The Best Way To Make Sure You Get Overhead Bin Space On Your Next Flight

Unless you're a minimalist who can survive on a backpack's worth of belongings, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place: Check your luggage or duke it out for overhead bin space. The former will often have you coughing up a hefty baggage fee and then playing the waiting game at the carousel, while the latter will have you participating in a Hunger Games of sorts with your fellow passengers. The truth is that overhead bins are communal baggage storage spaces. Holding a ticket doesn't automatically grant you dibs on overhead real estate, especially if you booked an economy ticket. The best way to increase your odds of securing that coveted space? Fly business or first class, or pay for priority boarding.

"Everybody is going to hate to hear this, but when you purchase a ticket, it does not entitle you to any overhead bin space," former flight attendant Shawn Kathleen dished on "The Jtrain Podcast." "You're buying a ticket for a seat that gets you from A to B." Unfortunately, overhead bins are claimed on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you're not among the first to board, you might want to prepare to stow it in the worst spot on the plane, or worse, hand it over to be gate-checked. The only real workaround, if you can even call it that, is to pony up.

If you don't want to end up in a screaming match with a passenger for overhead bin space (yes, it happens), you would have to shell out money for priority boarding. The fast-track ticket to getting this is to buy a first or business-class ticket, as it automatically catapults you on top of the boarding pecking order. It's worth noting that some airlines also allow passengers with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, active members of the military, and families with small children to pre-board ahead of everyone else, so if you fall under any of these categories, you might get prime overhead bin space as a default perk.

If you're a regular 'ol flyer but refuse to drop a small fortune for a fancier seat, you can also pay for priority boarding. The likes of United Airlines and Southwest offer passengers a higher boarding group for a fee. United Airlines charges $24 for select seats to move you up to Group 2, while priority boarding for Southwest means buying Early Bird Check-In, which starts at $15 for a better boarding category.

Having elite status and the right credit card can also work. The rules are different for every airline, but for instance, having AAdvantage Executive Platinum Pro in American Airlines bumps you up to Group 1 of boarding, while owning the Citi/ AAdvantage Executive credit card grants you a Group 4 boarding spot. Given that some credit cards have expensive annual fees, aiming for elite status by being a loyal flier might make more sense for your bank account, allowing you to enjoy priority boarding without necessarily splurging on your ticket.

Now, if you're not too jazzed about the idea of paying, but aren't too excited about leaving your chances up to fate, either, you can try another approach: booking a specific seat. This requires doing a bit of homework because airlines have different methods of herding passengers onto the plane, but you might chance upon one that may work in your favor. Case in point: United Airlines has introduced the WILMA (window-middle-aisle) approach for Groups 3 and beyond.

Nabbing a window or exit row seat places you into Group 3, letting you board the plane just behind the pre-boarding group, elite status holders, and business or first class passengers. Middle seats are assigned to Group 4, and aisle seats are in Group 5. While choosing a window seat on a plane increases your chances of snagging that coveted overhead bin space, if it is not assigned to you by the airline, you might need to pay extra for seat selection.

It goes without saying that not all airlines employ the WILMA method, so you have to do your due diligence to look up an airline's boarding process and figure out the best strategy for hacking your way to early boarding. But if all else fails and you end up gate-checking your bag, remember that it's not the end of the world. "I don't know if that's an Old World concern — that people think their bag will get lost or misplaced," seasoned flight attendant Bebe McGarry told Condé Nast Traveler. "But today the probability of that is very slim, with technology and bag tags."