CarryHaulDepot

Tool one

Sizer Check

The frame at a gate cannot read a listing, so this tool does not pretend a listing can answer it. It repeats what the listing states, stamps the gaps, and hands the job back to you with a tape measure. Only 3 of the 47 listings on this site state enough for it to work with.

A stated size is the size of the body. Wheels, feet and an extended telescoping handle are not usually counted inside it, and the frame at a gate counts all of them.

1. Which kind of bag

Backpacks & Travel Packs is off: No listing in this category states a full external size, so there is nothing here to check.

2. Which listing

3. Expansion open or closed

How this tool chooses what to offer

  1. Only listings that state a full external size are offered here. A trade size such as 21 in is a naming convention, not a measurement, so it is not enough to work from.
  2. A category with no such listing is switched off, and the reason is printed beside it.
  3. The expanded option is switched off for a listing that claims no expansion, because it could not change a single line of the result.
  4. Nothing is calculated. Every figure below is repeated from the listing, and every gap is left as a gap.

What the listing states

LIGHT FLIGHT 20" Carry-On with TSA Lock

  • External size

    Stated

    22 x 14 x 9 in

    This is the body of the bag. Wheels, feet and an extended handle are not usually counted inside it.

  • Trade size

    Stated

    20 in

    A naming convention rather than a measurement. It is not what a frame reads.

  • Capacity

    Stated

    35 L

    A volume, which a frame does not measure. It is here so the two numbers can be seen together.

  • Empty weight

    Not stated

    Not stated

    No listing on this site states one. Weigh the bag yourself before you pack it.

  • Expansion

    Stated

    20 percent more, from 35 L to 42 L

    The expanded external size is not stated on any listing here, including this one.

Closed, the stated figure applies as far as it goes. The listing also states 20 percent more, from 35 L to 42 L, so there is a second, larger size that nobody has published.

Compare the numbers you measure against the figure your carrier publishes for your fare and your aircraft. We print no airline limits here, and no listing that says approved has been approved by anyone.

Measure it yourself

  1. Stand the bag on the floor, packed the way you mean to travel, with the handle pushed all the way down.
  2. Measure height from the floor up, starting at the bottom of the wheels rather than the bottom of the shell.
  3. Measure width and depth across the widest points you can find, taking in side handles, feet and any external pocket.
  4. If the bag expands, do all of it twice, once closed and once open, and keep both sets of figures.

What this tool will never tell you

Whether your bag is allowed. That is not a question a website can answer, because the figure is set by your carrier, for your fare, on the aircraft you are flying, and it changes. No listing that says approved has been approved by anyone.

The Gate Sizer

Sources