Received this from my travel agent this morning. If this has been posted on FT already, I apologize.
Effective November 1, 2008, Continental’s carry-on baggage requirement will be reduced from 51 linear inches/130cm to 45 linear inches/115cm (9”x14”x22”/23x36x56cm) system wide. To support this change and manage carry-on baggage compliance due to the new checked baggage fees, new luggage sizing boxes will be available at all domestic locations. The sizing boxes will assist customers in determining if their bags abide by Continental’s new carry-on policy.
For more information, please visit continental.com.
While I certainly applaud CO for enforcing carry-on baggage restrictions and eliminating folks brining on excessively large bags - my key take away is CO is continuing to inconvenience me, the business traveler, because they imposed a fee, based on a market condition, which is longer (currently) present.
I suppose I need to take a "wait and see" on how many times I have to stuff my carry-on in the size wise before I cry bloody murder, but this is a slipperly slope.
I am, for the record, entirely in favor of giving every passenger a fixed space in the overhead bin that either they use or they don't. If their item exceeds the space allotment, into the belly of the beast it goes. And yes, I'm aware that the proportional space would probably be smaller than the carry-on restriction above.