Reply #99: You would actually be surprised at what looks too large

[Ms. Toad]

but is actually within the size limits. The carry-on limits are actually far more generous than the overhead bins can accommodate if everyone decides to use their allotted quota. Even experienced flight attendants often believe bags that fit within the permitted limits are oversized.

There have been periods when I have traveled very frequently, and I know which bags I have are within carry-on limits, and which ones aren't - and which planes can accommodate bags up to the carry-on limit, and which ones can't. The briefcase I carry was purchased deliberately because it within the size limits and because it fits under under virtually every airplane seat (the only the exception being the "A" seats on the Embraer jets with three seats across). (Incidentally, on those same jets it also doesn't fit in the overhead bins - despite being well within the size limits.)

I pack that briefcase with things I need during the trip (or immediately after) and with valuables I do not trust to be checked, with the expectation that I will have that briefcase with me. Whenever I am traveling on a small Embraer jet I make sure I am in seats "B" or "C" because there is no place it will fit on-board if I am seated in an "A" seat. I board as early as I am permitted, duck into the row immediately so I don't block the aisle while I am wrestling with my briefcase, and can slide my briefcase under the seat in front of me in about 10 seconds.

Despite knowing what I carry and where it fits in the planes I travel on, I get dirty looks all the time - and I've been required to gate check my rolling briefcase as oversize by flight attendants who eyeball it, and decides it is too large. Insisting that I gate check my briefcase - which is both within the limits and fits under the seat in front of me - may in fact delay boarding/the flight because I will be forced to unpack the things I packed in my permitted carry-on bag which I would never have packed in a bag I intended to check.

The problem is not that airlines don't enforce the carry-on limits, as much as it is that the limits are not appropriate for some of the jets at all, and on most jets the the overhead bins won't accommodate all of the carry on luggage if the flight is full and everyone carries on as much luggage as they are permitted to.