Buying new luggage: size limit enforcement checked/carry-on
Apr 12, 2022, 10:49 pm
#16
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Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
Programs: Jumbo mas
Posts: 38,629
My 2.5 cents ... So long as the hand luggage looks to be no larger than the standard roller bags, and don't have the zipper expansion in use, the odds of any gate issues if flying the US majors are extremely slim. (This doesn't include boarding near the end on a stuffed flight.). Issues arise with international partners, and DL has at least a few that can have strict enforcement, including gate sizers with scales, roving agents in the boarding area looking for potential non complaint bags, and even weighing the hand luggage during check in and giving it a tag.
May 3, 2022, 4:37 pm
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Programs: some
Posts: 8
New luggage is here. I'll post some photos, but here's a review for the carry on. This review applies to the 'Bold By Travelpro 22" Expandable Rollaboard.'
Apropos the opening post, the bag is in fact larger than the 9x14x22 size limit with the main problem being that the overall width is, without a shadow of a doubt or any wiggle room, 14-5/8" wide, because that is the width between the outsides of the hard plastic housing for the wheels, and it has no give. Whether the bag exceeds 9" thick depends on how it is packed -- lightly packed and without the gusset expansion in use, the bag can be kept to 9". The bag is exactly 22" high if the soft upper handle is gently pushed down and the main compartment is not overpacked. Once again, and apropos this thread, Travelpro does not offer a similar bag that is smaller. Within this line, they offer an essentially similar bag in a 4-caster "spinner" configuration, and a much smaller backpack without wheels. From what I remember from what we might call the "cabin luggage sizing box era," the 14" dimension was the most loosely enforced as the sizing boxes had a 9x22 (nominal) top opening, and it was up to the gate agent to look and see if the bag was sticking out above the 14" height of the sizing box. Most airlines used sizing boxes that were 1/2" or so larger than the nominal maximum size, if I recall correctly.
Anyway, I am happy with the size and shape, and consider myself duly cautioned regarding trips on Air France or on smaller craft regardless of livery.
Overall the bag is well designed and well made. There are two 3" diameter wheels recessed into the back corners. The hard, plastic fendering for the wheels extends upwards to form a slide for pulling the bag up and down stairs. The telescoping tubular aluminum towing handle stows fully inside the luggage and has a cover with a zipper so that it cannot catch on baggage handling equipment. There are two 2" straps with quick-release buckles that can provide a little compression if the bag is overstuffed, and that provide a backup if the zippers should fail.
Outside compartments -- There is a particularly well-designed phone/wallet/keys compartment, accessible from an outside zipper on the back of the bag, right between the two tubular aluminum pieces of the towing handle. This compartment is inherently well protected by aluminum tubes, utilizes space that would otherwise be wasted, and has a lightly padded lining. It also features a loop and hook for a keyring. The compartment is large enough to hold even larger phones, and due to its length, has ample space for a wallet and keys as well. On the front (opening side) of the bag there are two externally accessible compartments. One is intended for a tablet, and is so sized and has a softer lining and some padding. The other, though it looks smaller in the photo, is actually a large compartment that runs all the way to the bottom of the bag (16"), and widening out to nearly the width of the bag in the bottom half below the tablet compartment.
This leads to my first criticism of the bag, which is that there is not a suitable place for a pen, sunglasses, or other small items that may be needed during travel. They tend to fall to the elbow-deep bottom of the large outside compartment where they are more vulnerable to damage and less accessible. I may end up getting the sewing machine out and making some pen loops and velcro pockets from taffeta or ripstop nylon and sewing them in to compensate for this oversight.
On to the main compartment. The main compartment is lined. The lining is held in place by a hidden zipper and velcro, allowing it to be opened up to speed up drying of the bag should it become wet, or for repair access. There is a mesh compartment along one side of the main compartment, another mesh compartment inside the top half of the cover, and a clear vinyl compartment inside the bottom half of the cover intended for wet items. All of these have zipper closures. The zippers are orange making them easy to find and operate. The one for the side compartment is placed so that it can be accessed even while the main compartment is full of clothing. The main compartment itself has a strap with a quick-release buckle closure to hold larger items in place.
I like the use of mesh for the inside compartments, as it makes it easy to see where everything is. I think that the design of the main compartment and the smaller compartments inside it reflects a good balance as it allows enough organization that packing cubes or whatever aren't necessary (at least for my style of travel and packing), while still reserving a good deal of open space for bulky items.
