AA1699.
Man is AA absurd about carry-ons. Said I'd have to check my bag and when I pulled the DYKWIA EXP line they said well you should have boarded when we called EXPs before all the overhead space was taken
Ripped the checked tag off at the bottom of the jetbridge and had 3 empty overheads above my seat to choose from.
AA usually has 2 boarding lines, one for groups 1-4 and the other for groups 5-9.
I found that when I board late, (say I'm group 4 and they're boarding group
, I just go to my 1-4 line, they interrupt the other line and treat me in accordance with my boarding group.