Advice Needed for Airline Carry On Luggage

[Richard4444]

Hi All
I know the new Carry On dimensions are 9"x14"x22" There seems to be some confusion as the 22" height including the wheels but not the handle. Any recommendations from the gang for a good carry on ?

Much thanks,
Rich

 

[2017ish]

This was a good December 2015 Consumer Reports article on this topic: When Carry-On Luggage Isn’t Carry-On Size - Consumer Reports

Airlines care about the full footprint of your bag. The exterior dimensions include the wheels, the handle in the retracted position, and any other projections. It all takes up space in the overhead bin, so it all counts.

They discuss particular bags.

 

[Scuba]

Check out the Eagle Creek Tarmac 22". Best carry-on we've ever owned. After using them for several months, we got rid of all our other carryons. A little pricey but worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[tulak]

Costco Kirkland Luggage. For $99 it can't be beat, IMO.

 

[audreyh1]

Check out the Eagle Creek Tarmac 22". Best carry-on we've ever owned. After using them for several months, we got rid of all our other carryons. A little pricey but worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Hmm - it exceeds the dimensions according to Consumer Reports.

Even carry-ons from companies that topped the list for durability and ease of carrying in our survey of luggage brands showed inconsistencies between the marketed and our measured dimensions.

• The Eagle Creek Tarmac 22 Wheeled Carry-On ($290) is marketed at 22 inches high x 14 inches wide x 9 inches deep. In our lab, it measured in at 22.25 inches high x 15 inches wide x 8.5 inches deep. That could be too big to bring onboard.
• The Briggs & Riley Baseline Domestic Carry-On Expandable Upright ($499) is marketed as 22 inches high x 14 inches wide x 9 inches deep, but it measured in at 22.5 inches high x 14.5 inches wide x 9.25 inches deep

.

Even one Krkland brand exceeded dimensions according to that Consumer Reports article. Looks like luggage companies are are really flubbing this!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Try the weekender from eBags. That's my carryon and it is wonderful. Sturdy and inexpensive, and there is usually some kind of sale or discount going on with them all the time.

 

[athena53]

+1 on Eagle Creek- ours have been everywhere and still look great.


I haven't been on a plane for nearly a year now, but I've never agonized over the bag dimensions. In my experience (and I used to be on a plane at least once a month), I've never seen an airline employee pull out a tape measure or even use a "size-wise" container. The templates they used to stick in front of the X-ray machines are gone (it's not the TSA's job to enforce luggage restrictions anyway).


In my experience they're hyper-vigilant about the one bag/one personal item rule and they will make you gate-check anything that's obviously too big. Other than that, they tend to allow carry-on of anything that's a reasonable size and then gate-check everything after the overheads get full, which means that Elites and First/Business Class types (and those who otherwise get early boarding) are held to somewhat more relaxed standards.


Are they really enforcing the maximum dimension rules these days?

 

[Bamaman]

I've been noticing that many world travelers are using Travel Pro luggage. We purchased (on Amazon.com) a couple of new 21" rollers online that weigh substantially less than most comparable bags @ 6 1/2 pounds. And they're priced reasonably.

On our trip to Italy/Greece/Turkey this Spring, I could feel the difference in weight. Using Rick Steves' packing list (with mods), our bags were about 12 pounds--substantially less than previous trips.

TJ Maxx and Tuesday Morning are also great places to purchase luggage cheap--with many fine brands.

 

[Richard4444]

Thanks All - Much appreciated !!

Rich

 

[brett]

We have been doing carry on only for a number of years. Does not matter if it is seven days or three months.

We have had a few. Now, only 2 things concern us. First is the actual size. We bring a tape and measure ourselves. Second is weight. Some airlines, especially the discounts in Europe and SE Asia have a weight restriction. Our experience is that they do not often check but you never know. Plus, sometimes we have to carry our bag up two or three floors in Europe. We have a small luggage scale and we check the stated weight against the actual weight.

Our travel is trains, rental cars, cruises, air etc. So we want something that is light and has good wheels (needed for cobblestones). Looking for a replacement now. Have come to the conclusion that for us, we travel 4-5 months year, the unit should be frameless, have good wheels (two) and weight about 4-4.5 lbs max. Plus good zippers. Don't care about the rest because we do not check them and they are not subject to rough treatment.

 

[timo2]

I have the CIAO brand under seat bag I bought at Costco. (not Kirkland) under the seat carry on. it fits under some seats and not others. on one plane it fit under the window seat, on another it didn't. on some planes it fits under the aisle seat, on others it doesn't. Once I had to switch from the window seat to the middle seat so my Ciao (not kirkland) bag could fit under the seat. I'm leery of using it now unless it is the only bag I'm carrying on.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I have used this bag FOR YEARS and it has taken a beating. It's quite favored in the airline crew world...it is truly one of the best bags. They also have most parts available for it, so you can make repairs (I have never had to repair mine). It's not a cheap bag...but it's about the best you can buy.

http://www.crewoutfitters.com/brands/luggageworks/pnt-stealth-22.html

Sent via mobile device. Please excuse any grammatical errors.

