The Ultimate Luggage Size Guide

While picking the right luggage size may seem straightforward enough, we are sharing this guide because it may not be as easy as you think!

All of us may have encountered any of the following situations:

“Wait! This carry-on is only 20”, so why is my luggage measured at 22” by other brands?”

“Why can’t my 22” luggage be a carry-on? I have a lot of friends who use 22” as carry-on luggages?”

“This luggage is about the same size as the 22” I have at home. Why do you say it’s 20” ?”

“I just bought a large luggage. I am not sure if the airline is going to charge me for the extra baggage fee? I hope this brand is telling me the truth!”

There are many brands out there that use inches to explain the different sizes of luggage, but is this the proper way? Do you really understand the reasoning, or do you feel totally lost? Today, we are going to share with you how luggage is measured, so you can understand how airlines regulate carry-on & check-in baggage policies.

How do you measure the size?

We summarize 2 standard ways that millions of brands use out there to measure the luggage size.

1. Overall Case size (Not including the wheels)

Simply put, this measurement only accounts for the height of the case (See the picture below). Convert cm to inches, and you’ll get the total size in inches of your luggage (you can use the calculator below).

H: Height

2. Overall Luggage Height (Include the height of wheels)

This measurement factors the total height of a piece of luggage. Just take a luggage and measure it from the top of the case to the floor (See the picture below). Convert cm to inches then that’s the size of your luggage (you can use the calculator below).

H: Height

You may notice from the above 2 measurement methods that the only difference is whether you include the height of the wheels or not. And now you are probably wondering what the size of your luggage is? Which measurement I should take? Why is it so complicated? Is there a unified way to measure it? That’s right, here’s the point, I strongly recommend you to use a better way to measure your luggage. Continue to read and find out the best way of measuring your luggage size!

A better way to size it : Height-Width-Depth Approach

Going forward, let’s forget about the traditional methods mentioned above. I am going to tell you what defines whether the luggage is a carry-on or whether airlines will charge an extra baggage fee. The right answer is “whether your luggage meets airlines’ size policy”, which is the “ Height-Width-Depth Approach”.

Let me simplify it into 2 sentences for you all:

1. If the height, width, and depth of your luggage combined are less than or equal to 115 cm, then this is a carry-on.
2. If the height, width, and depth of your luggage combined are less than or equal to 158 cm, you will not be charged extra for the size of the luggage.

H: Height, W: Width, D: Depth

Here’s a quick reminder!
If you don’t have a ruler on hand, just take out your product instructions, or open the product information page on the website and measure your luggage according to the above criteria.

There is the easiest way: Choose from the Departure offerings

When we were naming each of our products, we knew that not everyone is familiar with the sizes of luggage, and other brands out there size their luggage differently. Therefore, we use what everyone is most familiar with: the XS, S, M, L size system. When you buy our products, S or smaller means you can use it as a carry-on! We also set up a friendly filter on the website to guide you in picking the luggage you want.

If you still have additional questions and are not sure how to get the right luggage, you’re welcome to leave a message below or click here, we’ll do our best to answer your questions!