Carry-on sizes

It depends on each specific airline. You'll need to look at each airline's individual baggage rules. For example, British Airways allows one bag at 22in x 18in x 10in (56cm x 45cm x 25cm). Lufthansa is 21.65in x 15.75in x 9.06in (55cm x 40cm x 23cm). Lufthansa also states the weight of the bag must not exceed 17.64lbs (8kg).

And you can't add handle length or wheels to those figures. They are all-inclusive.

Many airlines have you put your bag in a rectangular sizing box. If it goes in - all the way - it goes. If the handle sticks out, or the wheels, or it nearly fits - it goes in the hold and you pay.

Jeff,

As the others have mentioned, you'll need to check the website of the airlines you'll be travelling with, as the carry-on sizes often differ a bit between them. Which airlines are you thinking of using?

It will depend on the type of bag.

If you are talking about a wheeled bag, with a rigid frame, then you need to be wary of each airline's limit.

If you are talking about a non-wheeled, soft sided bag, and you don't pack to the max, you could probably make it fit into the sizer.

I sometime travel with a soft sided bag that is 22 x 14 x 9 and have never had a problem.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/carry-luggage-isn-t-carry-140258488.html

Consumer Reports has an important heads-up: Carefully measure any
carry-on bag before you buy.

The reason? You can’t always rely on the product dimensions found on
the bags’ hangtags or on a seller’s website to determine whether a
piece of luggage is carry-on-compliant. It has to be 22 inches high x
14 inches wide x 9 inches deep for domestic travel on three of the
biggest airlines—American, Delta, and United—for instance. Other
airlines have different carry-on rules.

How Do the Bags Measure Up? We found that nine out of the 11 models we
measured were larger than claimed by the manufacturer.

Even carry-ons from companies that topped the list for durability and
ease of carrying in our survey of luggage brands showed
inconsistencies between the marketed and our measured dimensions.

It also depends on the plane if you are talking about intra-EU flights. Many carriers still use Avro RJs which have very limited overhead space. Any hard sided luggage is checked.

DJ

Jeff,

Which airlines are you thinking of using? One other point to mention is that some of them have a ONE carry-on bag rule, which they usually enforce to the letter. That doesn't mean "one plus a personal item", it means one only!

THIS is an extreme example of a passenger who thought the ONE bag rule didn't apply to him.