Air France Carry-On restrictions

This will certainly be at the discretion of the agent at the time. I don't think anyone can answer this for you. My guess is that it will be ok, but these things can't always be predicted.

My experience was that everything had to fit in the sizer.

Two inches easily could be a problem

Never been on AF, but I suspect the well trained eye of a gate agent can spot that big a difference.

I flew Air France in April and decided to check my bag rather than take a chance. I packed it with an AirTag so I knew exactly where it was at every moment and never had any problems. I think that because so many people are trying to bring all their luggage on board, the overhead bins are packed and the airlines will be stricter.

We flew AF last Oct, SF/Paris, round-trip, and no one ever looked at our rolling carry-on luggage.

We flew AF last Oct, SF/Paris, round-trip, and no one ever looked at our rolling carry-on luggage.

Was it two inches over the limit?

How full were the flights?

I'm flying one leg of a 3 leg trip on Air France in September. I am going in to this assuming they will measure and weigh my carry on for the last leg of my trip which is on AF. The verbiage from the AF website states:

"The maximum dimensions of your hand baggage are: 55 x 35 x 25 cm/21.6 x 13.7 x 9.8 in. (including pockets, wheels, and handles)."

I have been so obsessed with this that I DID buy new luggage but I also wanted something that was as light as I could get it.

Is your first flight on AF or will you have transited somewhere along the line to an AF flight? How many changes do you have after the AF portion? Are you willing to chance checking your luggage this year?

If you do opt to check luggage, I'd cross pack with your travel partner.

BTW, on a FB page I'm on someone posted that at a transit in Paris AF did want her to use the sizer for her bag before she boarded. Each experience is different and you may not be questioned...or you might be.

Thanks for the responses.
A friend offered her rolling bag to me for the trip and I will take her up on the offer, after I measure the bag.
With the volume of travelers headed to Italy via Paris I do expect the overheads to be stuffed before everyone is on board, thus AF will be mindful of sizes and weight.
Happy travels to all of you that chimed in!

So I flew AF from JFK-CDG last October, I did check a bag both ways b/c it was included in my fare class.

However.

At CDG, I had my little Delsey roller (like 15", but I Had stuffed it, so it was FAT), and a Samsonite foldable duffle. I had to put them both in the sizer when I left CDG (they did not weigh them) and had a difficult time pulling that fat Delsey out of the sizer, but I wasn't given a hard time about it. And my flight? MAYBE half full, I had my OWN ROW!!

So, ymmv....

Hello! We are flying Air France to Athens too, but it will be a Delta plane. The restrictions on our booking are the same you note above. I really don't want to check a bag since we change planes in Atlanta, and I keep hearing stories of lost luggage. I'm thinking of buying a new bag to be sure it meets the 21.7 inch max. Does anyone know of a specific suitcase (soft-sided with pockets) that actually meets this dimension? Thank you!

Your experience may differ from mine, but last week in SFO, Air France at the gate was neither measuring nor weighing bags. My husband’s bag slightly exceded the stated height but no one questioned it. I bought an Away bag the exact dimensions stated on the Air France website. I slipped it in a sizer in the back of the gate area myself, and I had maybe two inches to spare on height. Sizer was generous.

Thanks, Susan!

@Dorian, the Osprey Ozone meets the AF dimensions. If you scroll down to the specs you can change from US to Metric and it shows the exact dimensions AF wants.

https://www.osprey.com/us/en/product/ozone-2-wheel-carry-on-40l-21-5-OZONECO2WF22_550.html

The Travel Pro Maxlite 5 20" International meets the AF guidelines. They are shown as out of stock on the Travel pro website but they are available on Amazon.

https://travelpro.com/collections/carry-on-luggage/products/maxlite%C2%AE-5-international-expandable-carry-on-spinner

The Rick Steves 2 wheel carry on fits the dimensions but is heaviest of the 3 at 6.5 pounds.

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/rolling-carry-on

There is an absolutely scrumptious Samsonite that is available internationally and is at the Van Gogh Museum that fits the dimensions but shipping is awful (75Euro!):

https://www.vangoghmuseumshop.com/en/samsonite/259608/samsonite(R)/503453/van-gogh-samsonite-uplite-upright-55cm

Can you tell I've spent every waking hour over the last 6 weeks obsessing about this?? I also have a spread sheet....good grief! These are all soft-sided 2-wheelers. I was looking at both size and weight as I'm a solo traveler and old so want to be able to lift it into the overhead bins myself.

I used that Travelite bag for AF at CDG in 2019 and it was fine-they may not have even made me put it in the sizer.

EDITED: My husband's Samsonite carryon, given to him by AF partner Delta, was slightly too big and they made him check it. So they were checking carefully at the time.

What was your experience with carry-on rolling bag?

As you can see, no previous experiences have much relevance to what might actually happen to you two. Whether you get sized and gate checked or simply ignored appears to be random . Be prepared for your bags to be gate checked by having your personal item properly stocked to get you comfortably through a layover caused by an aircraft or personnel issue or scheduling snafu. Be brave. Happy travels.

And for sure, a half-full plane last October has zero bearing on what travel is like now.

Thanks everyone!

@Pam - thanks to your 6-week obsession (same here!), I just snagged the last Travelpro 19-inch bag on Amazon! I'm going to stop worrying about this now and just hope for the best! :)

Dorian, I love my Travelpro Maxlite 5 spinner! I've been using TravelPro for years and have always been happy with their bags.

@Kim - except the implication is that if my hand baggage was put through the sizer at CDG with a half full plane, you can bet your bottom dollar that with a full plane, they're going to do the same. That's why I mentioned the half full plane...

@ Dorian....so happy to share my obsession which now seems to be cooling since I've got a light bag in hand! SO glad you snagged the last TravelPro...what color?

I'm convinced I'm keeping the Osprey because yesterday I had lunch with a friend which involved picking up carry out lunch for us at a local Asian Restaurant. The 2 styrofoam containers of food were WAY heavier than the Ozone, which I had to carry in to her house for her to have a look, hahaha!

I just flew KLM - Air France partner with same carry-on specs - from LAX to Amsterdam. I got a Samsonite Ziplite 5 from Kohls, my first hard side. It's about 1 cm taller than the specs, but otherwise right on, and right about 6 lbs. I got it because it held a lot more than my Travel Pro Maxlite 5 Internat'l. At LAX, they weren't even looking at the bags, even though flight was full. (Just happy I wasn't one of last to board.) In 2019, leaving Casablanca, though, Air France weighed my carry-on and personal item together. I was over the 12 kg limit for the two. They made me check the carry-on even though it was within the size range. Seriously, though. If you want European sizes, the best place to buy is Europe. I looked at some cases in Amsterdam Airport. Samsonite cases were smaller and very much lighter than what is sold in US. That said, I'm happy with the one I got so far. It rolls so well, and I'm here for a month, so doing OK capacity-wise. I'm banking on no one quibbling over 1 cm in height. It did fit fine in overhead. I also like that it's expandable in case I buy anything here. I can expand it and check it for the trip home.

Air France says 55cm x 35cm x 25cm

While scanning the web for items that meet these measurements, I stumbled across the cult of Spirit Airlines, folks who can pack for a few weeks restricted to the carryon limits of 18"x14"x8", or 46x36x21cm.

Fascinating stuff. What we won't do to save $60-150. Good light packing experience, though.

We're a kooky lot.