International Air Travel Overhead Bin Size/Weight?

[Drew Bedo]

What is the currect limitation for overhead bin carry-on luggage bin international flights?

[Pfsor]

Entirely depends on the actual airline company. Investigate there.

[Bob Salomon]

Entirely depends on the actual airline company. Investigate there.

And the equipment they are flying. And, possibly, the class you are booked for.

[Mark Sampson]

What I learned from selling luggage at an L.L. Bean store: Nominally, 22"x14"x9". Some airlines (Delta) have a max number for L+W+H (can't remember it right now though). People going on African safaris often have a weight limit, due to the small bush planes the tour operators use. Otherwise it just varies. Ask your airline.

[BrianShaw]

Definitely all of the above.

Trust me, carry on no more than will fit in the seat in front of you unless you are willing to possibly have to gate check it.

[Dan Fromm]

+ 1, and be prepared to gate check y'r carryon if you're one of the last to board. Bins fill up ...

[Bob Salomon]

Or, check the IATA (international air travel association) web site for luggage and carry on regs.

[Peter Collins]

I also recommend Rick Steves' information on his website.

[Pfsor]

Or, check the IATA (international air travel association) web site for luggage and carry on regs.

No, don't bother. You will not find there regulations for each individual airline company.

[Doremus Scudder]

Drew,

You really need to contact the airline you are flying with for this. You should be able to find the info on the airline's website after you've logged in with your ticket or confirmation number. The specifics depend on what machine you will be in, what class you are flying, etc., etc. I wouldn't trust any hearsay answers you may get here...

And, you can always stow your case under the seat in front of you if it's not too big.

Do check though. The last thing you want is to have to check fragile gear that you planned on carrying on at the last minute. Worst case scenario, check what you can in a hard case and only carry the really fragile/expensive things with you. I fly internationally often and only carried my 4x5 field camera, lenses, meter and a box or two of film onto the plane. Everything else, i.e., film holders (empty, of course), filters, and other accessories got packed in my checked bag.

Best,

Doremus

[Oren Grad]

Threads merged.

[David de Gruyl]

Sales staff in a high(er) end luggage store made a comment about new regulations on overhead bin sized bags for international flights.

Whatg is the real story on this?

Is my Pelican 1510 hard case still Ok for the overhead bin?

Almost definitely okay for an international flight on an american carrier, but get on board early. Notes about gate checking are correct.

It will (probably) not fit in the overhead bin of an Embraer or Canadair, but it will in all the Boeings and Airbusses, and it is clearly too big for underseat storage. If you are united group 5 (basic economy) you can't even try it. Similarly, if you are group three or higher, there is a fair chance that you will have trouble finding a place for it. That being said, the 1510 is absolutely fine by United and American.

If you are concerned and live close to the airport, bring it in and check the sizer near check-in.

For flights inside of europe (or china or elsewhere) you may have issues. Particularly as local carriers have different rules.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/style/travel-bags/airline-carry-on-luggage-size-guide

[Bob Salomon]

Almost definitely okay for an international flight on an american carrier, but get on board early. Notes about gate checking are correct.

It will (probably) not fit in the overhead bin of an Embraer or Canadair, but it will in all the Boeings and Airbusses, and it is clearly too big for underseat storage. If you are united group 5 (basic economy) you can't even try it. Similarly, if you are group three or higher, there is a fair chance that you will have trouble finding a place for it. That being said, the 1510 is absolutely fine by United and American.

If you are concerned and live close to the airport, bring it in and check the sizer near check-in.

For flights inside of europe (or china or elsewhere) you may have issues. Particularly as local carriers have different rules.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/style/travel-bags/airline-carry-on-luggage-size-guide

Again, check the IATA site for regulations. But not all airlines and all equipment adheres to them.

