Actually, handing the case to them at the gate and having it stowed below at that time is NOT the same as checking it with baggage at the ticket counter. For one thing, it will actually get put on the plane you are getting on, not get mixed up among all the trains of carts going around the airport, and it will be put in as one of the last tiems stowed, not tossed about by handler eager to fill the back of the plane first (crunch, crunch, as other items land on top of it), and MOST important (I think) is that you get it handed back to you at the gate when you land.

~Susan