 

[ivinsfan]

We have been doing carry on only for a number of years. Does not matter if it is seven days or three months.

We have had a few. Now, only 2 things concern us. First is the actual size. We bring a tape and measure ourselves. Second is weight. Some airlines, especially the discounts in Europe and SE Asia have a weight restriction. Our experience is that they do not often check but you never know. Plus, sometimes we have to carry our bag up two or three floors in Europe. We have a small luggage scale and we check the stated weight against the actual weight.

Our travel is trains, rental cars, cruises, air etc. So we want something that is light and has good wheels (needed for cobblestones). Looking for a replacement now. Have come to the conclusion that for us, we travel 4-5 months year, the unit should be frameless, have good wheels (two) and weight about 4-4.5 lbs max. Plus good zippers. Don't care about the rest because we do not check them and they are not subject to rough treatment.

Are you talking about a rolling duffel bag? Let us know if you find one. I'm in the hunt for something like that for a fall trip to England.

 

[bltkmt]

DW and I each bought the 22" REI Wheely Beast recently (ugly colors are on sale) and just used them for a week trip to Utah. Very nice quality and easy to maneuver.

 

[tulak]

Even one Krkland brand exceeded dimensions according to that Consumer Reports article. Looks like luggage companies are are really flubbing this!

I recommended this suitcase earlier, but now that I think about it, I don't think we ever carried it on the plane. My opinion/advice should be disqualified for this thread.

I don't mind the hassle of waiting for luggage and I don't want to deal with liquid restrictions for carry-on baggage. If I was to go carry-on I'd still try to go with the Kirkland suitcase, especially if you're not
going to be lugging it around. Otherwise, e-bags might work well. Even though for our current trip, we returned an ebags suitcase (21" duffel) because it was too small (and too many little pockets, which we don't like) for a Kirkland suitcase.

 

[LOL!]

Try the weekender from eBags. That's my carryon and it is wonderful. Sturdy and inexpensive, and there is usually some kind of sale or discount going on with them all the time.

I agree. Don't pay more than $70 shipping included for a carryon. The TLS motherlode weekender comes in two forms: roll-a-aboard or backpack. The backpack version that I have fits in the overhead compartment of a regional jet sideways and into a 737 end-on. I can post a photo if you like.

 

[akck]

Are they really enforcing the maximum dimension rules these days?

From my experience, as long as it fits in the overhead bins, it's okay. They seem more restrictive on number of carry-ons per passenger, but if the plane isn't full, they'll let it slide.

 

[rodi]

I have similar requirements as Brett. 2 wheels are better than four for cobble stone streets. The weight of the EMPTY bag matters for low cost carriers with highly restrictive baggage weight allowances (hello Ryanair).

Also some of those same low cost European carriers restrict to 20" (not the generous 22" here in the USA.)

For this reason we have 2 Briggs and Riley baseline 20" bags (non expandable version) and for our trip last summer added 2 Briggs and Riley BRX bags 20".

As for getting busted for oversize luggage - I was challenged 2 weeks ago at Newark coming back from our East coast trip. All 4 bags (family of 4) passed the sizer check at the gate... and lots of bags were gate checked for other people. It was a United flight if that matters.

Technically the BRX is 2 inches 2 wide - but we weren't challenged on that. It's shorter and squatter. It also has expansion zippers - and would NOT pass the sizer if it was expanded.

The key is to travel light. Ladies - pick your shoes before you pick your outfits... then match the outfits to the shoes. Shoes are the bulkiest item so if you can limit to 2 pairs (1 worn, 1 packed) you have plenty of room for other stuff. And make sure every item can be worn multiple ways. As a family of 4 we did 9 weeks of travel with carry on luggage (daypack and roller each). So glad I didn't have big suitcases to lug onto trains, schlepp on the metro or the tube or the bus, etc...

edited to add:
I went on the briggs-riley.com website and found a link to the July consumer reports - they were rated the highest. We have experienced their warranty response - had a compression/expansion thingy be less than wonderful - they replaced/repaired it at no charge.

Baseline (but wait for a sale -we did NOT pay this price)
http://www.briggs-riley.com/shop/international-carry-on-expandable-wide-body-upright

BRX (again - wait for a sale)
http://www.briggs-riley.com/shop/explore-expandable-commuter-upright

http://www.consumerreports.org/luggage/best-luggage-brands-consumer-reports-survey/

 

[brett]

ivinsfan...that is what I want. Rolling duffle, good wheels (2), good handle, light weight. Still looking. Have looked at a few but so far anything we have seen looked like it would disintegrate if we glanced at it sideways. My old red one has many miles and is due for a replacement. We both take a carry on, I have a small backpack for my ipad and glasses. That is it for us, plus dw's purse.

