text:  three pieces of luggage sitting there. Sorry, you can't do that. You're going to have to check it. And quite frankly, you prefer to do that at the gate. I'll check it at the gate. You know why? Because you check it right at the door of the plane and they put it in the belly of the plane. You check it at the counter a half a mile away. There's no guarantee the damn thing's going to end up anywhere near the plane. Usually does, but doesn't necessarily have to.