<<We also have a smushed flat baggie in our carry-on that has socks, undies, toothbrush and razor. Those baggies have been loaded and locked for several years and about a hal a dozen trips.>>

Do you really use the same travel toothbrush for several years? Have these brushes ever been sanitized? I'm assuming that the other contents have been washed between trips.

Please note weight restriction issue above. Lufthansa and Air France do weight, in my experience, and I am flying Alitalia this weekend who also say that 8 kilos in a cabin bag is the limit. Eight kilos isn't a lot.

Also, despite changes in airport regulations, some airlines themselves will make you put a purse or tote into your carryon since one carryon means one carryon.

Since you are flying on a codeshare flight (Delta/KLM), the actual carrier's rules apply, in this case KLM. Read their carryon rules, not Delta's. It does not matter if you are holding a Delta-issued ticket, it goes by KLM's rules.

Maybe I've missed something but if you're flying Seattle to Munich via a stop/plane change in Amsterdam, wouldn't you have your luggage checked straight thru to Munich. In that case you wouldn't have to mess with storing luggage for your brief stop-over. I could be wrong tho.
Susan

Have we talked you out of the gigantic suitcase idea yet?

Thanks again for the advice. I am about decided two smaller checked bags will be the right thing to do. Obvo\iously the carryon plan was the one where we would have to make arrangements in Amsterdam. And by the way, my memory about the train to Centralle Train station in Amsterdam from Schipol airport is that they run every few (15-20) minutes and it takes about 15 minutes to get there. Am I remembering this right?

The trains to Centraal run on multiple tracks so you have a good chance of getting on one very quickly, 10min wait at most. I do recall the ride being about 15 minutes or so. Waiting in a ticket line will take longer that the train, lol. You can probably find a ticket kiosk that takes a credit card, I can't remember that part.

We are currently 3 adults traveling in Germany and Austria. We have two (2) 24" suitcases and (1) 22" suitcase. We all checked our bags but each of us had a small carry on bag for medications, cameras, etc., that we didn't want to check.

We rented a compact station wagon and were given a Kia Ceed which has plenty of room for all of our luggage. It would definitely accommodate (4) 22" suitcases.

It can be quite tiring hauling suitcases in and out of your car, so the smaller the better I think.

Yes, you are remembering correctly about Amsterdam.