IT'S a REAl ALARM
It's not a false alarm, they ARE clearly moving into a more stringent policy and they announced it as such when I was connecting through LHR this weekend. A BA GA walked by and asked me to bring my bag over to have it checked to see if it exceeded their restrictions.
I have a standard Samsonite hardcase carryon that fit into their measuring box EXCEPT for the wheels which prevented it from sliding in. I showed them that it was fine widthwise since it slid in very smoothly when I held the case upside down. The length was also fine as I lined my bag up with the box and showed that it was 2 inches shorter than their frame. It was the wheels that prevented it from sliding into the little box area (by around 1 inch) and they said, "Madame, this bag is much too big." "But it's just the wheels, the suitcase itself doesn't exceed the measurements." They were enforcing this rule rather hap-hazardly and they allowed several people with huge bags (relative to mine anyway) on without any questions, seemingly recognizing them as business travelers. I heard one GA tell another, "he is flying business" when she saw the other start to approach him.
Mind you I was wearing a skirt, heels, and a belted linen jacket but it didn't matter to them that I might also be traveling for work and this might be a real pain for me to check this. I was so annoyed to board and see that the overhead bins would have easily fit my bag, no problem, even with the wheels, widthwise.
Anyway, now my question is, if they also enforce this in IST on my way back, will I be forced to claim my luggage at LHR or will they put it through AA to ORD? The answer makes a big difference regarding what kind of gifts to bring back since if I have to check anyway, I'm willing to buy some fragile items to carry on.