 

[Bestwifeever]

+1 on Eagle Creek- ours have been everywhere and still look great.


I haven't been on a plane for nearly a year now, but I've never agonized over the bag dimensions. In my experience (and I used to be on a plane at least once a month), I've never seen an airline employee pull out a tape measure or even use a "size-wise" container. The templates they used to stick in front of the X-ray machines are gone (it's not the TSA's job to enforce luggage restrictions anyway).


In my experience they're hyper-vigilant about the one bag/one personal item rule and they will make you gate-check anything that's obviously too big. Other than that, they tend to allow carry-on of anything that's a reasonable size and then gate-check everything after the overheads get full, which means that Elites and First/Business Class types (and those who otherwise get early boarding) are held to somewhat more relaxed standards.


Are they really enforcing the maximum dimension rules these days?

+1. DH's carryon is pretty big when he travels, plus it has that zipper to make it bigger, and he's never been asked to check it whether international or domestic. No big deal if he had to gatecheck it--our luggage has been lost only when checked pre-security at the counter, but never from gatechecking (now I've just jinxed that). Gatechecking is usually free, too, for those of us who aren't whatever it is you need to be to get free baggage checking.

I use a little semihard-sided roller bag I got from Amazon for maybe $70? It has a random designer label on it and ut's lightbgray, so easy to see in the baggage claim carousel when I've chosen to check it. I carry on a biggish fabric tote that I throw my little crossbody purse in--DH takes a computer bag. He's terrible about banging into people if he has a backpack so it's better for all concerned.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I agree. Don't pay more than $70 shipping included for a carryon. The TLS motherlode weekender comes in two forms: roll-a-aboard or backpack. The backpack version that I have fits in the overhead compartment of a regional jet sideways and into a 737 end-on. I can post a photo if you like.

Yep, that's me, too. I chose it because I wanted the convertible backpack feature.

But our OP says he is a roller man, and it is easier to convert an "under" on the toilet paper roll to an "over" than it is to get a roller bag person to see the wisdom of our backpack straps. And, of course, vice versa!

 

[2017ish]

I agree. Don't pay more than $70 shipping included for a carryon. The TLS motherlode weekender comes in two forms: roll-a-aboard or backpack. The backpack version that I have fits in the overhead compartment of a regional jet sideways and into a 737 end-on. I can post a photo if you like.

I see it at $85 Amazon and 90 at ebags--do they go on sale fairly often?

(No hurry for me, but we have been discussing going with a pair of good backpack bags after retiring and doing some non-dive vacations where we can actually do single carry-on bag.)

 

[kevink]

We've been world travelers for many years and are firmly in the carry-on only camp. Wheelies are really only viable for very limited first-world travel and not so great even then as the weight of the frame and wheels is considerable. Forget about wheels in the third-world: you don't want to be rolling through what's on the unpaved streets in India, Mexico, etc. and when you start dealing with airlines that strictly enforce not just size but 10 kilo (22 lb.) weight limits you don't want a third of your allowance eaten up by unnecessary hardware.

We rely on our Osprey 46 bags:

https://www.rei.com/product/870903/osprey-porter-46-travel-pack

Did a 5 month trip in Asia with these a few years ago with total pack weights of 22-23 lbs. and could have packed lighter. And we couldn't have gotten half as good at traveling light without the One Bag site and its packing list:

Using A Packing List :: One Bag

 

[RunningBum]

From my experience, as long as it fits in the overhead bins, it's okay. They seem more restrictive on number of carry-ons per passenger, but if the plane isn't full, they'll let it slide.

The problem is, some of those bags really don't quite fit, so people will try, and then turn them sideways, and sit down happy that they got their bag in, not concerned that they are taking the spot of a second bag.

Or, it doesn't fit, and they delay take-off because the bag has to be checked. Just trying to wedge it on slows down the boarding process.

I could go on, but I don't want to turn this into the current beach chair thread. I do wish the airlines were more stringent on the sizes. Depending on the flight sometimes I will upgrade just to get early boarding so that I can get my normal size bag on and sit and watch the mayhem.

I also wish that airplane manufacturers could find better ways to increase storage. In some cases they do, but they are also taking away some floor space with entertainment system hardware under some seats.

 

[timo2]

T.

I could go on, but I don't want to turn this into the current beach chair thread. I do wish the airlines were more stringent on the sizes. Depending on the flight sometimes I will upgrade just to get early boarding so that I can get my normal size bag on and sit and watch the mayhem. .

So you can carry on beach chairs to keep them away from others?