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"  Like most people, I&amp;#039;m not a fan of lines. And at the airport \u2014 with check-in, security, and boarding \u2014 they&amp;#039;re par for the course. Some airlines are hoping that the general public&amp;#039;s dislike of queuing up will lead them to ante up: For an extra $9 to $30 per flight, you can buy your way to the front of the line. (The upshot: A regular coach customer can purchase the elite status enjoyed by first-class passengers and frequent fliers.) And, like most people, I&amp;#039;m not a fan of fees, so I pack carefully to avoid the checked baggage &amp;quot;penalty&amp;quot;  \u2014 dutifully putting liquids in three-ounce containers, placing them into a one-quart ziptop bag, and bringing my regulation carry-on suitcase and a &amp;quot;reasonably sized&amp;quot; personal item. So last week when I flew to California, I thought I was set. My airline offered the special line upgrade \u2014 not worth my money, I thought \u2014 so I waited for my boarding group number...sort of. Toward the end of the group before me, I edged into line, to be told I&amp;#039;d have to wait to be called. Fine, I thought. After all, I was trying to bend the rules.  As I watched my fellow fliers file ahead of me, I realized:  1. It&amp;#039;s a full flight.  2. Very few people checked their bags (of course) \u2014 and a lot of these people have really big bags.  3. There might not be overhead compartment space for my suitcase by the time I get on the plane.  4. Why isn&amp;#039;t the gate agent enforcing the carry-on bag restrictions?  My guess: It&amp;#039;s because airlines aren&amp;#039;t (yet) charging for &amp;quot;gate-checked&amp;quot; luggage. Gate checking is most commonly used by parents for strollers and car seats \u2014 items that are needed up until boarding or might be damaged if checked the usual way (they go on the top of the heap because they&amp;#039;re added after the other luggage is already on board). The items are either brought back gateside or go through baggage claim; not necessarily a bad thing, unless you have a tight connection (which I did). But it is a hassle, particularly if \u2014 fee or not \u2014 you don&amp;#039;t want your bag checked in the first place (which I didn&amp;#039;t). As it turns out, I was able to squeeze my carry-on in a bin alongside an oversized (but soft-sided) garment bag. I still don&amp;#039;t think I&amp;#039;ll cough up the cash for priority boarding, though; I&amp;#039;ll just reserve a seat toward the rear of the plane or at a window, to get an earlier boarding group \u2014 that is, as long as the airline I fly doesn&amp;#039;t charge a fee for that. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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