[Michael Kadillak]

I measured my 8x10 F64 backpack after getting the approved United Airlines proportions for carry on and verified that the plane I was on had fixed carry on baggage compartments on either side of the seating area and it fit perfectly. I was also able to put a case of 8x10 lenses in the same overhead bin. My fear was being relegated to those drop down cargo compartments and someone tossing in a hard sided case on top of my backpack. Get to the gate as early as possible so you can "claim" your overhead space.

[Bob Salomon]

I measured my 8x10 F64 backpack after getting the approved United Airlines proportions for carry on and verified that the plane I was on had fixed carry on baggage compartments on either side of the seating area and it fit perfectly. I was also able to put a case of 8x10 lenses in the same overhead bin. My fear was being relegated to those drop down cargo compartments and someone tossing in a hard sided case on top of my backpack. Get to the gate as early as possible so you can "claim" your overhead space.
Yes, early boarding always gets you overhead space, but later boarders may go to extremes trying to squeeze their carry on into your same space! Or even move yours to make theirs fit!

[Michael Kadillak]

Yes, early boarding always gets you overhead space, but later boarders may go to extremes trying to squeeze their carry on into your same space! Or even move yours to make theirs fit!

Yes indeed. You have to watch who comes down the aisle with over head luggage like a hawk because as you mentioned, these folks will reconfigure an entire overhead if they get a chance to jam their bag in there come hell or high water. Many times I kneel on my seat so I have a better vantage point to watch the "bag fixers" in action and at times you need to be aggressive to protect your turf. Your odds improve when your carry on fits long ways and you can stuff some jackets or other items to close up the vertical area as tightly as possible.

The center ceiling drop down bins on the large aircraft (large center seating area in addition to aisle seating on both sides) are the worst. Folks throw bags in there like they toss trash in a dumpster.

[Bob Salomon]

Yes indeed. You have to watch who comes down the aisle with over head luggage like a hawk because as you mentioned, these folks will reconfigure an entire overhead if they get a chance to jam their bag in there come hell or high water. Many times I kneel on my seat so I have a better vantage point to watch the "bag fixers" in action and at times you need to be aggressive to protect your turf. Your odds improve when your carry on fits long ways and you can stuff some jackets or other items to close up the vertical area as tightly as possible.

The center ceiling drop down bins on the large aircraft (large center seating area in addition to aisle seating on both sides) are the worst. Folks throw bags in there like they toss trash in a dumpster.

Get too aggressive protecting your space and you will get throw off the flight!
Flight attendants try to accommodate all passengers and with over 1.5 million miles on UAL and Star Alliance I have seen the attendants reconfigure and squeeze carry on luggage all the time!

[DavidFisk]

I've heard, but can't confirm, that in addition to the size limits, Qantas is picky about the posted weight limit as well.

[Mark Sampson]

A recent wrinkle- on Thursday American offered 'complimentary' bag checking at the departure gate. As opposed to the $30 charge at the counter.
I took the offer for my suitcase- wouldn't have for a camera- but the net result was plenty of room in the overhead bins on a full 737 flight. So you never know!

[BrianShaw]

A recent wrinkle- on Thursday American offered 'complimentary' bag checking at the departure gate. As opposed to the $30 charge at the counter.
I took the offer for my suitcase- wouldn't have for a camera- but the net result was plenty of room in the overhead bins on a full 737 flight. So you never know!

I’ve experienced this, too, on United. They really try... and try very sincerely to be accommodating.

The are most successful when offering both complimentary and mandatory gate check of the bigger bags.

[Rayt]

Aside from the dimensions of the overhead baggage some airlines also have a ridiculous weight limit. I flew Lufthansa to Frankfurt from HK and was told my Lowepro containing two Rollei TLRs, film and a laptop was 2 pounds over their 8kg limit. I ended up ditching my Lowepro at the airport for a lightweight backpack from one of the airport luggage shops.

[Amedeus]

Plenty of good responses but I'll add my experience.

My travel bag is the 22x14x9 category and when you take wheels and handle in account more like 23.5" high. Fits on Boeing wheels in, Airbus is wheels out.

