It was 2015, but we nearly fell foul of the much lower internal flight allowances in Australia. The checkout staff were very laidback though, and just doled out big plastic bags to our party so that we could take things out of our suitcases and carry them onboard (no, it didn’t really make sense, but we were very grateful for the understanding!). We didn’t have to pay any extra.
We’d one Victor Meldrew with us who kept on and on about how ridiculous it all was, until he was told in no uncertain terms that if he didn’t put a sock in it the plane would be leaving without him. 