You are joking, I hope.

There are many good reasons passengers carry on their conforming size luggage.

I do not recall reading that the OP "insisted" he bring carry on luggage aboard. I assumed he is like many who fly, he prefers not to check his luggage which is a right of any passenger (cake or no cake).

Even if he selected a seat in the back of the airplane, there is no guaranty that he would find an open space in the overhead bins by the time he got to the back of the plane.

I think the OP assertions are logical and reasonable. However, to advise him to check his luggage or sit in the back of the aircraft is not reasonable.
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Don't see how you could do much about it, being stuck 15 rows back in an aisle clogged with passengers :D

Got to agree 1000% on this. Common courtesy, if it even exists, seems to be left at the entrance to the airport.

Aside from TSA, the #1 reason I hate to fly these days is because of the rudeness of passengers.

OK here are some suggestions I am sure most Road Warriors here wont like;

1. Dont allow any Rollerboards to be carried on. Must be Checked or Gate Checked. (Gate Checking will avoid Checked Bag fee if not elite, but will delay you getting into the concourse)

2. If issues continue with problems with the Overheads, allow the airlines to place locks on them & charge for their use. This will greatly eliminate all carryons except for purses & small bags that can be placed in the seat in front of you. (Also would love to see barriers on the front of the seat preventing the person from sitting in it from placing anything under them)

Remember TSA would probably love to have more stuff go into the belly where they can screen it behind the scenes instead of bunching up the Security checkpoints.

Besides the relative anonymity of the linear boarding process, it's precisely those kinds of chest-beating hollow threats that keep most sheeples from confronting abusers of the system.

I rarely check bags unless we're going on a long trip or a cruise. I have lifetime Gold on AA (free baggage) and may have higher status on AA.

What about the person who has valuable stuff? Checking isn't recommended because the airline won't cover the loss on certain items. Good luck getting any compensation if one doesn't have any/much status with an airline. Not to mention having to wait for the luggage in baggage claim.

As for putting bags in front & sitting in the rear, I don't have nice words for people doing that. :td: (writing the words in the post would violate the TOS of FT ;)). If there is no bags in my area but there is space further in front of the aircraft, I would ask the FA if putting the bag there is OK. If not, it gets gate checked.

It would be your last act of defiance.:D

rjw242 is right: Don't see how you could do much about it, being stuck 15 rows back in an aisle clogged with passengers :D

I am one of these people who is prone to putting my laptop bag in a forward compartment if in see the space. Its funny as I have felt a little cheeky lately doing it, but flying the route I do a lot (DUB-CDG on Bae 146) I just know from experience that there will be little or no room by the time I get on (I like to board last if in Y!)

Its the long-haul flights when I see people boarding with roll-on, carry on & duty free bags that do my head in. They must be carrying 30+k of hand-luggage and nothing is ever said. Very frustrating when disembarking after 10+ hr flight and its takes someone 3min to to take all bags from the overhead bin:mad:

What do you call a collection of "ROLLABOARD"?

You cannot be originally from Southern California with such a reasonable attitude or maybe those self obsessed people I met in Socal are from somewhere else.

Myself, I cannot understand why anyone would want to put their carry on in an overhead at the front and then sit at the back. I like to keep my carry on in an overhead close to me so that I can ensure nothing gets nicked from it.

On a flight where someone put their bag toward the front only to have it backfire in a major way. The flight was a heavily delayed and everyone was rushing to leave, flight attendants frazzled, and tempers very short. Toward the end of boarding, the overhead bin about 10 rows up would not shut due to an oversized bag. FA made several announcements asking the owner to either help shift the bag or gate check it or else the flight goes nowhere. No one stepped forward and you began to hear all sorts of less than kind comments.

Finally a Type-A personality about 5 rows behind stood up and announced that if the owners did not do something he would. After a minute he shouted, "Alright, that ***fornicator*** is coming with me." He runs up, yanks the bag out of the bin, holds it up like the Stanley Cup and brings it forward. Suddenly, the girl seated beside me turns white as a sheet and starts muttering, "Oh ***poop***" over and over. Seems her boyfriend got sick of toting around the bag and stuck it into the first open bin he saw while boarding.

As the guy returns to his seat, people are cheering, clapping and giving him high fives. The girl and boyfriend then bury themselves in the UA Hemispheres magazine to hide their shame. To their chagrin, the next announcement was for the owner to claim the gate check ticket. After a minute, I turn to the guy and tell him, "Man up and claim it." He reluctantly gets up and goes to the front to take the claim ticket. The entire cabin fell dead silent as the boyfriend walked like he was on the "the green mile" to the electric chair.