> And increasingly, airline policy is such that there can be a real, tangible benefit to lining up early. Flights are often full, or even overbooked, which can lead to a sense of pressure among travelers to claim their space early
Airlines are treating the passengers like cattle and they've got to jockey for position for their own benefit. But the early boarding groups (which correlate highly with wealth) and the pundit class are able to come up with this derisive term in response to it.
Not if you've got an assigned seat. They aren't going to give your assigned seat to someone who got there ahead of you, no matter how full the flight is.
If you need overhead bin space, then yes, there's a reason to want to be earlier.
