Originally Posted by
chollie
Have you ever had a GA ask you to put a duffle in the sizer?
That's my biggest concern about a duffle style bag. I need the wheels, but I can always get a micro-mover. I just don't want to run into a strict gate agent. Seems to me that some of the airline websites are a bit ambiguous - they imply l+w+h < 45" and fit in the sizer.
I have on LCC airlines and although it has never happened to me I always remain paranoid that they will stop me for exactly the reasons you describe. I bought a cheap tape measure to carry with me as those sizer things are pox. I do wish that when you bought in stores they had a sizer instead of those waste of space tags that say "Carry-on size - but check with your carrier" ! ! ! I just went to softsided for a trip LHR-SFO and I have to say it is much easier finding space for it, but the downside is the weight on one part of the shoulder and I am not exactly a weak person, but with all the chargers, laptop etc that you carry these days it soon adds up.
For moving quickly I do prefer wheels, for storing it any kind of space in the o/h bins soft-sided is the way. To paraphrase Winston Churchill (albeit on Russia: "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key."