Baggage roulette

THANK you for the insight in “An Overhaul Due for Oversized Bags in Overstuffed Bins?” [Travel Insider, Feb. 26]. I supervise customer service for an airline, and I recently had to (quite forcibly) ask a handful of passengers to gate-check their luggage.

All were businessmen who had large garment bags on wheels which exceeded (by far) the carry-on size limits. Our flights were extremely full, and these men delayed our boarding process by arguing that their bags would indeed fit into the overhead compartments.

It never ceases to amaze me how selfish some travelers can be. One other thing: Tags that are used to check luggage at the ticket counter are automated and printed with a bar code. The tags used at the gates are almost always handwritten, and when you have a gate agent with bad penmanship or a ramp agent who’s not really paying attention, the chances of your gate-checked bag not getting transferred to your connecting flight with you are very high, compared with those that get the automated tags.

ERIC SRANGSRIWONG

Portland, Ore.