Originally Posted by
br2k
Ryanair sized bags would be too small for US carriers (and also, technically, too wide in one dimension - although no one checks here). Since the trip is for 3 people, that means 3 bags that are too small to be useful for most of our travel, while tripling the price of the tickets (that and my bag collection is getting pretty extensive, something will need to be discarded).
FWIW our carryons traveled on Ryanair last year, but it was just one flight and I am not sure how representative that was.
They are more lax than previously, but you do occasionally see them checking.
I have a rucksack specifically for Ryanair travel. It measures 50x40x20 when full and only cost around £15. Main advantage is that it can be folded down when no longer needed. I'm sure you can get something similar in the US at a similar price?