Is carry on baggage a pain?

Is carry on baggage a pain? Cabin space struggle?

Depends how much you pack in your bag, and airline, status, etc. Plz elaborate more on your question.

It compares favourably to checked baggage.

Carry on always beats checked in baggage on short trips (a night or two) just means I can be clear of the terminal within minutes of landing. I pack very light so size and weight are never an issue. Longer trips means more gear so checked baggage is usually the only option. The problem is when people try to take into the cabin, bags and items that clearly should clearly be checked in. That's the grey area the industry struggles with and the rule makers and airlines battle with. To be honest, some of the worst offenders I have seen are people who should know better but get away with it because airlines are too scared to upset their premium passangers. There is no easy answer.

You can also be at a disadvantage, if your bag is smallish, as other people with bigger hand luggage will jostel and move your items to the furthest corner of the overhead lockers so their stuff can fit in it.

I do HLO only, and am shocked at what some people do with their pull along/wheel along, that should be in the plane hold area under the seat in the bottom of the plane.

And it (now not so bad), but people used to carry a tonne of Krispy Kreme doughnuts into Adelaide SA, now its just even the smallest kid with their own pull along, so that will also have to go up, thus what you put up there, will ge moved.

Sometimes, people even have the gall to ask the flight attendant if they can move your item down further from you, because they need the space!

If the overhead compartments are not packed efficiently and packed in a somewhat selfish manner then I think it's appropriate for things to be moved around a bit so everyone gets to store their carry on. People need to be less precious.

I like to try to  board as early as possible to get space just for those reasons. But I sometimes close it after I put my stuff in. Most don't check until things start to get full  elsewhere. But more often then not its packed to the brim anyway. 

With the introduction of HLO fares it is often the case. 

Question is too broad and unclear. Greatly depends on airline and ticket condition. For example JQ allows plenty of hand luggage in their star class, so I very seldom to check in, just take on board two cabin size cases. Much faster on arrival.

I find other peoples cabin baggage is the pain. Haven't they heard you can check-in stuff?

Man. I hate to carry the baggage in pain! I am feeling too tired when I have to carry a lot of stuff when flying from Perth to Brisbane! It's fairly tedious! I need to start using a trolley to carry the luggage!