Luggage, answered

The industry standard is 22 x 14 x 9 inches (56 x 36 x 23 cm), including wheels and handles. Most US airlines use this limit, but budget and international carriers can be stricter. See our carry-on size guide.

Roughly 55 x 35 x 20 cm (about 21.5 x 13.5 x 8 in) and under 7 kg clears almost every carrier. Check the exact limits in our carry-on size by airline table.

Hardside protects fragile contents and wipes clean; softside is lighter, flexes to overstuff, and adds external pockets. Neither wins outright — see our hardside vs softside guide.

It depends how you travel: Travelpro for frequent flyers, Samsonite for a reliable hardside, Delsey and LEVEL8 for value and design. See the field ranked in our best carry-on luggage roundup.

Polycarbonate — it flexes under impact and springs back rather than cracking, and it is lighter for its strength. ABS is cheaper but more brittle. Full breakdown in our materials guide.

For a bag you will use often, $130–200 buys a durable carry-on with a real warranty — the sweet spot. Below about $80 you are buying an ABS shell for occasional use; above $300 you are paying for professional-grade durability or a premium brand.

Usually yes — a matched set almost always costs less than buying the same pieces separately. Judge it on per-piece value and whether you will actually use every piece. See our best luggage sets roundup.

Softside bags are lightest — the Travelpro Maxlite 5 is around 5.4 lb, among the lightest full-size carry-ons made. See more in our lightweight carry-on roundup.

Two-wheel rollers are more durable and handle broken pavement better; spinners (four dual wheels) roll upright and glide sideways down a narrow aisle, which most travelers prefer. See our best spinner luggage picks.

It is the smaller bag that fits under the seat in front of you, and on most airlines it is free — even on basic-economy fares that charge for a carry-on. Sizes vary; see our personal item size by airline guide.

The best underseat bags are sized to the personal-item space so they fly free on basic fares. See our best underseat luggage roundup for wheeled and tote options.

Generally no — American, Delta, United, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest do not enforce a carry-on weight limit, though you must lift the bag yourself. Most international carriers do. See the airline size table.

Yes, with a capsule wardrobe, rolled clothes in packing cubes, and your bulkiest items worn on the plane. Our how to pack a carry-on guide walks through it step by step.

They are very close — both premium polycarbonate carry-ons with a lifetime warranty. Away has wider recognition and an optional battery; Monos has a more refined interior. See our Away vs Monos comparison.

No — both are direct-to-consumer only, as is Béis. For comparable bags you can buy on Amazon, see our best hardside carry-on picks.

We compile published specifications, check dimensions against airline sizers, run the cost-per-trip and weight math, read aggregated owner reviews, and score against a published rubric — and we say plainly that we do not lab-test bags. Our full method is on the how we research and rank page.

They are pulled live from Amazon and stamped with the date fetched. If our data is more than 48 hours old, the number disappears rather than showing something stale. Amazon's price at checkout is always the one that counts.

We earn affiliate commissions, mostly through Amazon, at no extra cost to you. It never changes a verdict — when the cheaper bag is the better buy, we link to it anyway. Full affiliate disclosure.