score:5
There are actually three ways your luggage can get from A to B and it's possible that different airlines use different words for it:
US Airways Express, like many of the "minor" versions of major airline brands, uses very small planes. The "overhead bins" can accommodate coats and purses, but not rollaway bags. Therefore you may have to gate check your bag. MAY. It's not for sure - some carry on you will carry on, if it will fit under the seat for example. And you will still have to carry it through the airport if you don't check it. You put it on a little cart just before you get on the plane, and pick it up as you leave the plane, then carry it to your next flight. If you want to be free of it for the whole trip, check it.
Many people these days play "checkin chicken". They have a bag they don't need during the flight, but that is technically small enough for carry on. Then they drag it through the airport and wait at the gate for an announcement (which almost always comes) that hey, we have a really full flight, if there's a carryon you can do without for the duration of the flight, we'd be happy to check it for you free, just approach the podium. (This typically ends up being a checked bag that goes to baggage claim, not a gate-checked bag, but you would need to ask while it was happening to be sure.) And they get their bag checked without a free. This feels like too much hassle to me, but it does happen a lot.
Upvote:1
There are really 4 ways to get your bag onto the aircraft. Only one of these ways does not involve carrying your bag with you all the way to the boarding gate. That way is to check your bag at the airline check-in counter. Many airlines, including UA, AA, Delta, and U.S. Airways, charge for this service. For U.S. airlines that do charge, the most typical fees seem to be $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second. If either bag is over 50 lb., there will be an additional overweight baggage charge. The most notable exception to this is Southwest Airlines which does not charge anything for the first two checked bags, but does still have a fee if either bag is over 50 lb.
The other 3 ways to get your bag onto the aircraft all involve you carrying your bag up to the point that you are actually boarding the aircraft, including taking the bag through the security checkpoint. All of these methods require that the bag meet standard carry-on size specifications. They are as follows:
The answer to both of your questions 2 and 3 is that unless you check them in (and pay fees accordingly,) they will fall into one of the 3 categories of bags listed above and you will have to carry them all the way to the gate, including any time that you may spend outside of the airport before the flight leaves.