Why Travelers Either Truly Despise Or Totally Swear By Getting Their Bag Gate Checked At The Airport

Airline travelers are an opinionated bunch. There are a lot of controversial takes on how to make air travel work to your advantage. Is the aisle seat the best choice, or is it the window? Should you arrive at the airport early, or wait until the last minute to breeze through the lines? Windows up, or windows down? Will you be having the chicken or the fish? 

However, one of the most divisive travel takes involves gate checking your luggage. When you unfortunately stumble onto a full flight where carry-on luggage outnumbers overhead bin space, airlines often appeal to passengers to have their carry-ons checked at the gate. This means that the carry-on you've been lugging around the airport heads down to cargo with all the other checked luggage — free of charge — and will have to be claimed at the baggage carousel. Or, in the case of smaller aircraft, it's conveniently handed back to you at the jet bridge.

Here's where passengers choose sides. For those who've packed all their belongings in a carry-on — a practice many travelers embraced after COVID threw airport efficiency into chaos — gate checking is a nightmare that defeats the purpose of traveling light. Meanwhile, others see it as an advantage, as gate checking waives all checked bag fees and lets you enter and exit the plane blissfully unencumbered. So is gate checking an opportunity or a curse? Let's look at both sides to find out — and maybe you can work out where you stand on the matter.

When a gate agent asks you to gate check your bag, keep in mind that it's free. Considering luggage check-in can cost anywhere from $20 to $60 per bag, it's a win economically — especially if you don't have anything particularly precious in your carry-on that you might need on your person at all times. That said, if you're trying to avoid paying fees for multiple checked bags, simply check one at the counter and then give up the second one for gate checking. Since you'll already be waiting at baggage claim for one bag, adding another one shouldn't be much of an inconvenience.

Gate checking also means that boarding also becomes a breeze. Imagine walking down the narrow aircraft aisle and plunking into your seat while others battle it out for overhead bin space. This works out especially well for families with stroller-age kids, as gate checking bulky items allows parents to navigate the airport with ease and conveniently drop the stroller off just before boarding. 

Of course, any luggage that's out of your sight runs the risk of getting lost — but gate checked luggage is on equal footing with any other checked luggage. Plus, in most cases, gate checked bags normally end up at the baggage carousel together with the rest of your flight's (paid) bags. However, make sure you always confirm this with the agent, especially if you have a connection. 

Some travelers shun gate checks altogether because the concept defeats the purpose of a carry-on in the first place. Gate checking a bag robs you of the security of having all your belongings with you, especially when you've mastered the art of packing just one carry-on for a long vacation. On that note, the reluctance to gate check also comes from passengers carrying valuable items in their bags. "I usually only bring essentials or fragile souvenirs and gifts in my carry-on, so when they take it away I spend the entire flight worried about my valuables breaking," writes Redditor u/mycharmingvintage.

The baggage carousel wait time also counts as one of the biggest turn-offs, as it translates to more time spent at the airport post-flight — and the risk of having your bag misplaced or delayed. "I was forced to gate check once on a flight from Edinburgh to London. For reasons only British [Airways] can explain they never loaded the bags on the plane. We had to wait an hour and a half for the next flight to come in with our bags. So now I do whatever I can to avoid gate check," shares u/jdc90403 on Reddit. 

To avoid being asked to gate check your bag, try reducing your travel essentials to a single (and preferably soft shell) bag that can fit under the seat in front of you. Alternatively, follow in the footsteps of savvy travelers who are skipping baggage fees and airport hassles with the help of game-changing, shipped-for-you luggage services.