3 Best Carry On Luggage in 2023

When you’re looking for the best carry on luggage 2023, you need to pay attention to the most recent airline rules in regard to the size and weight of allowed carry on bags in addition to your personal needs and preferences. More than that, we are looking at affordable carry on luggage only because expensive luxury luggage like the Louis Vitton luggage line will do two terrible things. First, it marks your luggage as containing expensive items, and second the durability of the luggage is the same as the more affordable luggage brands.

Don’t confuse carry ons with best personal bags to take on a trip. Carry ons are bigger and are sometimes weighed.

I did a big deep dive into the carry on luggage available on Amazon to identify your top 3 options. Here they are :

Carry on features to prioritize

In my experience, I want to prioritize the number of things I can put in my luggage while not worrying about being told that I would be charged for oversized carry on baggage by the airline. In this article, we use the following analysis for selecting suggested carry ons – and yes, I purchased and am using one of them! (this post is not sponsored)

What are the important things to consider for carry on luggage?

  1. The size of the carry on luggage – both inside and outside.
    • Airline rules limit the size of luggage that is allowed as a carry on, which is measured on the outside of the luggage
      • Delta – 22 x 14 x 9 inches
      • American Airlines – 22 x 14 x 9 inches
      • JetBlue – 22 x 14 x 9 inches
      • India Air – 22 x 14 x 8 inches
      • United Airlines – 17 x 10 x 9 inches
      • Frontier Airlines – 18 x 14 x 8 inches
      • Spirit Airlines – 18 x 14 x 8 inches
    • You can be charged extra if it exceeds the size limits of the airline, for example, spirit airlines charge $100 extra per flight for oversized carry on luggage.
    • We want to maximize the inner space in the carry on for our stuff while having room for external wheels to have with maneuverability.
  2. The Weight of the carry on luggage
    • Airlines have a set weight that they allow for carry on luggage, which offers them another opportunity to charge you for overages. The lower the weight of the bag, the more that you can put into it before you hit that overage.
    • Also, luggage shouldn’t be so heavy with nothing in it
  3. The maneuverability of the carry on luggage
    • We are going to be dragging this carry on luggage through the airport. The idea is to get something that makes this process easy, something that feels more natural and less of a pain in the arse.
    • 4-way spinners – this is the answer. two wheels will give you some more space, but the 4 way spinners make your life easier so we focus on that.

Top pick: Best carry on luggage 2023

Top carry on luggage 2023: London Fog carry on

The London Fog carry on luggage below checks all the marks. It is a popular bag that has often been discounted to nearly $100 USD and has plenty of great reviews. Among the reviews, I have seen no reports of people being charged by airlines for the dimensions of the luggage. So it appears to fit the new airline restrictions for overall height under 22” with the handle and wheels. Moreover, this bag’s weight is on the lower side, weighing in at 7 pounds and the 4-way wheels are reviewed well too – allowing for versatility with very few reports of issues by this carry ons owners.

Quick Stats: Consistently follows airlines’ carry-on sizes, commonly discounted to about $110, low weight at 7 lbs, and great maneuverability.

Top carry on luggage 2023: London Fog carry on

Runner Up: Best carry on luggage 2023

Runner up carry on luggage 2023: SwissGear

SwissGear Sion Softside Expandable Roller Luggage – 21 inches. This is another great option for your carry on luggage in 2023. Everyone who has this luggage says that it is super easy to maneuver around an airport. On rare occasions, people have had issues with the extendable handle’s durability and even more rarely an issue with the durability of the fabric of the bag but I have not seen any reports of airlines rejecting it for its size. It weighs 7.5 pounds, which makes it the second lightest on this list, and comes in between $110 and $85 depending on the color.

Runner up carry on luggage 2023: SwissGear

Notable Mention: Best carry on luggage 2023

Notable Mention carry on luggage 2023: Atlantic Luggage

A final great choice for your carry on in 2023 is the 21-inch Atlantic Luggage. Please note that it is actually 23.5 inches including the wheels and weighs in at 8 pounds, just a pound heavier than the previous one. It costs about $80 without a discount and has a very roomy inside with solid wheels for dragging it around the airport.

The only downside is that it sounds like on rare occasions on JetBlue people have been told that this exceeds the size allowed as a carry-on. So by wary.

Quick Stats: $80, 23.5 inches high, roomy, good maneuverability.

Notable Mention carry on luggage 2023: Atlantic Luggage

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If you’ve come this far, perhaps you’re interested in how to plan out what to pack for your trip.