According to the FAA, for most airlines, the total of your bag's height, width and depth shouldn't exceed 45 inches. But having a small suitcase doesn't guarantee you the right to take it on the plane. The airline's staff may ask you to check your carry-on luggage if there's not enough room left in the overhead bins. Most airlines only allow one carry-on piece and one small personal item, such as a laptop bag, a handbag or a backpack. But since each airline is allowed to make its own rules regarding quantity and size, call customer service to confirm your air carrier's rules.
Before packing, call your airline to find out what its guidelines are for checked suitcases. Companies base their limits either on luggage weight or number of bags per passenger. But you may be able to travel with more by paying a fee for excess luggage. Also, the same air carrier might have different baggage rules for domestic and international flights.
You're allowed to carry items such as beauty products and medicine in liquid, gel and aerosol form in your carry-on bag. But the amount of each item shouldn't exceed 3.4 oz. Put as many as will fit in a 1-quart clear-plastic zip-top bag (only one bag is allowed per traveler).
Larger amounts of infant formula, breast milk and liquid food are also allowed on planes. At the security screening point, you'll need to declare those items to one of the TSA agents on duty before going through the gate.
Gel candles and gel insoles, as well as snow globes, have to be checked. Flammable liquids, aerosols and gels are not permitted in any luggage regardless of the amount.
Anything with blades or points, such as ice picks, razor blades (outside of cartridges) and knives, has to be in your checked luggage. The TSA also asks that you wrap any sharp objects to keep them from hurting baggage handlers and inspectors.
Any sporting item that you could use to hurt someone is banned from carry-on bags. Among these are baseball bats, bows and arrows, cricket bats and ski poles. If they fit, put them in your checked suitcase. Otherwise, check them as separate luggage at the airline counter.
All ammunition, guns and firearms are prohibited on the plane's cabin. To find out whether your airline allows ammunition and unloaded weapons in checked bags, call its customer service ahead of time. Gunpowder and flares are not permitted on airplanes.
Sharp tools and tools longer than 7 inches regardless of whether they have sharp edges are not allowed in carry-on luggage. But you can put them in your checked bags. Hammers and drills (with or without bits) also have to be checked. Screwdrivers 7 inches or shorter can go in either luggage.
Before getting on the plane, check all martial arts and self-defense tools, including mace. Other items in this category include billy clubs, black jacks and brass knuckles, night sticks, throwing stars and stun guns.
Explosives, flammables and other dangerous chemicals are almost all prohibited in any luggage. The exceptions to this rule are no more than two fueled lighters stored in a Department of Transportation-approved case in your carry-on bag, and up to two small compressed-gas cartridges in life vests, and up to two spares, stored in either luggage.
