Delta Baggage Rules
Delta is the only US carrier in our table that publishes a second, independent test: the three dimensions added together, capped at 45 inches.
We have not tested this gear. Every figure here is compiled from published manufacturer specifications and published airline policies, and the arithmetic is public so you can check it. This page contains affiliate links — see the affiliate disclosure.
Delta publishes two independent tests: no single dimension over 22 × 14 × 9 in, and the three added together not over 45 linear inches. A bag can pass the first and fail the second. Delta publishes no personal-item dimensions at all — the rule is simply that it fits under the seat.
Figures from Delta’s own published carry-on baggage page, checked 3 September 2026. The source is linked at the bottom.
| # | Product | Published box | Fits | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel PackOne-bag travel on any carrier that measures | 21.7 × 13.8 × 9.1 in | 4 of 11WN F9 G4 SY | 7.2 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 2 | LEVEL8 Road Runner Carry-On (20 in)Anyone who wants a front laptop pocket on a hard shell | 21.5 × 14.4 × 9.2 in | 4 of 11WN F9 G4 SY | 4.7 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 3 | American Tourister Airconic Carry-On SpinnerHawaiian's 25 lb carry-on cap, and anyone lifting a bag overhead unaided | 21.7 × 15.8 × 7.9 in | 4 of 11WN F9 G4 SY | 3.8 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 4 | Amazon Basics Hardside Spinner (21 in)One or two trips a year on Southwest, Frontier or Allegiant | 21.6 × 14.9 × 10 in | 4 of 11WN F9 G4 SY | 3.4 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 5 | Rockland Melbourne Hardside Spinner (20 in)Flying carriers that actually measure, and packing light on purpose | 20 × 13 × 10 in | 4 of 11WN F9 G4 SY | 3.1 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
No live price is currently verified, so every button here reads Check price on Amazon rather than a number we cannot stand behind. See how we handle prices.
Two tests, not one
Every other US carrier in our table publishes a box and stops. Delta publishes a box and a sum, and both have to pass.
| Test | Delta's published limit | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
| Individual dimensions | 22 × 14 × 9 in | A bag that is too tall, too wide or too deep |
| Linear inches | 45 in total | A bag that is slightly over on two or three sides at once |
| Personal item | No dimensions published | It must fit under the seat in front of you |
| Carry-on weight | None published | Nothing — you lift it yourself |
Note that the standard box itself sums to exactly 45 in. So the linear test is not an additional allowance — it is a way of catching bags that are marginally over on more than one side, where each individual overage might have been waved through. How linear-inch measurement works.
Where the second test bites
A bag at 21.5 × 14.4 × 9.2 in is under the standard height by half an inch and under the depth. It sums to 45.1 in. Under test one it looks fine; under test two it is over.
| Bag | Published box | Linear inches | Against Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockland Melbourne 20 in | 20 × 13 × 10 in | 43 in | Depth over by 1 in |
| LEVEL8 Road Runner 20 in | 21.5 × 14.4 × 9.2 in | 45.1 in | Over on both tests |
| Amazon Basics Hardside 21 in | 21.6 × 14.9 × 10 in | 46.5 in | Over on both tests |
| Osprey Farpoint 40 | 21.7 × 13.8 × 9.1 in | 44.6 in | Passes both, with 0.4 in to spare |
The Farpoint row is the useful one: it is the only bag here that clears both tests, and it does so with less than half an inch of margin. Soft bags grow when packed, so that margin is thinner than it looks. Where it sits among packs.
Delta publishes no personal-item box
This is unusual and it is worth reading correctly. It does not mean there is no limit; it means the limit is functional rather than numeric — the item has to fit under the seat in front of you.
In practice that is a smaller space than most published personal-item boxes suggest, and it varies by aircraft and by seat. A bulkhead row has no seat in front of it at all, which is why bulkhead passengers are asked to stow everything overhead for takeoff.
The safe approach on Delta is to size against the tightest published US figure — United’s 17 × 10 × 9 in — and you will be inside anything Delta’s seats present. What a personal item actually is.
Fare classes and the overhead bin
Delta’s published carry-on page draws no distinction between fare classes: one full-size carry-on plus one personal item, free of charge, with no ticket-type carve-out stated. That is one of the clearest published positions among the carriers we track, and it is a genuine competitive difference against carriers that charge for the bin on their cheapest fare. Which carriers do charge.
Bags whose published dimensions fit Delta Air Lines's carry-on box
Bags whose published dimensions fit Delta's 22 x 14 x 9 in box on all three sides. Note that Delta's 45 linear inch cap is a separate test — check the sum as well.
