I recently treated myself to the Monos Hybrid Carry on Plus in champagne largely because for a 10 day trip to Italy in July, that includes transiting at LHR and some internal train travel, I want to restrict myself to manageable carry-on luggage.

Its a rather lovely looking case (so far unused) but in all honesty it might turn out to be an unwise choice for the above and other forthcoming trips. It certainly looks like it will give me enough space for the trip but the exterior dimensions of the case are 23"x15"x9.5" and BA who we are flying with allow 22"x18"x10".

We'll be checking in online and heading straight to security/gate but the risk is that if the flight is busy and I'm made to gate check it. It seems nearly everytime I fly to LHR with BA they ask for volunteers to gate check their carry on! Once I was told they needed to gate check my bag until I told them I had to remove camera equipment and batteries inside! My ticket includes a checked bag so I assume a gate check it they say it is oversized won't cost me anything extra.

Also next again planned trip am flying AF/KL and it is too big to use for my carry-on with them. Although the Monos website says its compatible with all 3 of these airlines carry on size limits I am preparing myself for the fact that my shiny £350 case gets dented on its trip (though I accept that would happen over time anyway!) Will get a protective cover to put on it just in case though am slightly balking at the £52 Monos want for their version so may look at Amazon for something.

ALSO - What happened to the days before these annoying luggage sizers when your cabin luggage was allowed to add up to a total of 115cm (or whatever it was!)?