Anyone Use the Rick Steves Convertible Carry-on with Lufthansa?

My sister flew Lufthansa from Portland to Munich. She used a RS wheeled bag and her husband used a RS convertible bag. They made it without checking any luggage. For her "extra" item, she carried on a large toiletries bag (quite a bit larger than the one RS sells) that had all their toiletries, chargers, camera equipment in it. They did have to watch the weight limit, but they said no one even asked to weigh them.

Thanks Connie,
Considering the weather in late March/early April shouldn't be too bad, I may be able to travel light enough that the both of us could carry on. That's the ultimate goal, as we both carried on for 11 days in Italy in 2007.
But I want to be ready, just in case.

I've flown Lufthansa four time to Frankfurt RT this century, three times on the non-stop flight from Denver. The first three times were with a Rick Steves convertible bag (circa 2000). Once my wife used an RS expandable carryon. Never a problem; they've weighed my bag, but never measured it. Lufthansa has a box by the gate and I have tried my bag in it while waiting for the flight, and it always fits.

I find I get to (near) the 17.6# limit before the bag is full, so it squishes to fit any shape. As long as it is not stuffed full, you shouldn't have a problem.

My last trip I've used an Essential Carryon from Campmor. It's a inch smaller in at least on diminsion and weighs 3/4# less.

I've flown Lufthansa from Portland. They are mainly concerned with weight. My daughter and son-in-law have RS convertible bags and never had to check them. I have used both the rolling bag and the convertible bag and had to check both due to weight. My carry-on was a med backpack. Lufthansa is a great airline but their restrictions are tighter than most. Your personal item can be a small backpack.

Flew SEA-FRA June '08 with RS convertible carry-on. As it was being weighed at ticket counter, my bag was over weight limit and my daughter's was below. Quickly did transfer of items so both bags were less than 8kg. Worked fine for us; love the bags and not checking luggage. Each of us had personal bag, too. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks,
We carried on to Italy, but had a higher limit. The weather may be decent enough to go even lighter than late November in Italy, so we may be able to go all carry-on. At least that's the hope.
Now we just need to dollar to gain strength against the Euro!

I've used Ricks bags on Lufthansa for several flights into Frankfurt. Never had the size questioned. So they won't make you check it due to size limits, although sometimes they can make you check a bag that meets the size limit anyway (for example, the dreaded "all overhead bins are full" announcement).

What I would suggest to be on the safe side is put the stuff that absolutely CAN'T get lost into your daypack and carry it on the plane as your personal item. I've used the RS Civitas bag and nobody's ever given it a second glance.

I've only flown the Seattle-Frankfurt route once (last July. Our "main" carry-ons were weighed, but not the "personal items." So put your heaviest stuff in the "personal item" and you will probably be within the weight requirement on your "big" carryon.

I used a smaller carryon than the RS convertible one, so I can't say one way or the other on size, but the Seattle agents weren't putting anything in the sizer that I observed--just weighing every "main" carryon.

I'm trying to downsize my luggage and did find a smaller roll-on bag by JanSport. It is 20.5" x 10" x 13" and seems sturdy. It came with shoulder straps, which might make it easier to transport up stairs. It has only one exterior pocket. Cost was about $60. Obviously the volume is less than the 22" roll-on, but I'm going to try traveling with it. I bought the bag at Big Five sporting goods store. This bag should meet the limits of most airlines, especially if I can keep the total weight low.

We flew Lufthansa LAX to MUC with our RS convertible carry-on with no problem (Sept-Oct.2008) We were right at the limit with weight and size, but no one checked. Like you, we wanted to make sure we could carry it on, so we went to the airport a week before just to measure and weigh it, to be certain. We also carried the RS Civita bag as our personal item, again, no problem. However, we flew on Air Berlin from Rome to Munich and had to check our carry-on. In fact, everyone in the check in line had carry-on sized luggage and everyone checked them. We protested, but they wouldn't budge!

One of the reasons you may have had to check the bags on Air Berlin is because they have a 6 KG (13.2 lbs) weight limit for carry-ons.

I don't think I'll have any trouble making the 17.6lb limit. On today's flight, I put in jeans and some more wintery items and it came out to 14lbs. I also had plenty of room for more stuff. My normal travel pants are much lighter than the jeans I brought.
Thanks everyone for the help.