Osprey Fairview 40 Travel Pack
22 × 14 × 9 in
Shorter torsos, and anyone the Farpoint's shoulder straps do not suit
Tortuga Travel Backpack Pro 40L
22 × 14 × 8 in
Readers who want the tightest published depth in a 40 L bag
Not sold on Amazon#ad How we earnEagle Creek Cargo Hauler Duffel 40L
22 × 12.5 × 9 in
A duffel that will actually pass a gate sizer
Osprey Daylite Duffel 45
21 × 14 × 9 in
Maximum published volume that still clears a 22 × 14 × 9 in sizer
What to buy for Delta
- Add your bag’s three published dimensions together before you buy. If the total is over 45, it fails Delta regardless of how each side looks.
- Buy margin on depth. Depth is where soft bags grow, and it is the dimension that pushes a passing sum over the line.
- Size the personal item against 17 × 10 × 9 in, since Delta publishes nothing and that is the tightest US figure.
- You do not need to buy the bin. Delta’s published policy includes it on every fare, which is not true everywhere.
Every pick, with the working
Each entry below shows the published inputs, the four axis scores they produce, and what you give up. The order is the computed order, not a commercial one.
1 · One-bag travel on any carrier that measures
Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel Pack
40 L that fits the standard 22 × 14 × 9 in box on height and depth, weighs 3.27 lb, and carries a warranty with no stated end date. It is the strongest single row in this ledger.
- Published size
- 21.7 × 13.8 × 9.1 in
- Weight
- 3.27 lb
- Capacity
- 40 L
- Weight per liter
- 0.08 lb/L
- Cost per covered year
- $9.25/yr
- Published list price
- $185
Warranty All Mighty Guarantee — any reason, any product, any era
Fits 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY. See the limits.
What it does well
- 0.08 lb per liter is the best carry efficiency figure on this site
- The All Mighty Guarantee names no failure cause and no time limit
- 21.7 in height clears the 22 in standard with room to spare
What you give up
- 13.8 in width clears 14 in only when the pack is not overstuffed — soft bags grow
- No wheels, so a long terminal is carried on your back
- $9.25 per covered year is good but not the cheapest here
The arithmetic behind the score
- Value 7.2/10 — $185 ÷ 20 yr = $9.25/yr; $185 ÷ 40 L = $4.63/L
- Airline-fit breadth 3.6/10 — Fits the published carry-on limit at 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY
- Carry efficiency 8.7/10 — 3.27 lb ÷ 40 L = 0.082 lb/L
- Warranty & support 10.0/10 — no stated end date (6 of 6); repair published (+2); covers airline damage (+2)
Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.
Specs: Osprey published specifications and price, compiled 3 September 2026.
2 · Anyone who wants a front laptop pocket on a hard shell
LEVEL8 Road Runner Carry-On (20 in)
Skip this one. Skip it for Delta on the second test. Its published 21.5 x 14.4 x 9.2 in is 45.1 linear inches - over Delta's 45 in cap by a tenth of an inch, even though it is under the standard height. It is the clearest illustration on this page that the two tests are independent.
The only hard case here with a published height under 22 in, and it pays for that with the worst weight-per-liter figure in the ledger.
- Published size
- 21.5 × 14.4 × 9.2 in
- Weight
- 9.3 lb
- Capacity
- 35 L
- Weight per liter
- 0.27 lb/L
- Cost per covered year
- $9.50/yr
- Published list price
- $189.99
Warranty Lifetime warranty
Fits 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY. See the limits.
What it does well
- 21.5 in published height is genuinely under the 22 in standard
- Front-opening laptop pocket that takes a 15.6 in machine
- $9.50 per covered year against a lifetime warranty
What you give up
- 9.3 lb for 35 L is 0.27 lb per liter, more than double the Maxlite 5
- 14.4 in width is still a fifth of an inch over the 14 in standard
- The lightest thing in the bag will be the bag's own dead weight allowance
The arithmetic behind the score
- Value 6.6/10 — $189.99 ÷ 20 yr = $9.50/yr; $189.99 ÷ 35 L = $5.43/L
- Airline-fit breadth 3.6/10 — Fits the published carry-on limit at 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY
- Carry efficiency 1.4/10 — 9.3 lb ÷ 35 L = 0.266 lb/L
- Warranty & support 6.0/10 — no stated end date (6 of 6); no published repair route (+0); airline damage not covered (+0)
Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.
Specs: LEVEL8 published specifications and price, compiled 3 September 2026.
