hey there today I am helping you find the best luggage to carry on the
airplane it is carry-on luggage and I'm going to
help you find the best one with 4 easy tips whether you fly domestically
or internationally these four tips will help you find the best carry-on luggage
by comparing and reviewing three different ones that I use and that I
found in a department store to help you make the best choice now when I say
carry-on luggage I mean a suitcase that can be carried on an airplane or rolled
on an airplane a travel duffel bag a roll aboard which is what we have there
are different names for the rolling suitcases that can be carried on major
airplanes these days most families and business travelers are choosing carry-on
suitcases these days because it helps them skip the long lines in ticketing to
check their bag and it helps them not have to pay the baggage fee the number
4 travel tip for finding the best carry-on luggage is size. size does
matter to three of the major airlines out there these size dimensions for a
carry-on suitcase or piece of luggage is 22 by nineteen by fourteen inches or 56
five 36 by twenty-three centimeters Delta American and United Airlines all
say that carry-on suitcases must fit in the bag sizer and that's at the
ticketing counter as well as at the airplane at the airplane gate if it is
more stuffed than you are after Thanksgiving dinner then you will
probably have to pay to have it checked in the belly of the airplane in my 17
years I've only had to put my suitcase in the bag size are three different
times and I've never had to check it because it was too full or too stuffed
all of the airlines do say that you have to have 22 inches or less in order to
carry on this piece of luggage and that's including the handles and the
wheels I ran into TJ Maxx and looked for carry-on suitcases that were
less than 22 inches and there are so many options but I only found one maybe
two a Samsonite suitcase and a swiss gear but I didn't even like the Swiss
gear but those are maybe the top two I would have chosen out of all of the ones
they had available at t.j.maxx if you were looking for a suitcase that's like
19 inches long don't even buy it for the airplane the handle is too short for you
even as a 5 v height woman it's not even enough space on the inside for a
carry-on suitcase the third tip to finding the best carry-on luggage is to
look at the shape of your suitcase this TravelPro and that a lot of airline
crews do use is completely shaped in a triangle this one by Samsonite is a try
triangle did I just say triangle I mean rectangle this suitcase is
rectangular shaped but it still lips up a little at the edge and my son's also
does that his lips over right here and you've got about four inches and up here
it lips over which takes up space when you are trying to fill that suitcase
full when you are filling your suitcase full you want to be able to fill it all
the way up and then have some more room to stuff it if you need to right so if
it's capped on one of the sides you can't come straight up you've got to
lose that space and then you can start expanding if that makes sense
I do prefer a soft sided luggage instead of the plastic or metal or hardshell
case suitcases for carry-on luggage because this can squish in the overhead
bin it is so stuffed full with mashed potatoes and gravy from Thanksgiving it
is so stuffed that you can squish it just a little bit to get it in that
overhead bin as well as the bag sizer and then
exempt from paying the check bag fee with the hardshell metal hard plastic
micro whatever tanzanite it is not going to budge when you are trying to squish
it you can see that the 22 inch size suitcases are about the size of the bulk
toilet paper that we buy at Costco if you're wanting to look for your suitcase
in person I recommend taking a little measuring tape because you are going to
measure the fill space not the length from the wheels to the handles you're
going to see how many inches less it is of a suitcase based on how far the
wheels come off this says it's 22 inches by travelpro n is 21 and a half inches
this suitcase that I got from TJ Maxx the best one that I found at t.j.maxx
based on our experience is 21 inches and it does have 21 inches of fill space -
this little lip that comes over right here so it is comparable in size and
shape by the way welcome to our channel my name is Laurie and I am in Houston
Texas my husband works for an airline here and we have had 17 years of travel
benefits to travel the globe so that you won't have a worry in the world with all
of our tips all three of these guys will be linked below in the description box
and you can find that by clicking show more or clicking the upside down
triangle if you're watching this on your phone and while you're down there don't
forget to introduce yourself and say hello they're all three good suitcases
but they all have different features which leads us to the number two tip to
finding the best carry-on luggage and that is the features of your suitcase I
really like since I get cold on airplanes having a large outer pocket
this pocket as well as the Samsonite wouldn't only come out like that
so you're not opening the entire suitcase pocket right there but you can
stuff a heavy winter coat down there or a hoodie like a hooded sweatshirt and
thing that I do a little travel tip that I use is I don't put on my belt until I
have gone through airport security so I keep my belt down in here I keep my
jewelry that I'm gonna wear in here another feature that luggage should have
on the outside is a little pocket now this one has one right here these are
not three pockets right here they're just texture it does have a zipped
pocket which is great you can hide things and protect things secure things
my suitcase has the pocket on the inside and that's where I store my passport
