This is bad news, friends. Following United’s lead back in March, it appears that Delta and American have followed suit and cut the acceptable size of carry-on bags from 22″ x 15″ x 9″ to 22″ x 14″ x 9″.

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First of all, I don’t understand the new Personal Item rule that just went into effect this week. Was anybody checking before? Second of all, an inch? They cut the size of carry-ons by a lousy INCH??? Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right? It is. This is why: so many luggage makers make bags specifically to adhere to the airlines’ size requirements. They want to give you the maximum amount of luggage space, so those bags are all based on the previous standard. That inch that they just shaved off is going to mean that the luggage you bought for the very purpose of fitting into the overhead bins perfectly is now too damn big.