Although I no longer fly Qantas, I used to, so:
I can never understand people who fly Qantas but insist on not checking a bag. Like, hello Qantas gives you a free checked bag, why not use it?
Because often its not needed. God invented carry-on for a reason, and if that's all you need, then then you use the amenity provided. A 'free checked bag' isn't such a novelty in Oz.
But experienced travellers aren't the ones who screw up carry-on bags, it's the FoTSGs who expect a full sized suitcase will fit in carry-on space.
If its not experienced travellers screwing up carry-on bags, then most of us here are OK, I guess
Also, not withstanding the foregoing statement about experienced travellers not checking a bag, I still do because I can't figure out how security works at Australian airports. Back in North America I can chuck things through x-ray machines, aerosols and liquids, without having to take it out of the bag. Over here it's a big deal apparently and just the annoyance of being hassled at security over something which frankly shouldn't be an issue is why I bite the bullet and check the bag.
I do admit with the introduction of full body scanners in some airports over the past couple of years, it has been a bit of a re-learning curve, and you do have the outliers like ADL which seem to make it up as they go along, but most of the time we get by. Its not as though scanning lanes are empty when you arrive, so if unsure, just do what the people in font are doing, or what the agents are saying.
That said, I guess if you always put everything in your checked bag, you'll never going to learn the carry-on rules here
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I should also point out too that the "time-savings" of having a carry on bag is negated by the time spent waiting at the gate to ensure you board first to secure overhead bin space. Having a backpack you can chuck under your seat means you get to board last and maximize the time spent in the lounge.
I'd venture to ay most people have their noses in their phones or are chatting to their traveling companion in the lounge (for the most part, the food and drink aren't worth dallying around for in Oz domestic lounges), and phone and chat can be done equally at the gate. Yes, I'm one of those who are at the gate early to ensure I can get an overhead bin right above my seat. But that's a choice I make and I'm fine with it.
But the 'time saving' in going HLO isn't on boarding, its leaving the airport (and the ever-present risk of lost bags). With bag arrival times out to 30 mins even for domestic, and God-knows-how-long for international (and real risk of rummaging at least on those), that's the over-riding and main reason I go out of my way not to check a bag if I can avoid it. At places like HBA, a delay out of the terminal means the available Ubers and Taxis have been snapped up, so its an even longer wait. Or in bigger cities, its a 30 mins buffer for traffic to get to a meeting, or 30 mins you get to your hotel earlier. I'm retired, but 30 mins is till valuable to me - I'd rather be doing almost anything rather than hanging around a carousel waiting to see if my bag appears.
