Be Mindful Of Your Carry-On Size

TTT 46 - Carry On Size
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Jenn: Hey everyone, and welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday with the Travel Mug Podcast. I'm here with Meggan and I'm so excited to talk to you this week about carryon luggage, Meggan.

Meggan: Carry on luggage is like convenient yet the bane of existence of travel in a way as well.

Jenn: It is. So it's been a hot topic of some Facebook groups that I'm in that are travel, travel related. So obviously over the last, I don't know, Six months to a year, I guess. There's been a lot in the news about lost luggage and, and also people are attempting to save some money by doing carry-on only.

However that can cause the problem of not enough carry-on room in the plane and all the flights that I've been on recently, they're asking people to voluntarily check their carry on luggage and then also, Forcing you to check your carry-on luggage if there's not enough people volunteering. So apparently I have heard that Air Canada specifically is the one I heard, has been cracking down on the size of carry-ons.

And I'm not surprised honestly because I have seen some things like what people are attempting to carry on the plane.

Meggan: If you give people a little bit of room, they will take it to the nth degree until you are like, excuse me, traveler A, B, and C that's a large size suitcase. Like, do you know what I mean?

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Like people will just push whatever they can push.

Jenn: Oh, a hundred percent. So I was looking at some different airlines, both in Canada and the US and it seems like most airlines have different requirements for carry-ons, which is like really annoying, but the size can vary a little bit and it's like, A problem if you're traveling on multiple airlines on one tip, right?

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: Most airlines will allow you to have a personal item, like a purse or like a small bag that fits under the seat. And, and also a larger carry-on that goes in the overhead bin. So you're gonna have to look up your specific airline that you're traveling on and what their dimensions are. I did see that most airlines don't have a weight limit on carry-ons, which I thought was interesting, but it, it has to be light enough that you can lift it into the overhead bit.

Meggan: Not you and three other surrounding individuals.

Jenn: So keep in mind, so when you're looking at those dimensions, keep in mind that the wheels and the handle count in that overall dimension. Cuz I think a lot of people run into trouble there where they only measure like the body of, especially if it's one of those hard sided luggages that don't have any like, play in them. You can run into trouble there.

Meggan: Yeah.

Jenn: And also if you do any shopping in the airport, your shopping bag counts as a carry-on. So you can't have your giant shopping bag, your purse, and your hard sided luggage. That is three things. That is one too many.

Meggan: Right, right.

Jenn: Meggan, have you ever had to check a piece of carry-on luggage for being too big?

Meggan: I don't know if you know me, but I'm a bit of a rule follower and so is my husband. We're we're, we're big on the rules. Um, And no, I've checked one voluntarily if they've asked for people. I have done that. Also a good citizen and it seems but not because it was too big, honestly. We both usually take a backpack.

And we both honestly stuff them under the seats in front of us. We don't usually use the overhead bin anyway. I've only taken carryon only maybe once or twice, and it was a wheely suitcase. But really of the hundred times maybe I've flown in my life, I've only usually taken a backpack and shove it under. So short answer, no. And I, I hope not to have to, because then I would probably be just mortified.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. I usually take like a duffle type bag as my carry on, if it's gonna go in the overhead bin instead. I don't the wheely hard sided things. They're awkward and hard to get up there. Especially you guys don't see us and we're also sitting, but like I am five feet tall and getting that over my head into the bin. It can be a challenge. Meggan,

Meggan: I'm six feet. Never a challenge. I just choose not to do it. I also find, don't you think too, like to wheel a big suitcase and a little wheely just feels awkward to me if you're not doing carry on only. So that doesn't make sense to me. Now, of course, I understand people having wheelies if they don't have any checked baggage.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: But I would never take a wheelie if I also had a big suitcase anyway.

Jenn: Yeah. So once when I was a teenager, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna say this is not my fault, but I digress. I was traveling with my family and I was a teenager, so this was not my fault, but we were forced to check our bags at the airport because we had the hiking backpacks that are like quite long.

Meggan: Two of those would take up an overhead bin.

Jenn: Yeah, no. I'm not sure how my parents thought that this could be a carry-on, but we like got to the airport to check in and they were trying to like stuff them in the little metal measurement things and the lady was like, absolutely not.

Meggan: We're sorry sir. And ma'am, that is not gonna fly.

Jenn: That's not gonna, so yes. A lot of people do get away with either too many carry-on bags or using a carry-on bag that's too big. But do you wanna be the first person that's forced to check your bag at the airport?

Meggan: I don't.

Jenn: And you're gonna have to pay for it.

So check the measurements beforehand just to be doubly sure.

Meggan: That is right.

Jenn: Well, that is it. That is my tip. Get out your measuring tape and check out your luggage.

Meggan: I got your measuring tape. And start packing.

Jenn: Thanks for listening. You can find us on our website, travel mug podcast.com. We're on Instagram and Facebook at Travel Mug Podcast and we would love if you would share the show with a travel loving pal.

Maybe someone who's getting ready to go on a trip or if you could leave us a five star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, it really helps us grow and reach new people. So we'll talk to you again soon. Bye

Meggan: bye.