Carry-On Luggage Restrictions and Requirements

Carry-On Luggage Restrictions and Requirements

By Kazi Niyaz

Carry-on luggage is now under considerably more difficult restrictions due to unfortunate events. The Transportation Safety Administration has set up some new luggage rules, with many airlines subsequently adding a few of their own for extra security. Among these are the new liquid and gel inspections. Here are some of the most important carry-on luggage restrictions and requirements you should prepare to follow when traveling. However, do not limit yourself to these instructions; the best information is from the TSA itself.
The liquid and gel inspections is set up in what's called the "3-1-1" rule: the liquid must be in a bottle with a maximum volume of 3.4 ounces in a 1 quart-sized, transparent bag with 1 bag per traveler. This is for most liquids and gels, including hand sanitizer. In order to prevent delays, you should simply leave this in your checked luggage. Not all liquids and gels are prohibited, however. All medications, both prescription and over-the-counter, baby formula or breast milk (if a baby is present), and anything that is important in saving a person's life (organs, bone marrow, blood, ice to cool) or plastic surgery (implants, saline solutions, etc.) are all allowed. You should declare any of these above items to prevent delays.
As for the carry-on luggage itself, the rules follow in something called total inches. The standard rule is 45 total inches, meaning that your bag's dimensions simply add up to 45. Technically, you could have a 1-inch by 1-inch by 43-inches carry-on, but most airlines are expecting 22-inches by 14-inches by 9-inches. Take care when measuring your bag, however. These rules are designed for the measurements inside the bag, not the outside. They don't even consider the possibility that you could be carrying things on the outside pockets of the bag. Not only that, but once you get past the check at the airport, you have to make sure your bag somehow fits under your seat. Otherwise, it's move it or lose it.
However, if you happen to encroach on any of the size limitations, you might still be able to be let through without any problems. Domestic airlines haven't been properly demonstrating the full examination of carry-on luggage; many people have admitted that their bags were outside of the allowed sizes, but were still let through by the officials.
The last check that some, not all, airlines will do is check for the weight of the carry-on bag. The range of allowed weights starts at a low of 16 pounds set by Virgin America and ends at a high of 50 pounds for Midwest. American, Continental, US Air, and Delta are at 40 pounds. Other airlines like United and Southwest do not currently have a limitation on the weight of the carry-on.

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