Frequently Asked Questions

No. There is no lab, no test units and no hands-on. Every figure on this site is compiled from the manufacturer’s published specification and each airline’s published baggage policy, with the source and date on every entry. The method is published in full.

Because you do not have to. A testing claim cannot be checked — you have no way of knowing whether anyone really dropped a suitcase down a stairwell. A cost-per-covered-year figure is a division you can redo yourself in ten seconds with the same spec sheet, and we link the spec sheet.

Four weighted axes: value at 35%, airline-fit breadth at 25%, carry efficiency at 20% and warranty terms at 20%. Each raw measure maps onto a 0–10 subscore against published breakpoints. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized. The weights and breakpoints.

Sawyer V., an enthusiast who reads the manuals and does the arithmetic — no credentials claimed, no tenure claimed, and no testing claimed. More about that.

Affiliate commission when a reader buys through a link, at no extra cost to you. We participate in the Amazon Associates program under the tag fafpackandporter-20. No brand pays for placement, we accept no free products and we sell nothing of our own. The full disclosure.

It cannot, because the order is computed by a published formula rather than chosen. Every roundup also names at least one pick we tell you not to buy, and several products on the site are ones we earn nothing on and say so.

A bag inside 22 × 14 × 9 in overall — wheels and handles included — clears every US carrier in our table. Southwest, Frontier and Sun Country publish larger boxes, but sizing to those means the bag fails at the majority of gates. Every published limit.

The useful frame is annual cost rather than purchase price. Bags in our ledger run from $4.75 to $19.50 per year of warranty coverage. At or under $10 per covered year is good value; above about $15 you are paying for something specific and it is worth knowing what.

Every travel pack in our ledger is lighter than every wheeled case in it, and packs handle stairs, cobbles and trains far better. A case carries its own weight on the floor and keeps clothes flatter. The ground you walk on decides it, not the flight. The numbers on both sides.

Yes for organization, no for space. Plain cubes do not reduce the volume of what you pack. What they buy is a bag that can be opened and closed on day four without unpacking it, for 4 to 11 oz of added weight. The honest answer.

No manufacturer publishes a lifespan, so the warranty term is the honest proxy — three years at the budget end, ten from Samsonite and American Tourister, and no stated end date from Travelpro, Osprey, Eagle Creek and others. What each term implies.

They fail differently rather than one failing more. Hardside protects contents and cracks; softside is lighter, expands, and abrades gradually while still working. The full trade.

Yes, on every US carrier, provided it fits under the seat. The constraint is size, not type: United publishes 17 × 10 × 9 in while American, Frontier and Allegiant publish 18 × 14 × 8 in — roughly 30% more volume. Every published box.

Most US airlines publish no limit at all. Hawaiian publishes 25 lb, and Frontier, Breeze and Sun Country publish 35 lb. International carriers are stricter — Ryanair caps the cabin bag at 10 kg and weighs it at the gate. The full table.

Yes. American states it measures the full outside size including wheels and handles; Allegiant states its measurement includes wheels, pockets, handles and decorations. This is why a manufacturer’s smaller “case” figure is the wrong number to shop on. How to measure yours.

The standard 22 × 14 × 9 in box is 45.4 L of geometry. Real bags publish 35 to 46 L, because shell thickness, wheel housings and the handle trolley consume volume the outside dimensions include. The arithmetic, worked.

Because it stopped flying. Spirit began an orderly wind-down and canceled all flights on 2 May 2026 after two bankruptcies. Most carry-on size tables online still list it, which is a useful test of whether a page is maintained. Our note on it.

No. Spare lithium batteries and power banks must travel in the cabin, where a fire can be reached. If your carry-on gets gate-checked, take the power bank out first. The other items with this rule.

Every carrier limit was read from that carrier’s own published policy on 3 September 2026, and each row carries the date it was checked. It is re-verified monthly, and the date shown is the real date of the check rather than a build timestamp.

Because the manufacturer does not publish that figure and we do not estimate one. Several bags publish no capacity, two publish no price at all, and several accessories publish no warranty term. Inferring a capacity from outside dimensions could be wrong by a quarter, so we say so instead.

Because no live price has been verified within the last 48 hours. Prices on this site come only from a live lookup, never from memory — a stale number is worse than no number, because it is the one thing on a page a reader acts on directly. Our price policy.

39 products compiled from published manufacturer specifications, and 11 US carriers plus three international ones. The full ledger is public.

Tell us and we re-check it against the primary source, update the value and re-date the row rather than editing silently. Because scores are computed, a corrected spec propagates into every table that uses it. Send it here, or email info@packandporter.com.