Received this from my travel agent this morning. If this has been posted on FT already, I apologize.

While I certainly applaud CO for enforcing carry-on baggage restrictions and eliminating folks brining on excessively large bags - my key take away is CO is continuing to inconvenience me, the business traveler, because they imposed a fee, based on a market condition, which is longer (currently) present.

I suppose I need to take a "wait and see" on how many times I have to stuff my carry-on in the size wise before I cry bloody murder, but this is a slipperly slope.

I am, for the record, entirely in favor of giving every passenger a fixed space in the overhead bin that either they use or they don't. If their item exceeds the space allotment, into the belly of the beast it goes. And yes, I'm aware that the proportional space would probably be smaller than the carry-on restriction above.

The really bad news is that it isn't just CO. Moreover, the rules seem a bit difficult to deal with particularly for folks who have been using their "standard 22 inch bag" for years. That CO (among others) seems to be of the opinion that this is a good time to drive more revenue for their stupid fees because they aren't generating enough direct revenue just by existing just plain sucks.

ETA: I just went and measured my "normal" bag. It is the Travelpro 22" expandable and it comes in at 22x9x14. And I have never been able to fit it in one of those size-wise devices. I guess I'll start bringing a tape measure with me on trips now. Great.

I have to take an opposite tack here. It is LOOOOONG overdue for CO and the other North American legacies to fall in line with the rest of the world w/r/t carry-on baggage.

UA has had the 45 linear inch rule for carry-on baggage for ages.
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,1032,00.html

This will make boarding even more fun that it has been. I've flown CO twice since the they started charging for the first bag and it appeared more chaotic than boarding flights on UA with their similar first bag charges.

I may be wrong but it appeared that they had moved up the boarding time by 5 mins? It was a 737...aren't they normally 30 mins prior to scheduled departure time? Maybe because it was an -800? or -900 ?

If you're going to enforce the rule, fine. But the sizer boxes don't match the actual rules, at least based on my previous experiences. And, right or wrong, the change definitely looks like a cash grab. What else could it be?

I really try not to check any bags in, so always bring my Costco rollerboard and laptop bag. I've never not been able to take it as carry-on. I'm sure this rule is more of a Kettle rule. I guess I'll get to find out, as I have an intl FC flight on Nov 4th, on CO.

I use an Atlantic 21" or 22" roller bag and I am almost sure it conforms to the rules, But It does not fit into those stupid sizers they used to have at the gate. I had an arguement one with AA about this when they wanted to check my bag.

I'm all in favor of not allowing the HUGE cases on board. But.... how many delays will be caused by trying to get checked bag fees out of people who are forced to check something at the gate?

There is no indication that they will be going for cash at the gate. Yet.

It seems that the rules are going to be pushed more at check-in and at the security line. The minute the TSA or rent-a-cop sorting the elite line tries to tell me what size my bag can be will be the beginning of a very, very entertaining episode.

One thing that causes problems with 22 inch bags and the sizers is that some luggage manufactures don't include the handle, wheels, and the little feet as part of the 22 inches while the sizers do. What bothers me about sizers is that one gym type bag I use for short weekend trips won't fit in a sizer because it's more than 8 inches tall (other two dimensions 12 x 18 or somthing like that) yet it's smaller than most carry-ons, it fits in the overhead bin of an ERJ and fits under the A seat too, and GA's have never considered gate checking it on COEX flights. I think NWA had a sizer that you could hardly get a laptop into.

I will agree that too many people try to bring too much, and too big stuff on board these days.

There is rumour over that the security thread that the TSA will start playing baggage size police at the check points and send you to check the bags if they feel your's is non-compliant.

I just wanna see how the're gonna "size" my gunnysack.

Continental is making it easier and easier to switch to other airlines.

This is one of the top 5 reasons I flew Continental. The carryon size was deliberately larger than the other airlines and added to my convenience.

Yes, people say "those inconsiderate large bag people" but until now the 51 inchers were within Continental's unique guidelines. Just enough for my rolling garment bag.

Although would appreciate clarification on whether this was mandated by the TSA or not. In which case this is not a money grab by Continental, but a whole other reason to roll your eyes.

I suspect this is about two things: 1) speeding boarding and 2) reducing luggage weight/monetizing as much luggage weight as possible. As to the second part, I can understand it, but am not crazy about it. As to #1, I will offer that my typical European flight seems to load in about half the time that my typical US flight takes. It really is a breath of fresh air.

That's because years ago they, CO, changed the bin doors on the 733, 735, and 752's so you could put in a larger bag. The one bag I have, but don't use anymore, was specificly made for that larger bin (also worked with UA's modified bins). However when the 737-NG's came on line along with the 753's, they had a bin that was the old smaller size. Of course the 2008 delivered 738's and 9's have a larger bin. I thinks it's a case of blame CO for not being on the ball to make sure Boeing put in bins on the new aircraft that matched the bins they spent a lot of money to modify on the fleet that was in service.