and the like.
Ha, great commercial from back in the day. But most people missed that it was an advertisement for American tourister, not Samsonite! No biggie nowadays since they’re the same company.
I will fold my coat and put it on top of my bag, a space where no other luggage would fit.
This is what I do as well.
The common sense approach. There are usually plenty of areas a coat or jacket can be put where luggage doesnt fit.
Just like with everything else on the planet, people are incapable of coming to an agreement on anything. Airlines need to start mandating that the space above a seat is for the seat below. Put whatever you want because you paid for it. Only bring what fits in your assigned space otherwise it’s gate checked.
On one flight, the door had already closed, but there was still some carry on luggage to be stored. The male FA made repeated announcements that all the coats and hats and purses needed to go under the seats to make room for the carry on. No one relented.
Once the FA reminded everyone that the plane was going “nowhere” till the carry ons were stored, things happen!!
It is stowage for anything a traveler wants to put there, the space is first come, first served.
This isn’t rocket science or brain surgery. It’s common sense.
Maybe I’m getting old but I remember when the overhead racks didn’t have shutters on them and they were for hats and coats. I’ll continue to put mine there no matter who dislikes it and only a fool takes not of soshul meeja prats and their outrage.
That’s the first thing I thought of too, James. At one time, that’s what those shelves were meant for: hats, coats, blankets and pillows. Times have changed.
Is this a straight repost? Is it an engagement thing? I’m not criticising, I just don’t really understand how engagement and SEO works.
It’s a repost. Unlike OMAAT, I don’t delete prior comments. It’s really a time issue this morning…didn’t have time to write (yet) so you get a repeat. There’s over 11K articles in the pot, so I try to find engaging past posts to invite discussion.
Like I said, no criticism, just curious. I agree it remains a good topic.
Personally, I think putting coats in overheads is a little ick!
That’s disappointing.
I put my wool outer coats up there all the time in winter. But I don’t really care if f it gets squished or is on top of my carryon. If it fits, it goes there. The people who are rude are the ones who lie their jacket flat on the bottom and think no one should put anything on it. I’ll move it to the side to fit my bag in. Or put my bag on top of it if need be. If you put your coat (or anything) up there, you have to expect it to be rearranged.
It’s the hats in the bin folks who are the problem. Wearing a hat in 2024? Really?
Try Northern Europe in winter before you laugh at hat wearing, not having one will very quickly wipe the smirk from your face.
When I started flying the overhead was a hat and coat rack with no shutters and bags were forbidden to be placed there, all bags were on the floor under the seat in front though of course leg room was far more generous in 1966!