A carry on size chart answers one question. Does your bag, exactly as packed, clear the strictest airline on your itinerary.
There is no single legal carry on size in the United States or anywhere else. Each airline sets its own limit.
Most standard carry on suitcases land in a tight cluster. 22x14x9, 21x14x9, and 22x16x10 are the common inches, while 55x40x20 cm and 56x45x25 cm cover the European range.
The catch is that a bag can be a comfortable yes on one carrier and a flat no on the next. Below is a table checked against carriers whose own baggage pages confirm the number.
Carry on size chart by airline
These figures come straight from each airline’s published carry on policy, fetched this week. Every measurement includes wheels and handles. That is how the airline measures it, not how a tape measure alone would.
| Bag size | American Airlines (22x14x9 in) | Delta (22x14x9 in, 45 linear in total) | Southwest (24x16x10 in) | easyJet large cabin bag (56x45x25 cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22x14x9 in | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 21x14x9 in | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 22x16x10 in | No | No | Tight | No |
| 24x16x10 in | No | No | Yes | No |
| 22x18x10 in | No | No | No | No |
| 18x14x8 in | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 55x40x20 cm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 56x45x25 cm | No | No | No | Yes |
A tight verdict means the bag sits right at the published limit. It passes only if it is empty or the sizer has some give.
A no means the bag exceeds the limit on paper. Even a gate that skips the sizer that day does not change the rule.
For every other airline, including United, JetBlue, Alaska, and Ryanair, use the size checker tool. It holds verified limits for 214 airlines and will not guess at a number nobody confirmed.
Is 24x16x10 a carry on
Yes for Southwest, where 24x16x10 is the actual published maximum. American, Delta, and most other US majors cap out at 22x14x9.
A 24x16x10 bag is too big for their overhead bins. Expect a gate check or a counter tag instead.
22x18x10 and 22x16x10 carry on luggage
Both sizes exceed the 22x14x9 standard used by American, Delta, and easyJet. A 22x18x10 bag is oversized on almost every carrier in this chart.
A 22x16x10 bag comes closer. It can clear Southwest’s larger allowance, but it fails the strict 22x14x9 cutoff by two inches in width.
9x14x22 and 21x14x9 carry on luggage
9x14x22 is the same box as 22x14x9 written in a different order. It fits the American and Delta limit exactly.
21x14x9 is a common size for softer bags that compress slightly. It clears every major US carrier in this chart with an inch to spare on the longest side.
Margin matters more than it sounds. Soft bags bulge once packed. A rigid sizer frame does not care what the tag inside says.
18x14x8 carry on bag and hand luggage 55x40x20
An 18x14x8 carry on bag is a small size. It clears every limit in the table above, including the tightest ones.
Hand luggage 55x40x20 is the standard European cabin bag size, matched by easyJet’s allowance. It also fits under the American and Delta limits once converted to inches.
A bag built to the 55x40x20 standard is one of the safer universal choices. It works for a traveler mixing US and European carriers on one trip.
Wheels, handles, and why the sizer decides
Every airline in this chart states plainly that wheels, handles, and side pockets count toward the maximum. A bag advertised as 21x14x9 with wheels that stick out an extra inch is really a 22x14x9 bag. It needs to pass at that larger size, not the label size.
Gate agents and check in staff rarely pull out a tape measure. They use a metal or plastic sizer frame at the counter. If the bag will not slide in without forcing it, that frame decides, not the number sewn inside your bag.
FlyerTalk threads describe this exact gap. Some bags measure fractionally over 22x14x9, by less than half an inch once wheels are counted.
Those travelers still get flagged at check in, even after the same bag cleared boarding on earlier trips. Enforcement is inconsistent by station and by staff. When the sizer is used, though, it does not negotiate.
What to do if your bag is borderline
Measure the bag fully packed, wheels and handles included, before you leave the house. If it lands within an inch of the limit on your airline, plan for a possible gate check.
Do not just hope nobody looks. Soft sided bags compress into a sizer more easily than hard shell cases of the same stated size.
Checking your exact bag against your exact airline in the size checker takes less time than arguing at the counter. For the broader rules, see the carry on size hub. The carry on rules section covers what else counts against your allowance.
Common questions
Is there one universal carry on size chart that works for every airline?
No single chart is universal, because each airline sets its own maximum. The closest thing to a universal size is 21x14x9 inches or 55x40x20 cm, which clears most major US and European carriers with room to spare.
Does a carry on size chart include the wheels and handles?
Yes, on every airline verified for this page. American, Delta, Southwest, and easyJet all state that wheels, handles, and attachments count toward the maximum dimensions.
What happens if my bag fails the sizer at the gate?
The bag typically gets tagged and sent to the cargo hold, often for a fee. You keep anything fragile or essential with you if time allows. Policies vary by airline, so check your carrier’s own carry on page before you fly.
Is 22x16x10 close enough to pass as a carry on?
Not on American, Delta, or easyJet, which all cap width or height below that figure. It comes closer on Southwest, where the 24x16x10 allowance gives more room, but the bag still has to slide into the sizer.
Why do two bags with the same listed size get different treatment?
Soft sided bags flex to fit a sizer frame, while hard shell cases hold their exact shape. A bag’s structure matters as much as the number on its spec sheet.
Where can I check my bag against every airline at once?
The size checker compares one bag against 214 airlines’ published limits in a single lookup. That is faster than checking each carrier’s page by hand.