3 · Hawaiian's 25 lb carry-on cap, and anyone lifting a bag overhead unaided
American Tourister Airconic Carry-On Spinner
At 4.43 lb it is the lightest hardside carry-on in this ledger by nearly a pound, which matters most on the carriers that publish a weight cap.
- Published size
- 21.7 × 15.8 × 7.9 in
- Weight
- 4.43 lb
- Capacity
- Not published
- Weight per liter
- Not published
- Cost per covered year
- Not published
- Published list price
- Not published
Warranty Limited 10 year global warranty
Fits 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY. See the limits.
What it does well
- 4.43 lb empty leaves over 20 lb of payload inside Hawaiian's 25 lb published cap
- Polypropylene flexes and returns where ABS cracks
- 7.9 in depth is the slimmest here, which is what actually decides a tight bin
What you give up
- 15.8 in width fails the 14 in limit at six US carriers
- No published price, so we cannot compute cost per covered year
- Light shells transmit more impact to what is inside them
The arithmetic behind the score
- Value not scored — No manufacturer-published price, so this axis is not scored.
- Airline-fit breadth 3.6/10 — Fits the published carry-on limit at 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY
- Carry efficiency not scored — No published capacity, so weight per liter cannot be computed.
- Warranty & support 4.0/10 — 10 yr (4 of 6); no published repair route (+0); airline damage not covered (+0)
Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.
Specs: American Tourister published specifications, compiled 3 September 2026. American Tourister lists the Airconic on its own store but did not publish a price we could read on 3 September 2026, so the Value axis is not scored for this bag.
4 · One or two trips a year on Southwest, Frontier or Allegiant
Amazon Basics Hardside Spinner (21 in)
A three-year warranty against a decade elsewhere is the whole story: this is the bag you buy when the trip is next week and the budget is fixed.
- Published size
- 21.6 × 14.9 × 10 in
- Weight
- 6.9 lb
- Capacity
- 39 L
- Weight per liter
- 0.18 lb/L
- Cost per covered year
- Not published
- Published list price
- Not published
Warranty Amazon Basics three-year limited warranty for luggage
Fits 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY. See the limits.
What it does well
- 21.6 in published height is under the 22 in standard
- 39 L published capacity at 6.9 lb, which is 0.18 lb per liter
- Built-in TSA lock on a bag at this tier
What you give up
- Three-year warranty is the shortest in this ledger by seven years
- 14.9 in width and 10 in depth both fail the standard box
- No repair route published — the remedy is replacement inside three years, then nothing
The arithmetic behind the score
- Value not scored — No manufacturer-published price, so this axis is not scored.
- Airline-fit breadth 3.6/10 — Fits the published carry-on limit at 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY
- Carry efficiency 4.9/10 — 6.9 lb ÷ 39 L = 0.177 lb/L
- Warranty & support 1.5/10 — 3 yr (1.5 of 6); no published repair route (+0); airline damage not covered (+0)
Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.
Specs: Amazon Basics published product specifications, compiled 3 September 2026. Sold only through Amazon, so its price is a live retail price rather than a manufacturer list price. We do not carry a number we have not verified live — check it on the day.
5 · Flying carriers that actually measure, and packing light on purpose
Rockland Melbourne Hardside Spinner (20 in)
The only bag in this ledger whose published dimensions clear every single US carrier's carry-on limit — because it is genuinely small.
- Published size
- 20 × 13 × 10 in
- Weight
- 7.5 lb
- Capacity
- Not published
- Weight per liter
- Not published
- Cost per covered year
- Not published
- Published list price
- Not published
Warranty 5 year limited warranty (published terms vary by retailer)
Fits 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY. See the limits.
What it does well
- 20 × 13 × 10 in clears the published carry-on limit at all eleven US carriers here
- 43 linear inches, comfortably inside Delta's 45 linear inch cap
- Expandable, so the small footprint is a floor rather than a ceiling
What you give up
- Published warranty term differs between sources, which is its own warning
- 7.5 lb for a case this small is a poor weight-per-volume trade
- ABS shell at the cheapest end of the material ladder
The arithmetic behind the score
- Value not scored — No manufacturer-published price, so this axis is not scored.
- Airline-fit breadth 3.6/10 — Fits the published carry-on limit at 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY
- Carry efficiency not scored — No published capacity, so weight per liter cannot be computed.
- Warranty & support 2.5/10 — 5 yr (2.5 of 6); no published repair route (+0); airline damage not covered (+0)
Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.
Specs: Rockland published product specifications, compiled 3 September 2026. No manufacturer-published price was readable on 3 September 2026. The Value axis is not scored for this bag.
No live price is currently verified, so every button here reads Check price on Amazon rather than a number we cannot stand behind. See how we handle prices.