My husband and I are planning a month long trip to Europe and we are planning to fly using EasyJet and Vueling airlines to several different cities. On both EasyJet and Vueling the carry on bag dimensions cannot be larger than 15" x 8" x 21". Most bags that we have found, including the Rick Steve's Classic Back Door Bag, are 9" x 21" x 14". Will these bags still work or will we be doomed to check them and pay the fees? Has anyone had trouble using this bag as a carry on? Or can you recommend a bag that fits those dimensions? Thanks!
Alison,
I don't think you have the correct measurements. I just checked the easyjet.com website and it shows max dimensions of 56cm x 45cm x 25cm (22" x 17.7" x 9.8"). So the RS bag should be okay. Note that you can only take on 1 carryon per passenger so a purse would be counted as your one bag. http://easyjet.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4049/kw/Carry%20on/session/L3RpbWUvMTM1ODQ3NjYyMy9zaWQvNDZUa1N6Z2w%3D
They'll allow you the standard 21" rolling bag. It can be an inch + or - either way. But there are no back packs, laptop bags or purses. One bag is one bag. We had to repack and restuff our bags and they were really full. EasyJet and Vueling get much better press and words on the internet than other budget carriers, especially RyanAir.
And the airfares are cheaper the earlier you purchase the tickets online.
The best way to know you won't have a (possibly expensive) problem is to make sure your bag works. Many carriers have a metal rack at the gate that your bag has to fit, or be checked. More often than not, your bag isn't going to be checked - but it's wise to be prepared for it by staying within the limit. We flew SAS to Copenhagen. While we were in the gate area, an agent walked around looking at bags, he measured/weighed the ones that were overly full and made people check them. He also made people check their extra bag if it was more than a tiny second item. On the other hand, we flew to Spain on United and some people had three small bags, that were each the size of a full carry-on, without a word from the gate agents. A soft sided convertible bag that isn't packed too full can normally be squished to fit, even if it's slightly large. A rolling or hard-sided bag can't. If the distance between the handle and wheels is too long, it can't be reduced or adjusted to fit.