Originally Posted by
btatting
I use a 20" Eagle Creek for my work carry-on, but for my wife wanted something a little bigger. A nice luggage store in Chicago steered us toward the 20" wide body (Briggs and Riley), and I actually prefer it to my nice Eagle Creek one for longer trips (flat bottom and a little bigger, obviously). We have never had ANY problem getting the wide body on board or loaded above in Airbii or Boeing products that fit carry-ons. Of course, see plenty of trouble for 22" bags, so my recommendation is the 20" wide body.
Thank you for this input. I too suspect if I get my fiancee the 20" wide and it has no problems -- I will have luggage jealousy. To expound on your comments, may I ask:
1) do gatekeepers etc. notice the extra width? based on the Victorinox dimensions it seems the luggage may appear more square than rectangular. E.G., squarish bags tend to be oversized garment bags etc. So I wonder if the extra 2" on the sides results in double-takes etc.? I haven't seen the luggage in person and will probably buy online from my luggage guy in NY (I live in CA now).
2) have you ever been in a situation where the width was not available in the overhead bins? where you felt even a pang of guilt because you weren't sure if there would be enough space for others? or where you had to "shove" in the 20" wide in because of bags to the left/right etc.?