Solving the carry-on conundrum

A friend and business traveler recently attended an important meeting in Newport Beach, Calif. His agenda included lengthy sessions with key clients, an evening suit-and-tie dinner and an outing to Catalina Island.

He decided to pack everything in one suitcase and checked the bag with the airline for his departing flight at the Dane County Regional Airport. He boarded the flight, changed planes at Chicago O'Hare and flew to the West Coast.

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At the Orange County Airport, he waited at the baggage carousel for his checked luggage. And waited. And waited. In the small carry-on bag slung over his shoulder, he had packed only a few personal items, meeting materials and a handful of business cards. It was time to panic.

His bag, he would eventually learn, did not leave Chicago until three days after he did, arriving at his Newport Beach hotel the morning of his scheduled departure. Meanwhile, he bought necessities at a nearby department store and hoped that his checked bag with his new Brioni suit would find him ? quickly.

My friend's ordeal was not as disastrous as some. He did get his bag, albeit too late to show off his new suit, and the airline eventually reimbursed him for most of his California clothing purchases. But he might have avoided the ordeal entirely if he had limited his packed items to a carry-on suitcase.

He made a valid argument when I suggested this solution to him. How could he possibly have crammed his new suit into a carry-on bag that would meet airline size requirements and be assured he would not look like the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz" when he arrived at the suit-and-tie dinner?

I posed this question to Steve Levinson, manager of Wehr-mann's Travel Shop at Hilldale Shopping Center in Madison. He explained that unless the bag measures 22 inches wide and has a fold-in-thirds suit carrier feature, packing a suit in a carry-on bag is difficult.

But, I asked, doesn't the standard carry-on bag measure 22 inches wide by 14 inches high by 9 inches deep?

"Well, yes and no."

The problem, he said, is that airline rules are inconsistent, and whether they will accept a carry-on bag can depend on variables such as the size of the aircraft and load factors on a given flight.

Smaller, regional jets that have become the norm in the United States simply don't have room for a "typical" 22-inch carry-on bag in the overhead. Some very small planes might not even have overhead bins, requiring that bags be gate-checked and picked up on the passenger bridge or tarmac at the end of the flight.

To further muddy the waters, some carriers enforce the rules, some don't, and some do or don't ? depending on various factors.

And then there is the problem of weight. The limit for a carry-on bag on a U.S. airline is 35 to 40 pounds (except Hawaiian Airlines, which has a limit of 25 pounds).

In foreign countries, weight restrictions are typically more strict, especially on smaller aircraft where the limit can be 18 to 20 pounds. Some carry-on bags can weigh as much as 10 to 11 pounds empty and a fully loaded bag might far exceed limits.

To address the vagaries of luggage rules, several manufacturers now offer 18-inch, 20-inch and 22-inch carry-on bags. A 22-inch bag might fall into the does-it-or-doesn't-it-fit gray zone, while a 20-inch bag most often will be allowed onboard, Levinson said.

But will it hold a man's suit?

"Probably not," he conceded.

Back to square one. What other options could my friend have considered?

He could have worn his suit on the flight to the West Coast and had it pressed before the dinner. Or, he could have shopped for a suit in California.

Because this was a very important meeting, he could also have shipped his bag to California via a luggage delivery service such as Sports Express (www.sportsexpress.com); Luggage Express (www.866shipbags.com); Virtual Bellhop (www.virtualbellhop.com); or Sky Cap International (www.skycapinternational.com).

Luggage-shipping companies can be a liberating alternative. They'll pick up your bag at home or office (expect to pay $70 to $150 a bag) and will handle other articles as well, such as meeting materials, golf clubs, skis, snowboards and bicycles.

Sports Express makes it easy to sign up online and even offers gift certificates. Luggage Express guarantees its Le' Club members 20 deliveries of up to 70 pounds each for an advance annual payment of $995.

As the airlines downsize their schedules to cope with escalating overhead, you can expect flights to be full. It's more important than ever to pack light, know your options and, if what's in your suitcase is critical, think twice about checking it.