Airline baggage limitations have been overlooked pretty regularly in the past, but airlines are now seeing size infractions as a revenue source.

Besides the overall dimensions & weight, airlines also have dimension rules for each side of the piece, i.e., on a carryon handpiece, the depth can be no more than 9 inches. These may vary from airline to airline, hence the spotty deployment of the plexiglass template over the carryon luggage belt at security since all the airlines sharing the gate areas beyond that security zone couldn't agree on size limits.

The most accurate & enforced size monitors I've seen are used by Qantas; they are metal tube bins with a scale imbedded in the base. Your piece must slide in the metal cage easily & rest on the scale. No fighting, no questions. At this point, such a simple device might cause rioting at US airports! Many frequent travelers are not accustomed to having their luggage fined for oversize, even by that teeny little inch! Tom had the right of it: make sure your piece is definitely under to avoid fees.

And for all the noise about security, here's a true story, told by one of my employee's brothers. On a recent air journey from Detroit to Florida involving a change of planes each way, his laptop was checked for battery & hard drive. Not unusual. But upon his return home, he emptied the laptop case & found a pair of sharp 9 scissors, his leatherman tool & a small screwdriver he had forgotten to remove from the case. It was not caught in 4 security transits. Ooops.

Gail In Eugene but never for long