I am traveling through Europe this summer for a semester abroad program. I will be flying several airlines (NWA to Europe, AirBaltic and SAS inter-Europe). On the trip, I plan to take one large piece of checked luggage, and one carry-on. I recently bought a Kelty Redwing 3100 (Measures 37x46x64 cm) but have done some research and realized that the airlines limit the carry-on to 23 x 45 x 55 cm. Does anyone know how strict they are on this? I will be flying (in Europe) from Amsterdam, Moscow, and London. Does anyone have any suggestions for a backpack?

Thanks!

Oh... One more thing. Does anyone have any suggestions for credit cards or other payment methods? I will be there for three months and need an efficient way to pay.

It seemed that overhead bins on inter-European planes were physically shallower.

Whether they enforce the rule was not that black and white. It depended on the load of the plane and whether the check-in/gate agent decided to enforce the rule.

I always pack my luggage as if I would be asked to check it at the last minute.

hi ndrwsybs [catchy screen name, BTW!]

have you checked the websites of all 3 airlines? the ones I am most familiar with have different limits - some are weight, others dimensions.

you also have to consider that they are now getting very strict on how many pieces you carry on eg - for women, it is not a back pack AND handbag [purse to you] but one or the other. so if I take a backpack, it has to be big enough to have my handbag stuffed into it, just to get through security. and on Ryanair, STILL not weigh more than 10kgs.

aas for currency, the fodorite approved method is to use ATMs to get local currency as and when you need it, and c/cards for big purchases. you might want to set up direct debits on your credit cards so that you don't incur penalties or get your card/s stopped because you have inadvertently not made a monthly payment. also let them know a few days before you go that you will be using the cards in Europe. interestingly, it's only in the US that this seems to be necessary - I've never had my UK bank show any interest whatsoever in where I use my card/s.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

Do not mess with the weight restrictions! I have had to almost strip down to my skivies, and leave 2 kilos of fabulous chocolate to the airline "gatekeepers". Ryan Air, British, British Midland, and, KLM are among the worst!

Sidley

64 cm is almost 26", certainly not a "carry-on" size! That's big even as a checked suitcase.

"64 cm is almost 26", certainly not a "carry-on" size! That's big even as a checked suitcase."
I agree. You will likely have problems if you try to pass it as a carry on!
"It seemed that overhead bins on inter-European planes were physically shallower."

a very good point.! True.

I bought a great carry-on for the exact purpose. I will be taking short flights in Europe as well.

Try www.ebags.com the bag is called:
"The Weekender Convertable"
It's on special right now for $55.oo it is the largest size for carry-on. It comes with a handle to carry, a side strap and Straps (that tuck away for storage) to wear it as a backpack. It comes in four colors. I love mine and it has Great Reviews. Good luck and have fun in Europe. I too will be on Study abroad and leave in 20 days. Hooray for us

Overhead bins are often smaller and I have seen numerous people have to gate-check cary-ons that are legal in the US. You ned to understand 3 things:

The size listed must include the handle and wheels - they cannot be extra
Weight matters too- they're serious about those tiny weights
Flights often fly full and they will be very strict about regulation (if they have an empty flight they may give you some leeway - but I think that's very rare).

My carry on for europe is 19" and there were a couple of overheads that wouldn;t have held a bigger one.

The 26" is the SMALLER of the two suitcases?

Are you staying in one place and doing small trips? If so this MIGHT work if you downsize the 26". I can travel on a week for business with workpapers etc in a 22". No reason a student could not do it with a 19 to 20" (no workpapers taking up half the case LOL!) As has been stated European airlines are MUCH stricter and they often WEIGH the cases too. (Something I have NEVER seen on an American airline for carryon!)

If however, you are hauling all your worldly possessions with you do the following:



Step one. Pack up these two suitcases. Step two. Get on your local version of public transport with all this stuff. (Subway, bus etc) (That's if you have one) Step three (if you have to skip step two you may, but...) Go someplace and hike about 30 minutes or more with all this stuff trailing behind you.

