Originally Posted by docbert

...Not that many years ago, the FAA had a specific stated exception that a camera bag was allowed in addition to whatever the airline allowed, and I traveled multiple times on US airlines with 3 bags (roller, backpack and a camera bag). A few times I had airline staff pull me up, but every time I just said it was a camera bag and they were fine with it. Unfortunately that rule disappeared more than 5 years ago.