just until I grab my bag until I get to my bench to get my bag organized and put
on my shoes again put on my belt and my jewelry then I can transfer that
passport to my person or my other travel bag or my personal item we got my son's
suitcase at Target and it has lasted us five years as well it is much smaller
than mine but he has fewer things that he cares about taking but zippers are
another major key feature to finding the best luggage I like metal zippers I like
them not too long not too short I like the rubber-tipped zippers and you
also want to look at what is connecting or attaching the zipper to the actual
metal and that quality is majorly important you don't want a little bitty
keyring a thin piece of metal you won't solid metal attaching that zipper to the
actual teeth of your zipper if that makes sense I did find one at t.j.maxx
and it was awful it was sharp and pointy a very heavy and the zipper also was
really long was just too high-maintenance so I recommend a short
sweet smooth all the way around kind of zippers I also recommend if you're
buying a cheap off-brand luggage that's super cute on the outside and they
hooked you in by the totally cute fabric I recommend that you try the zipper out
all the way around do it fast and do it slowly to see the quality of that zipper
another feature to look for when finding the best carry-on luggage is
look at the handle the luggage handle is great this is flat it's combined
seamless that's really nice but this is what I want you to notice if you are
right-handed you're gonna be picking up your suitcase like that to put it in the
overhead bin you need a handle on the left hand side so if you're looking down
at your suitcase that other handle should be on the left hand side because
when you are lifting it up it is so hard to lift up a suitcase no matter how much
weight you've done with just your right hand and I do not recommend although
most suitcases it's really good if you do have a handle on the bottom but those
aren't the only two you want because if you're in an airplane and you have to
grab the bottom of your suitcase handle you're gonna be squatting in that
airplane all the way to the bottom of the floor to pick up all of your
suitcase and lift it all the way over your head to fit it in the overhead bin
all of these suitcases have a handle here and on this left hand side I also
recommend looking for the expandable feature on your luggage this Samsonite
as well as my Travel Pro has an extra section that is expandable the travel
pro one is quite large if you want to expand it it's several inches probably
another four inches that I can expand just that inner side and I will tell you
what I use inside this expandable section I pack two or three pairs of
shoes I pack a hardback books you can fit so much extra stuff in just this
section of your suitcase if it has an expandable section leaving more space in
the base of your suitcase so this is a very valuable feature to look for let me
know in the comments if you even care about the little straps that are in the
base of your suitcase that actually buckle I don't think very many people
care about that feature inside a suitcase the number one travel tip to
finding the best carry-on luggage is to look at the wheels in t.j.maxx all of
the wheels were just free hanging like this nowadays when you get up to your
gate and you are fixing to board airplane they are going to say oh the
airplanes full because of all of the extra heavy coats in the winter and
because of all the people who are bringing on their free suitcases and
personal items and you still have 60 people behind you in line and now you
have to check your carry-on suitcase this is going to go in the belly of the
airplane which is not bad for wheels that hang off like this but it's when
they go underneath the airport through and to the baggage claim when it has the
most chance of ripping off of those wheels getting ripped off I want you to
look at my travelPro wheels it's almost as if they're built into the base of the
suitcase they are a little bit wide but they're not hanging free a couple of
them did have a wall kind of like this one a wall that would maybe protect the
wheel but again it's hanging completely off of the suitcase it's not nestled
anywhere in there another reason why I think checking the wheels is the number
one tip to finding the best luggage is because if you are traveling to Europe
or Washington DC and are going on a subway system with your suitcases you
need durable wheels that can go up stairs of escalators over huge potholes
in those sidewalks I have taken this suitcase several times to Paris the
streets of Paris and my wheels have done fine there are some pretty rugged roads
there's so much to think about when you're trying to find the best carry-on
luggage be sure to read the fine print of your airline I was shocked to find
out that American Airlines would consider deer antlers a carry-on item
and they would have to pay $150 to put that inside the airplane with on their
person that means they could not take a carry-on suitcase because that is their
carry-on item now they only have space for a personal item which is not a
suitcase I also thought it was odd but good if a soft sided garment bag is
considered a carry-on so therefore you cannot take a carry-on suitcase you only
can take a personal item because most of the major airlines you get a
carry-on item and then a personal bag a stroller however it does not count as a
carry-on that can be the third item that you bring
there are several cool items that the airlines do allow so check out that fine
print and be a smart traveler and take the stress out of your vacation before
it even begins thanks again for visiting about travel tips by Laurie YouTube
channel be sure to introduce yourself below and say hello safe travels y'all