So what do you let them take?
Small backpacks just go under the seat so there’s no point in checking this. Gate checking the bag with clothes is exactly my nightmare, of them losing it. If they would deliver it to the gate instead of the carousel, which airlines used to be more willing to do, I would like that because there’s less chance of it being lost in transit.
If there’s no room by the time you board (or no perceived room...grumbling at the dingbats who were so sloppy with their bin-bags last night) they’ll take the bags that would go in the bins. So if you’re boarding among the last, rearrange your stuff so your electronics and medications and nececessities for the flight can go in a bag that fits under the seat. Just in case.