MiraculousM I respectfully disagree. I would accept
the argument that pax with status shouldn’t necessarily be treated differently to those without in this case, but pax in the forward cabins have paid for and expect preferential treatment. It is irrelevant whether they have paid for the flight themselves - in my case I was using hard-earned Avios to travel in CE and treat myself on a long flight. If companies have paid, then one can surmise that the expectation is that their staff will be off the plane with their cabin baggage promptly and on their way to adding value to their organisations.

The Club experience includes priority boarding, food, drinks, a better crew-to-pax ratio and there is IMHO an expectation of preferential treatment when it comes to cabin baggage. So if I have paid (one way or another) to travel in Club then I do consider myself “more important” than passengers in Y.

I’m not going to act like a tool, or push people out of the way to board, but I have chosen to be at the front of the bus, I’ve paid for it, and I expect to have my carry-on with me. There are fewer seats per row in Club and so logically there should be more space for bags. If there isn’t, however, then I do think that passengers in Club should get priority over those in Economy. I am quite certain no other airline would dream of asking business class passengers to gate-check bags.

I don’t think that makes me DYKWIA. I’ve paid for an experience and I expect to receive it. Having my bag with me is part of that experience.