Texas Ag Mom said:
AA carry on size is 22 x 14 x 9 including handles & wheels. How much wiggle room is there to go beyond those measurements & still fit in the overhead? It seems like I see people w/bigger bags.
That's pretty much standard size for all US airlines. The 22x14" dimensions are easy to accommodate; the harder dimension is the 9". If you have a soft top/expandable bag, it's pretty easy to exceed the 9". But I've never had any issue except on very small, regional jets (some of which make you check your carry on at the jetway anyway).
The size of the overhead bins depends a bit on the size of the plane itself. I've never had an issue on a 737 or 767, although, on our flight a 767 the other day, I noticed that the bins over the interior seats were a different size than the bins over the seats along the two sides of the plane.
I'd be willing to bet my carry on this trip was stuffed to about 11 or 12", and I had no problems fitting it in the bins of a 737, 767, and 717. It was heavy, though, which makes it hard to lift over my head.
My son traveled with a Delsey that I bought specifically for European trips (they have much smaller, stricter carry on requirements). He really likes that bag, and it's the lightest one I've ever used.
This is the Delsey we have
https://www.amazon.com/Delsey-Luggage-Chatillon-Carry-Trolley/dp/B019PDQ6SW?keywords=delsey+chatillon&qid=1528125014&sr=8-4&ref=mp_s_a_1_4I'm constantly amazed at how much I can squeeze into this bag, even though it's a bit smaller.
I don't like spinner wheels because they count against the height of your bag. To meet the 22" height requirement (or 21" on some European airlines), the bag itself has to be smaller to account for the height of the wheels. I like this bag because the wheels are recessed - which means you basically get the full 21" in usable packing volume.