Step 4. Come home and start over!

You are moving around a lot and that's just too much luggage.

Time to start doing some research on packing light. Does anyone have the link to the packing threads on here for OP? www.onebag.com comes to mind. Rick Steves website also has suggestions.

Found them. OP read this thread and the related threads linked in it. Great packing advice. (This woman makes most of us look like rank amatures on packing light LOL!)

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ack-part-8.cfm

Heh heh. Thanks for the props, CarolA, but I can only imagine what the OP will think when faced with threads that run to well over 200 posts.

In any case some clarification from the OP would be helpful: will you be primarily lodged in one place and then take shorter trips from there? Or are you planning on taking all of this enormous amount of luggage with you on all of these journeys? Are you staying in hotels? Dorms? Apartments?

Thanks for all of your help so far. I'll try to clarify my OP a bit.

The trip is a summer semester in Europe where we will be traveling to a new location every week (10 countries total). While in each location, we will stay in the same place and take day trips. We will primarily be staying in hotels, but a couple of dorms along the way as well.

Do you have any suggestions for carryons? I was thinking something like this: http://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/w...ariationId=001

Any ideas?

Visit onebag.com. This is GREAT packing advice, and also has good recommendations on bags, and what to look for in a bag. Remember, you can do laundry (a pain, but easier than carrying everything everywhere) and you're going to buy things as you go, which adds up.

I have a patagonia MLC (converts from shoulder bag to backpack) that is perfect for carry on, and a larger Red Oxx Air Boss that I use for longer trips. Also carry-on size. I use a medium sized backpack (Crumpler's Yee Ross - has waist and sternum straps and the zippers are designed to be more secure) as my personal carry-on, and pack a small, flat, fabric wristlet purse (clutch) to use for evenings out. I also pack a canvas grocery tote bag (I picked one with long straps so I can use it as a shoulder bag). It's not super-secure, but it looks like a grocery bag so thieves pretty much pass it by. Sometimes I'm just tired of carrying a back-pack.

Wear a money belt or pouch on the inside of your clothes. That's the best carry-on you can bring.

"<i>we will be traveling to a new location every week</i>" Staying a week at a time in each place means you can take lots less luggage - not more. W/ the luxury of being "home" every night, you can wash some things in your room and have a day or two for them to dry. And then maybe every 10 days or so - do "major" laundry at a launderette. You should be able to get by w/ one small or small-ish suitcase, or a backpack or duffle.

The "carry-on" you describe is not carry-on sized and is about the most you'd need should you decide to check it. But you could probably get by w/ a smaller bag.

Also as a student, although you may not have a lot to spend, you may want to buy a few things so don't head over there with your bags full to the brim.

You have TOO much luggage.

Your current carry on should be your big piece and you need to downsize the carry on.

See my post above and TRY it. I took a group of 10 to Europe where we did about the same. They had LESS luggage then you plan and still told me "we packed too much, I am tired of hauling all this stuff" (And we only moved three times over 3 weeks!)

You simply have too much stuff and need to downsize seriously. It's quite do-able, since you'll be spending a week each in 10 different places, with the opportunity to get clothes cleaned. My daughter spent 4 months last year traveling to 11 countries on 4 continents and did it all with a large duffel bag and a medium-size backpack. You have TOO MUCH STUFF. The airlines are generally serious about the weight limits. Start over and pack properly.

I should also mention that I have to take 4 textbooks--all of which are quite large and heavy. Thats what drew me to a larger carry-on so that I could save my luggage space for lighter things.

The size of carry on bag you quote is too large for US airlines let alone non-US airlines. Most US airlines allow hand luggage as large as 56x45x25cm (66 litres) or 45 to 50 "linear" inches (ie the sum of height, width & depth)

And I'd be rather surprised if you have 4 textbooks that will fill a 110 litre (6700 cubic inches) space