Lisa, carryon luggage does not have to be able to fit under the seat in front of you it just has to fit the parameters the airline sets.

The area under the seat in front of you is much smaller than overhead.

People in bulkhead don't have seats in front of them.

Weekend trips I carry-on one 22" rollerboard along with my small purse. Husband does the same except instead of a purse, he brings a small backpack (that will fit under the seat) for his reading material and music.

For longer than a weekend, I have no problem checking my luggage. I will normally pack a 26" rollerboard (and leave enough room, or bring a collapsable bag for souvenirs) and check that. And, then I will carry-on a small shoulder bag with essentials that I don't or can't replace, should the other stuff get lost.

If my baggage gets lost, it gets lost.... no use in worrying about it.

And, for those people who complain about people who take forever to get their luggage from overhead and hold up the line: the luggage isn't the problem. It's the idiots who insist on holding up the line, instead of being courteous enough to let someone who is ready pass on by. Again, don't blame the product, when it's really the USER who is to blame. Kind of like cell phones. :)

Not to be inflammatory Simone but haven't I heard that user argument about guns? Still don't get it.

I check. Love the freedom of walking around.

Ingognito, I don't know if you can get by with a carry-on or not. I typically bring about four changes of clothes (mix and match) wherever I go, but I am able to do laundry about every fourth day. So, you would just have to figure up the amount of days you are in places that you can't do laundry and go from there.

Actually, after remembering you are going for three weeks, Incognito, and having very limited laundry accomodations, I'm sure you realize you are going to have to check your bags.

IMHO, being able to do laundry every few days is the only way that you can really travel light over a period of time. Sometimes it's feasible and sometimes not.

Have a great time in Alaska, though!

We do the carry on only. Just one bag each person though, even the kids. And we do not hold up people deplaning...as a courtesy to others we wait til everyone else gets off before we do. We do that because there are 4 of us and just trying to stay together can be difficult. We have managed 3 weeks in Europe in the winter with just 1 carryon per person and managed just fine. We just have laundry done when needed. We did check our bags on the way home once...amazing how only the bags with the female name tags on them were broken into, lol! Guess they thought we did lots of shopping and there would be goodies inside. Nope...those were carried on thankfully:)