Luggage Size question

The only time the European sizes would pertain is if you had a leg of your trip on a European based airline. Unless you have non-stops from your US airport hub to your European hub you may encounter a leg on a European carrier like Air France, KLM, etc.

For example...In September I flew to Milan all on one ticket booked on the Delta site. My flights were Spokane->Seattle and Seattle->Paris on Delta, then Paris->Milan on Air France. I made sure my bag met the Air France regulation for carry on size and weight as some people here on the forum had indicated they'd had to put their bags in a sizer or have them weighed for an Air France leg. My particular flight was totally full, overhead bins were full but my bag was not weighed or as far as I know not "eyed" (lol!!) by the gate agents.

On the way home I flew Rome-> Atlanta, Atlanta ->Minneapolis and Minneapolis-> Spokane all on actual Delta planes so no problem.

BTW, it's the airline that sets the size/weight dimensions for their flights, not TSA. TSA sets the requirement for how much liquid you can carry on plus prohibited items for air safety.

The airline you fly with sets the limitations for the carry-on size. The height of the luggage- including the wheels- is limited to 22 inches. For flights within Europe, it’s generally 21 inches. The “ personal item”
allows you to bring more aboard. While airlines often weigh or check the size of the carry-on item, they hardly ever verify the size of the personal item. And while the carry-on has weight limitations, most airlines do not specify weight limitations for the personal item.

TSA has nothing to do with it. Airlines set their own rules for carry on. Size and weight. There is no standard for the USA and there is no standard for Europe.

There are no standards, there is no US size, no European size. There is no universal weight limit. Consult the airline you are flying with.

You may also wan to consider how you will be getting around Italy and Zurich though, and what level of burden it will be to have a larger carry-on.
Do you plan on taking any trains, for example? Depending on the train, they may have luggage racks by the door, or not at all. We took the train from the airport to Rome and it was very crowded. There was no room left for bags ( and I wouldn't have left it anyway). It sat on my lap or at my feet. I was glad it was small.

For flights within Europe, it’s generally 21 inches.

No, it's generally 55 cm in length (including wheels and handles). Since an inch is 2.54 cm, 55 cm is 21.65 inches. So a regulation US bag, at 22 inches, would technically be too long for European airlines, but their sizers might have some "wiggle room", so a US bag might not fail.

I believe the British Air maximum length is 56 cm, which is 22.05 inches.

Please make sure that none of your flights are codeshared with another airline.

Hmm…Haven’t ever heard of a 21.65” length carry-on.
But there are 21 inch carry-ons.

not everybody lives in feet and inches. The rest of the world lives in centimetres, so airlines from those countries quite reasonably make requirements in centimetres.

Well, and if you are flying those airlines that think in metric and need to buy a new bag it's better to look at the metric measurements as opposed to the standard American inch measurements.

I found when I bought my bag at the end of the summer that the inch measurement was rounded up and made it look like it would not fit. However, using the metric measurement it was exactly to the Air France standard (55cmx35cmx25cm).

And for anyone looking for luggage, always take a tape measure with you to verify the actual dimensions. Sometimes the websites conveniently forget to add the wheel length in their dimensions, or the width or depth is off a little which can make a difference fitting into an airline sizer check.

Thank you so much for all the replies and answers about luggage. Yes, we will be travelling from Zurich and all through Italy by Train only (buses when needed). We do not plan on renting a car....thoughts?

Sometimes N. American airlines codeshare with other airlines in their "group", so check very carefully which actual airlines your flights are using.
You may be surprised to see a flight run by a European airline in there.
For instance: United flights partner with Lufthansa, Delta flights partners with KLM, etc.
Some airlines care about weight over size, others are the opposite.

In any case, take bags that are compliant with the smallest requirements for carryon of all
your airlines.
In Europe, it can be 21 inches.
And don't forget that any of the sizes must include the wheels, not just the case part.
Have a wonderful trip!

Per your question of train vs car travel: it depends where you want to go. The Swiss system is unbelievably good. In Italy, it depends. For example the hill towns of Tuscany are fairly impossible by train; major cities are wonderful.

For my seven trips to Italy, staying in 30 cities-to-small villages, I’ve always just traveled by train, not car.

But, you might like a car to explore, too.

We did take a bus from Florence to Siena, and a bus from Siena to Grosseto. And I took a bus from Chiusi to Montepulciano and on to Pienza.

For our 3 week trip to Northen Italy in October, we manly used trains with no problems with the occasional bus trip to get to a final destination. Rome FCO to R. Termini express bus; Rome to Orvieto and bus up to Orvieto Centre; trains Bologna to Varenna, Varenna to Stresa, Stresa to Bolzano (bus to Castelrotto and return to Bolzano), train Bolzano to Rome (this train started in Munich) finally bus Rome Termini to Airport. The trains ran on time and provided we had at least 15 minutes for transfers at Milano or Bologna it worked. We had booked our train travel before we arrived in Italy except for Orvieto which we bought at Rome Termini on the day. For most trains, we had assigned seating.
I found that generally there was space for luggage between the back to back seats and I didn’t need to manhandle the bags into the racks.
I was glad that I didn’t have to drive anywhere.

Thank you so much for all the replies and answers about luggage. Yes, we will be travelling from Zurich and all through Italy by Train only (buses when needed). We do not plan on renting a car....thoughts?

You certainly want to make sure your luggage adheres to the airlines carry on requirements, but more importantly you need to think about schlepping those bags from one location to another, especially when using public transportation.

Living a month out of a carry on can be done, but it will require very careful packing. We did 10 days in Scotland with just the Rick Steves classic backpack bag. We also did 10 days in London and Paris, traveling the Eurostar with small carry-on roller bags. We were thankful for small bags. You should be fine on trains and busses.

Most "international" bags are made with metric measurements. When they convert that to inches they usually "round up or down." So that 55 cm bag won't show up as 21.65, it will show up as 21 inches.

Don't forget the carryon weight limit requirements on each airline. Don't forget the personal item size and weight limitations on each airline. The personal item can be the key to making a trip carryon only.

Don't forget the carryon weight limit requirements on each airline.
We flew from ATL to Toronto to Glasgow many years ago. When we got to Toronto, they asked us for our luggage. We told them that all we had was our Rick Steves backpacks as carryon. They decided to weigh them. Deb's passed, but mine was almost a kilo too heavy. The agent said: "Let me check again." This time i noticed her slyly slip a finger under the scale. The second weigh was fine!

On this trip, they overbooked and didn't have a seat assignment. When I got to the gate, I was very polite. They were just setting up and asked us to leave our documents and they would call us later. We got 3A and 3B. I was effusive in my thanks. They replied: "We appreciate your understanding and politeness, unlike the gentleman who followed and demanded to be put in First Class. You'll be pleased to know that he is seated in the back of the plane, next to the toilet."

I did a little rough math and in 20 years o have been on not less than 200 flights on not less than a dozen different airlines.

In all those flights I have had my carryon weight checked maybe twice and have never had to put ut in one of those size boxes, and never have I had it gate checked.

But still, I am meticulous in making sure I comply as its the right thing to do, and I really don't wantvthe hassle if it were to fail.

So that 55 cm bag won't show up as 21.65, it will show up as 21 inches.

In conventional mathematics, 21.65" could round to 21.6" (nearest 1/10 inch) or 22" (nearest inch, 4/5 rule), NEVER 21".

Only if you ask, "what is the nearest whole inch dimension that won't exceed 55 cm", will you get 21 inches.

"There are three kinds of people in the world, those who understand math, and those who don't."