Fully packed it is 45-50lbs and holds my Phase One and a Nikon DSLR and lenses and accessories.

I'm a 1.9 million miler on United and I get to board early. That is key to find the right spot.

Equally important is to make it look like the bag doesn't weight more than 20 lbs or you get in trouble on Lufthansa and a few other airlines. Lufthansa in SF always pulls my bag out (they are trained in recognizing camera bags at the gate) and I often have to negotiate with gate personnel to get the bag on board. Never failed but it has become part of the process.

All other accessories go in a backpack under the seat in front of me. Tripod, 4x5 and film has a space in my checked luggage.

YMMV

[Peter Lewin]

Tripod, 4x5 and film has a space in my checked luggage.
YMMV
An informative post, but the sentence I copied caught my eye. We have had many threads/discussions on taking film on planes, and the debate was between hand inspection versus simply taking film in your scanned carry-on pack. The general opinion was that checked luggage gets stronger x-rays and was a no-no for film. I take it your experience differs?

[Amedeus]

An informative post, but the sentence I copied caught my eye. We have had many threads/discussions on taking film on planes, and the debate was between hand inspection versus simply taking film in your scanned carry-on pack. The general opinion was that checked luggage gets stronger x-rays and was a no-no for film. I take it your experience differs?

I'm aware of this and in general agree but my film is max 100 ISO. On my last trip I flew SFO - Narita - Singapore - ferry to Indonesia with X-ray scan - Singapore - Frankfurt - Marrakesh with X-Ray on arrival and questioning why I had so much equipment with me, one camera should be plenty - Frankfurt - SFO.

10 or 11 scans, hard to be sure.

No issue with the film or Fuji Instant.

Only time I had an issue is when Polaroid 803 was shipped from Ukraine to California. 5 boxes had clearly diagonal stripes over them from a hard X-ray scan. ISO 800, lesson learned the hard way.

YMMV,

[aaronnate]

I'm aware of this and in general agree but my film is max 100 ISO. On my last trip I flew SFO - Narita - Singapore - ferry to Indonesia with X-ray scan - Singapore - Frankfurt - Marrakesh with X-Ray on arrival and questioning why I had so much equipment with me, one camera should be plenty - Frankfurt - SFO.

10 or 11 scans, hard to be sure.

No issue with the film or Fuji Instant.

Only time I had an issue is when Polaroid 803 was shipped from Ukraine to California. 5 boxes had clearly diagonal stripes over them from a hard X-ray scan. ISO 800, lesson learned the hard way.

YMMV,

Totally off topic, but what are you shooting the Fuji instant with?

[Amedeus]

Totally off topic, but what are you shooting the Fuji instant with?

On this trip it was a Wista 4x5 rangefinder camera but I also use 4x5 pacemaker and a Graflex D series

[Jim Andrada]

Just got back from several weeks in Europe. I hesitated to take my US sized carry-on after reading all the internet stories. Only had an MF film/digital Mamiya 645 and a Mamiya C330 TLR this trip. Had no problem at all with a 44 liter Kelty pack and the regular carry-on would have been fine. We flew in France, Italy, and Spain and no issues anywhere - maybe because we flew business class. I did discover that the Alitalia and Iberia definition of domestic business class is domestic coach with a tray or something in the middle seat so only two people a side. No legroom of course - fortunately no flight was over an hour and a half or so. (I'm 6' 2") My wife (almost 5') was perfectly happy and I was grousing the whole time because my knees were taking a beating. From watching what all the other passengers were carrying it seemed that neither Alitalia nor Iberia really cared too much what people stuffed in the overhead. Neither airline was what I'd call hyper-organized. Orly and Charles deGaulle are run by Air France and they didn't give us a hard time about anything either, even though the bag with the cameras and accessories was well over whatever per bag weight limit they talk about.

Just one data point of many.