Aer Lingus carry on (will Delsey International Carry on fit?)

I fly Aer Lingus all the time and think their luggage rules are about the same as everyone else - from their site: "weight limit of 10kg and maximum dimensions of 55 x 40 x 24 cm. You can also bring a smaller piece of hand luggage into the cabin, such as a laptop, maximum dimensions of 25 x 33 x 20cm" That's pretty standard, what are the dimensions of the piece you are considering?

I think the hardest thing to do is meet the weight restrictions - almost all the airlines are going with 10k these days so if you bag weighs much empty you don't have much wiggle room. When shopping for new luggage I look first at how much the bag weighs. Aer Lingus doesn't have a restriction for weight for the 'personal item' so I put all my heavy stuff in that.

However, Aer Lingus specificiations for travel on's that are considered puddle jumps like Dublin to Birmingham could be more expensive, as the carry on policy is different for short flights. Found that out the hard way last Summer

Aer Lingus carry-on policy is fairly lenient compared to most other carriers.

I flew them twice intra-Europe in the past month and no one checked my bags.

There seems to be more than one Delsey piece that fits the "International" description, so maybe you should specify the model. However, the ones I found all seem to weigh about 8 lb and be 11.25 inches thick. Since Aer Lingus's limits are 22 lb (10 kg) and 9.45 inches, I don't think those bags are a very good option. They are almost 2 inches too thick; I don't think you can count on the gate crew being that lenient. And since they are hard sided, you can't squish them to fit. The Aer Lingus gate crew might cut you a break, but if they strictly hold you to the size limits, you will have no argument. Better count on checking all four.

Because they are spinners, you loose about 2 inches of height in the compartment right off. If you pack to the full 22 lb, you actually only get 14 lb of "stuff". One-third of what you are carrying is the case itself.

If you have to have a hard sided case, find one that fits the 9.45 inch thickness. Better yet, find a two-wheeled roller that will fit the thickness specs and gain the extra length. If you don't think you can make do with only 14 lb of stuff, get a 3 lb soft, backpack style bag and you can take 19 lb, or only have to carry 17 lb with the same 14 lb of stuff.

Unfortunately, Delsey is the smallest bag we've found, other than the RS one. It would fit in just about any other airline, but Amazon has 2 different measurements for this bag- One of them would fit perfectly, the other would be an inch too big. I don't know if there has been a recent redesign? It's either 9.5 or 10.5 inches

Delsey is the smallest bag we've found

Have you looked at anything other than spinners? The trouble with spinners is they are so often hard shelled (so they can stand upright). Even two wheeled bags can be flexible enough so that, if not overpacked, they can be compressed to meet thickness limits. And, there are plenty of soft bags (convertible backpacks) out there that can be compressed to fit most sizers.

Amazon has 2 different measurements for this bag

I think Delsey has their own website. Why not get the dimensions there?

Sorry, but starting out with a bag that weighs about 8 pounds (3.6 kg) empty seem like a big waste of weight allowance to me.

I just received this Eagle Creek 2-wheeled soft side bag. I was surprised to learn that its capacity is 2L more than my Lipault spinner.

According to the listings and my digital luggage scale, the EC weighs about 4.5 lbs. The Lipault is older and weighs 6.1 lbs. The newer ones supposedly weigh less than 5 lbs.

I try to keep my "big" bag down to <=20 lbs fully packed. The carry-on weight limit on one of the European airlines I'll be using this summer is 8kg (17.6 lbs). I'd love to meet that. The more common limit is 10kg (22 lbs). I know I'll meet that.

You might want to explore both Eagle Creek and Lipault for lighter bags that will meet the overall dimensions for your airline. And be aware that listings frequently only have the interior measurements, not the exterior ones with wheels and handles included. This Lipault info is a good example of the differences:

Body Dimensions: 20.6" x 13.2" x 7.9"
Overall Dimensions: 21.6" x 14.9" x 9.4"

If the Delsey is the smallest bag you've found, the I have to wonder where you are looking.

Have you taken a look at eBags?

Amazon dimensions are notorious for being wrong. EBags is usually spot on.

Do you want two wheels or four wheels? Will you be using the bag for future travel in Europe? If so, realize that Aer Lingus' carry on dimensions are actually bigger than many other European carriers.

Ebags is where we are looking. The dimensions there are smaller than on the Delsey site, and 1/2 of the bags on Amazon agree with ebags, 1/2 with Delsey. I haven't heard of Lipault so I'll give that a look. Part of it is also price- we're looking to get 3 new bags (instead of checked bags, we are going to try to pack each with our own carryon). We may or may not use it again in Europe- depends partly on how the experiment of not checking bags goes, and also on our travel budget once the girls go to college (right around the corner!)

Edited to add that the Lipault was on a good sale, so we're trying that, and ordering one of the Delsey carry ons to measure ourselves.