Carry on luggage restrictions - so confused on what to buy

No, I haven't flown KLM. I have flown Lufthansa (many times), which has strict size and weight limits and a "sizing box" by the gate. I have an Essential Carryon by Campmor (currently on half price sale for $30). At 21" x 13" x 9", it's sure to meet KLM's carryon size regulations (21.5" x 13.5" x 10"), and it's empty weight is only 1¾ lb, which gives you plenty of packing weight to the 12 kg (26.4 lb) limit.

I bought my daughter a bag from Tom Bihn because I knew she would be flying with various non-US carriers and I wanted to be sure it would fit. It is a high quality and not inexpensive bag but has served her well on various flights. We ended up buying 2 for ourselves as well. It is certainly made for the light and efficient packer. On a recent flight from new York, when it was announced that the overhead bins were full and everyone still in line had to check their "legal carryon size" bag I was still able to carry mine on because it was small enough to fit under the seat. There are a few bags on their site that say they meet all domestic and international standards.

Karen, it might be helpful to others if you told us which exact bags you bought for your daughter and yourself.

As a US Air Traveler for years I only did carry-on, sometimes 2-3 times a week. My bags were pretty worn! Yet when we moved to Europe, I found that one of my standard US carry-on's was far larger than the many budget air carriers in Europe would allow. (See this article on recommeded carry-on roller bags): The Best Roller Bag is..,. In my experience, KLM has always been pretty relaxed (at least out of FCO). Time of day may have impacted the process for us. We seem to always have flown KLM from FCO-AMS and then on to the States. Our FCO flights left at 06:20. Last week, I checked 23 kg (limit was 20 kg) and carried on 16 kg (limit was 12). I had plenty of wine and EVOO packed in my checked bag. All my clothes were in my carry-on. This was on Cimber Sterling. As I stood in line - nervously - I noted that the desk person on the left was fairly indifferent, while the person on the right was following all the rules, including tagging and weighing carry-on's. I headed LEFT and got all my bags handled with no extra fees, no weighing, and no tagging. I had no issues at the gate or on the plane. If you were only flying to and from the States, and connecting, then the over-the-pond rules apply to your flights. But since you have separate flights, it's a different story and you're subject to the airlines RULES for each unique flight. So I think you're wise to read the airlines' websites and then buy something that meets all your different flights' requirements. That all said, you'll be amazed at how much luggage folks in Europe carry-on, often exceeding any rules or standards. Good idea to get on the plane early or you may not have a place for your carry-on.

Thanks so much for all the helpful comment. The experience of others means a lot. I have conditionally opted to "walk the line" and ordered an Antler Duolite 21.7 x 13.8 x 9 which is just under 5 lbs and as a hybrid I hope will squeeze thru. The weight tipped the balance. Of course, I have not packed yet and may change my mind. I am going to check in online and we hope to get there early. Not on vacation till we do. Now I am trying to understand the spare battery restrictions. My canon eats them so I carry several (5) and a laptop type external battery for my Ipad. Does anyone know what the heck "100wh to 160wh" translates to in American ratings? Google is not helpful.

Frank II - you're right - I should have mentioned the bag name from Tom Bihn. We got the Tri-Star, but they have several others including the Western Flyer that will meet international Guidelines. They caution you though that you cannot "overstuff" these bags because then they distort the shape and it may not fit. The thing I've found is that these particular bags are quite tight (unlike the Campmor Essentials which I bought for my son - it is very loose) and so it is actually difficult for you to put more in it than you should. It does make us pack smarter.

I just realized that I forgot to mention that my backpack days are behind me. With lumbar disk issues, I must stick to wheeled carry on. Unfortunately the luggage world seems to think that 7.5 lbs is lightweight...and it is because most wheeled carryon turn out to be are 8-10 lbs. I will update when I get the 4+ lb. Antler wheeled carryon.

Does anyone know what the heck "100wh to 160wh" translates to in American ratings? I'll have a go. I'm surprised that the man from Vernon hasn't pipped me to the post. Electrical and electronic equipment will use a certain amount of power when in use. If you had, for example, a 100 watt light bulb, whenever it is switched on it will consume about 100 watts of power. If it was on continuously for one hour that would be 100 w times 1 hour or 100 watt hours or 100wh. Or, if it were 50 w, and left on for two hours the math would still show a use of 100wh. If you had a small piece of electronics which used 10w and a battery with a capacity of 100wh the amount of time you might hope that battery would be good for would be in the region of 10 hours (100/10=10). If you used a battery with a capacity of 160wh you might hope for 16 hours. (160/10=16). These have to be guidelines because of many factors. Batteries get memory and if not recharged correctly may give less capacity than quoted. You may use the dimmer button and use less energy than planned, or put the speakers and screen on max and use more. I hope this is what you are looking for, and I hope it helps. BTW - you may also run across the term mWh which is milli-watt-hours for low energy use devices. A milliwatt is a thousandth of a watt. The math works the same way. You may also see VA. That is volt amps. Watts are volts times amps so in the previous example it could have been 100VAh and the meaning would have been the same. OK?

My daughter and I both have Rick Steves' 21" Roll Aboard and flew round trip with KLM from SFO to A'Dam and back and took our Roll Aboards as carry on with no problems. In addition, we each had a day back pack that served as our purses.