My second criticism of the bag is that it uses coil zippers throughout rather than proper zippers, with, you know, teeth. The main compartment zipper has loops for a little padlock if you're into that, while the others do not.
My third and final criticism is that I don't like the luggage tag holder. It's essentially an opaque, flat pocket, open on one end, and you're supposed to slide a card into it with whatever contact info you want. There are two serious problems with this: First, it isn't secure -- the card is held in there by friction alone and could perhaps fall out, or someone with a legit reason to look at it might not put it back, or someone with nefarious intentions of one kind or another can readily replace it with their own card without attracting much attention. The second problem is that you can't see any information on the card without taking it out. You have to take the card out of the luggage to read it. There are all kinds of situations where someone trying to reunite the luggage with its owner isn't going to do that because they don't want to be perceived as tampering with the luggage. Friends or coworkers who are traveling with you may not want to pull the card out to confirm that it's your luggage especially if there are several similar looking pieces and they aren't sure which one is yours -- and they are unlikely to know that that orange ribbon or whatever is what you put on to identify it. It is easy to get separated from bags in all kinds of situations not just as a result of the airline making a mistake. I want the taxi driver to see my name and phone number right away if I leave something in the taxi. I want the airport bartender to call me by name if he's concerned about that bag in the corner rather than calling security. I want the car rental or hotel courtesy bus driver to be able to solve a mixup with minimum fuss. And if someone grabs my bag by accident I want to be able to tell them, "that's my bag, see it has my name on it" rather than argue over who uses an orange ribbon or whatever. Yes I can add a luggage tag that attaches with a strap or something but they're a nuisance.
Apropos the opening post, the bag is in fact larger than the 9x14x22 size limit with the main problem being that the overall width is, without a shadow of a doubt or any wiggle room, 14-5/8" wide, because that is the width between the outsides of the hard plastic housing for the wheels, and it has no give. Whether the bag exceeds 9" thick depends on how it is packed -- lightly packed and without the gusset expansion in use, the bag can be kept to 9". The bag is exactly 22" high if the soft upper handle is gently pushed down and the main compartment is not overpacked. Once again, and apropos this thread, Travelpro does not offer a similar bag that is smaller. Within this line, they offer an essentially similar bag in a 4-caster "spinner" configuration, and a much smaller backpack without wheels. From what I remember from what we might call the "cabin luggage sizing box era," the 14" dimension was the most loosely enforced as the sizing boxes had a 9x22 (nominal) top opening, and it was up to the gate agent to look and see if the bag was sticking out above the 14" height of the sizing box. Most airlines used sizing boxes that were 1/2" or so larger than the nominal maximum size, if I recall correctly.
Anyway, I am happy with the size and shape, and consider myself duly cautioned regarding trips on Air France or on smaller craft regardless of livery.
Overall the bag is well designed and well made. There are two 3" diameter wheels recessed into the back corners. The hard, plastic fendering for the wheels extends upwards to form a slide for pulling the bag up and down stairs. The telescoping tubular aluminum towing handle stows fully inside the luggage and has a cover with a zipper so that it cannot catch on baggage handling equipment. There are two 2" straps with quick-release buckles that can provide a little compression if the bag is overstuffed, and that provide a backup if the zippers should fail.
Outside compartments -- There is a particularly well-designed phone/wallet/keys compartment, accessible from an outside zipper on the back of the bag, right between the two tubular aluminum pieces of the towing handle. This compartment is inherently well protected by aluminum tubes, utilizes space that would otherwise be wasted, and has a lightly padded lining. It also features a loop and hook for a keyring. The compartment is large enough to hold even larger phones, and due to its length, has ample space for a wallet and keys as well. On the front (opening side) of the bag there are two externally accessible compartments. One is intended for a tablet, and is so sized and has a softer lining and some padding. The other, though it looks smaller in the photo, is actually a large compartment that runs all the way to the bottom of the bag (16"), and widening out to nearly the width of the bag in the bottom half below the tablet compartment.
This leads to my first criticism of the bag, which is that there is not a suitable place for a pen, sunglasses, or other small items that may be needed during travel. They tend to fall to the elbow-deep bottom of the large outside compartment where they are more vulnerable to damage and less accessible. I may end up getting the sewing machine out and making some pen loops and velcro pockets from taffeta or ripstop nylon and sewing them in to compensate for this oversight.
