orbitmic

The EasyJet hand luggage rules are actually quite complex and have indeed changed multiple times, with various aspects at play:

- EasyJet plus, upfront, and/or speedy boarding were never allowed a larger bag than other passengers;

- However, in 2013, EasyJet introduced a "guaranteed hand luggage" policy for smaller bags (up to 50cm height) while authorised cabin luggage op up to 56cm "could" be tagged in the hold for free if required for space reason. BUT that guaranteed hand luggage size was removed in August 2015, so now, everyone's main piece of hand luggage has officially the same chance of being put in the hold regardless of size;

- In February last year, EasyJet allowed EasyJet plus card holder and upfront passengers a second piece of hand luggage for free. This is still not allowed for other passengers;

- Informally, in terms of the main bag, because EasyJet plus, upfront, and speedy boarding board first, in practice, they are almost guaranteed that their size compliant should be allowed on board if they insist as long as they are at the gate on time to queue before the rest and therefore board first as there will be space in the lockers by that time;

- But then, conversely, on full flights, at some airports like NCE (the example I know best), staff now approach people with everything but very small (but still authorised) hand luggage to ask them to volunteer to put it in the hold for free. When this has been done, my experience is that this is proposed just as eagerly when I am on a normal ticket or on a ticket that allows speedy boarding. Equally in both cases, when I have insisted, I have received the same answers (mixture of vague threat that if there is no space it will need to be checked in anyway and then I'll be made to pay or leaving me alone and saying ok depending on the agent, but I always managed to keep it at the end);

On your other point about what happens on quite empty flights, what you mention is very possible although I'd very much doubt that it is an actual policy but it is certainly quite possible that agents don't feel a need to enforce hand luggage rules on flights where thy know that it will not be a problem. That said, this seems to be true of most airlines I can think of, and I have effectively never really seen hand luggage carefully controlled upon boarding any empty flight by BA or AF or LX which sometimes do those checks on busy flights. That said, I'll admit that my point here is very general because in truth, I have never been on a mostly empty U2 flight, most of mine have been very healthily busy!