Mind your seat

As a fellow aisle sitter, I'll second that and promote it to a medium annoyance for short haul and medium high for long haul. Some of those boxes take up 1/3 of the foot space. They look like afterthoughts as you point out...to house the entertainment guts. My wife switched from a ridgid personal item bag that can fit under a unobstructed seat, to a soft sided backpack that can be compressed for that very reason.

I am surprised you are just figuring that out. But think of all the movies you can watch now.

Yeah, it stinks. And I've been on flights where the overhead bins are full of safety equipment and cabin crew luggage. I often say that sometimes it doesn't matter if your carryon/personal items meet the requirements, it doesnt guarantee there will be space for it. Checking bags is not a sin.

I will put a small bag into my personal item with small items I need like phone, AirPods, wipes, my wallet and passport, a pen, etc. and pull it out when I board and get settled into my seat. My wife wears a waist pack which usually "disappears" under her jacket with those same kinds of items. The problem is that you aren't supposed to put both of your carry-on items in the overhead bin, but if there's no room under the seat in front of you, what are you supposed to do?

Related--If I only carry on a medium size backpack that does fit under the seat, why shouldn't I be able to put it in the overhead bin so that I have ample leg room?

”And I've been on flights where the overhead bins are full of safety equipment and cabin crew luggage.”

That’s the reason why I am one of those people at the gate, standing to be on the plane as first person as soon as my section is announced. I like the aisle bulkhead seat, and the overhead bins there are the place at Comfort + where some of that luggage is often stored. And having luggage a few rows back is difficult to retrieve when we are deplaning.

@Jules M, I agree. They probably state it often because otherwise some of the less courteous travelers would put both of their items overhead.

"that you aren't supposed to put both of your carry-on items in the overhead bin"

Why not? I only take one carryon, but I have no issue with someone putting their second smaller item overhead. Rarely do I see overhead bins full (except perhaps on a budget airline which charges for checkin luggage) and if that's the case, cabin crew are hjere to assist in moving things around or finding space.

Yesterday, I took a short regional flight on Lufthansa. An announcement was made at the gate that the flight was full and not all bags would fit in the overhead. I've heard this before on other airines and usually those in the last boarding groups are asked to gate check their bags.

Not Lufthanasa. The gate agent made everyone with a wheeled bag gate check them. Some defied it and brought their bags on but most of the overheads were completely empty. However, one of the flight attendants, one of the most sullenest, unfriendliest persons I had ever met, was forcing most trying to bring a bag on board off the plane to leave it to be gate checked.

We've stopped selecting any of the bulkhead seats because there is a possibility of being displaced for passengers who require the extra space for various reasons. It's happened to us for someone who had a broken leg and we've seen it happen a number of times to others. My partner likes the extra leg space and not being trampled when others in the row need to get to the restroom. However, he doesn't like putting his personal bag overhead.

We once were transferred from good premium select seats on a canceled flight into comfort plus bulkhead seats on the next available flight. We grabbed those as we wanted to get home and who knows if premium select seats might happen in a later flight? The flight attendants put our personal bags in overheads a few rows away.

On the old SeatGuru site you could usually find out by looking for your type of plane, if you knew it, to then see at which seats the IFE boxes were located.
I’m not sure aerolopa or any of the current aircraft seat map sites give you such details….anyone know?

Last October, leaving Paris to return home to ORD-Chicago on Air France, I was required to weigh my mini rollaboard and my purse together at CDG. I was over the limit by 2 pounds and was required to check my mini rollaboard. I did not pay a fee because my premium economy ticket allowed checked luggage. I pack light, avoid checking luggage and have Global Entry ($120) so that I can avoid both long immigration wait times at ORD and no waiting for checked luggage at the carousel. If I am required to check my carry-on and wait for it at the carousel then there is no point to Global Entry. Apparently the carry-on and personal item rules depend on the departure city and airline, in this case Paris and Air France. Leaving Chicago/ORD the week earlier, I was not required to check my mini rollaboard.

I am leaving in 2 weeks from ORD on Swiss Air to Zurich. I received an invitation via email last week to "bid" on the opportunity to not have a passenger seated in the aisle seat next to my window seat. That was a "first" for me.

pj, this is why people wear vests with lots of pockets to hold heavy items-and wear their coats.

So a bag that fits under the seat, which is often discussed about sizing, is of no use when you encounter the OPs situation. I have had a flight attendant call me out for putting my underseat size bag into the overhead so it can be used by people who did not check their bag even though they should have done so. I had checked my main bag.
This is a poor design feature as I noticed recently that the leg spacing support for the three seats was not uniform. Sometimes having the legs under the arm rests, but on the aisle seats, more skewed to the (wrong) side.

@Simon. I personally don't have a problem with both carry-on pieces going up if there's room. You hear the flight attendants on the PA saying to put your personal item under the seat, and your larger piece up in the bin. That's what I was referring to when I said "aren't supposed to".