On to the main compartment. The main compartment is lined. The lining is held in place by a hidden zipper and velcro, allowing it to be opened up to speed up drying of the bag should it become wet, or for repair access. There is a mesh compartment along one side of the main compartment, another mesh compartment inside the top half of the cover, and a clear vinyl compartment inside the bottom half of the cover intended for wet items. All of these have zipper closures. The zippers are orange making them easy to find and operate. The one for the side compartment is placed so that it can be accessed even while the main compartment is full of clothing. The main compartment itself has a strap with a quick-release buckle closure to hold larger items in place.
I like the use of mesh for the inside compartments, as it makes it easy to see where everything is. I think that the design of the main compartment and the smaller compartments inside it reflects a good balance as it allows enough organization that packing cubes or whatever aren't necessary (at least for my style of travel and packing), while still reserving a good deal of open space for bulky items.
My second criticism of the bag is that it uses coil zippers throughout rather than proper zippers, with, you know, teeth. The main compartment zipper has loops for a little padlock if you're into that, while the others do not.
My third and final criticism is that I don't like the luggage tag holder. It's essentially an opaque, flat pocket, open on one end, and you're supposed to slide a card into it with whatever contact info you want. There are two serious problems with this: First, it isn't secure -- the card is held in there by friction alone and could perhaps fall out, or someone with a legit reason to look at it might not put it back, or someone with nefarious intentions of one kind or another can readily replace it with their own card without attracting much attention. The second problem is that you can't see any information on the card without taking it out. You have to take the card out of the luggage to read it. There are all kinds of situations where someone trying to reunite the luggage with its owner isn't going to do that because they don't want to be perceived as tampering with the luggage. Friends or coworkers who are traveling with you may not want to pull the card out to confirm that it's your luggage especially if there are several similar looking pieces and they aren't sure which one is yours -- and they are unlikely to know that that orange ribbon or whatever is what you put on to identify it. It is easy to get separated from bags in all kinds of situations not just as a result of the airline making a mistake. I want the taxi driver to see my name and phone number right away if I leave something in the taxi. I want the airport bartender to call me by name if he's concerned about that bag in the corner rather than calling security. I want the car rental or hotel courtesy bus driver to be able to solve a mixup with minimum fuss. And if someone grabs my bag by accident I want to be able to tell them, "that's my bag, see it has my name on it" rather than argue over who uses an orange ribbon or whatever. Yes I can add a luggage tag that attaches with a strap or something but they're a nuisance.
May 8, 2022, 2:26 am
#19
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New Yawk
Programs: Delta Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Mosaic 3, ⓥ for the animals
Posts: 477
My third and final criticism is that I don't like the luggage tag holder. It's essentially an opaque, flat pocket, open on one end, and you're supposed to slide a card into it with whatever contact info you want. There are two serious problems with this: …
you can't see any information on the card without taking it out. You have to take the card out of the luggage to read it. There are all kinds of situations where someone trying to reunite the luggage with its owner isn't going to do that because they don't want to be perceived as tampering with the luggage. Friends or coworkers who are traveling with you may not want to pull the card out to confirm that it's your luggage especially if there are several similar looking pieces and they aren't sure which one is yours -- and they are unlikely to know that that orange ribbon or whatever is what you put on to identify it. It is easy to get separated from bags in all kinds of situations not just as a result of the airline making a mistake. I want the taxi driver to see my name and phone number right away if I leave something in the taxi. I want the airport bartender to call me by name if he's concerned about that bag in the corner rather than calling security. I want the car rental or hotel courtesy bus driver to be able to solve a mixup with minimum fuss. And if someone grabs my bag by accident I want to be able to tell them, "that's my bag, see it has my name on it" rather than argue over who uses an orange ribbon or whatever. Yes I can add a luggage tag that attaches with a strap or something but they're a nuisance.
you can't see any information on the card without taking it out. You have to take the card out of the luggage to read it. There are all kinds of situations where someone trying to reunite the luggage with its owner isn't going to do that because they don't want to be perceived as tampering with the luggage. Friends or coworkers who are traveling with you may not want to pull the card out to confirm that it's your luggage especially if there are several similar looking pieces and they aren't sure which one is yours -- and they are unlikely to know that that orange ribbon or whatever is what you put on to identify it. It is easy to get separated from bags in all kinds of situations not just as a result of the airline making a mistake. I want the taxi driver to see my name and phone number right away if I leave something in the taxi. I want the airport bartender to call me by name if he's concerned about that bag in the corner rather than calling security. I want the car rental or hotel courtesy bus driver to be able to solve a mixup with minimum fuss. And if someone grabs my bag by accident I want to be able to tell them, "that's my bag, see it has my name on it" rather than argue over who uses an orange ribbon or whatever. Yes I can add a luggage tag that attaches with a strap or something but they're a nuisance.
