Relevant CGP Grey

Because airlines have hiked the cost of checked luggage to absurd levels so a large number of people have roller suitcase carryons. I have a small messenger bag I travel with that's soft-sided and I want to get on early so I can make sure it's over my head in case some asshole tries to cram their bag in over mine.

Not all airlines assign seats. I learned this last year. Southwest doesn’t assign seats but you get assigned groups for boarding. You can probably pay for earlier groups but I don’t know, I wasn’t the one who purchased the tickets directly.

Anyways, you line up in order of your boarding assignment. The earlier you get on the plane the better seat you get.

I hated it. Just assign seats.

Because once through thebgate, there's the line of actually getting into your seat because some people tend to stand in the aisle and block everyone while taking their jacket off. And if you're in a prioritized boarding group you can circumvent most of these by getting into the plane early, which results in more time watching youtube while sitting on my ass.

Source: frequent flier. In fact, I'm typing this from seat 9F on an Airbus A320neo right after sitting down.

Do you have anywhere to be instead?

Same when the plane lands. You must be the first to unclip and stand. He who stands longest wins.

Big issue for musicians. Many of us have instruments that are just small enough to be carry-ons but just large enough to be a bit unwieldy compared to other carry-ons, so nabbing primo carry-on storage is a must.