Late to the game. I’ve traveled with the international sized Briggs (just a touch over some limits) for 15 years. I think in all that time I had a single issue on a LCC with an absurd like 7 kilo weight limit for hand luggage. Other than that, I haven’t had issues even when it’s expanded on a full spectrum of carriers/classes in the US and overseas. (And even expanded it still fits wheels first in every bin other than a regional).
To your point about identifying your bag, I just got an aluminum hard side and added a few stickers for that exact reason. I’m officially “that guy” after 15 years with a boring (but awesome), black, ribbonless Briggs.
Last edited by idayvuelta; May 8, 2022 at 2:35 am
Jun 21, 2022, 2:24 pm
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Programs: some
Posts: 8
I ended up getting some embossed leather tags on etsy with my name, phone number, and email address, that attach with a stainless steel cable which can loctite shut. It's obvious what they are, and they're easy to read up close, but there isn't enough contrast in the embossing for them to be readable from a distance. Tasteful, durable, difficult to remove or tamper with, purpose is obvious to anyone, can be read without opening anything.
Jun 21, 2022, 3:42 pm
#21
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 124
My understanding is that the idea is that people will write their address on those, so theoretically someone could find a home that didn’t have any residents in it. I doubt that’s a thing, but it was mentioned many many years ago as a reason not to put your address on your luggage tag.
Jun 23, 2022, 6:59 am
#22
Join Date: Jun 2022
Posts: 2
I've got a few suitcases all around the 62" mark. If i strap it so that it doesn't bulge as much, i can get it under 63".
I will make sure I'm under the weight limit. I know most people say they don't actually measure it but oversized baggage can incur a 250USD charge. Its easy money for the airlines but do they enforce it.
For 250USD i can go buy a half decent 62" suitcase from the airport.
I will make sure I'm under the weight limit. I know most people say they don't actually measure it but oversized baggage can incur a 250USD charge. Its easy money for the airlines but do they enforce it.
For 250USD i can go buy a half decent 62" suitcase from the airport.
Jun 23, 2022, 7:07 am
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Back in Reds Country (DAY/CVG). Previously: SEA & SAT.
Programs: DL PM 1MM, AA PLAT, UA Silver, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 10,348
I've got a few suitcases all around the 62" mark. If i strap it so that it doesn't bulge as much, i can get it under 63".
I will make sure I'm under the weight limit. I know most people say they don't actually measure it but oversized baggage can incur a 250USD charge. Its easy money for the airlines but do they enforce it.
For 250USD i can go buy a half decent 62" suitcase from the airport.
I will make sure I'm under the weight limit. I know most people say they don't actually measure it but oversized baggage can incur a 250USD charge. Its easy money for the airlines but do they enforce it.
For 250USD i can go buy a half decent 62" suitcase from the airport.
Jun 23, 2022, 7:34 am
#24
Join Date: Jun 2022
Posts: 2
The fee is there to discourage overweight luggage in the first place. Two main reasons are for the safety of the ground crew loading bags (heavier bags increase the chance of injury) and for weight and balance reasons on the aircraft. Two bags at 50 lbs are easier to balance across the available space of the aircraft versus one 100 lb bag. The issue becomes even bigger on smaller jets like RJs with a single cargo bin.
Jun 23, 2022, 9:52 am
#25
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Midwest
Posts: 66
As I've traveled more and gotten older, I'm actually regularly downsizing my bag size. With packing cubes, space optimization, and just overall prioritizing the essentials, I usually go backpack only for most 1-2 day trips and international carry-on size for 2-5 day trips. I still have a domestic carry-on size bag that I use for 5-7 day trips.
It's not for everyone, but packing light is liberating to me--it just took 15 years for me to figure that out and how to do it.
It's not for everyone, but packing light is liberating to me--it just took 15 years for me to figure that out and how to do it.