I am planning to travel with Etihad Airways (Economy) to the US. I have a check-in bag of dimensions 72cm x 45cm x 30cm and it weighs less than 23 kgs. However, on the Etihad website, they have mentioned that the max. dimensions allowed is 158cm (70x50x38). Should I have to stick to the mentioned dimensions or I should only care about the total sum of length + breadth+ height?
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For checked baggage, weight tends to be way more important than precise dimensions. All bags get weighed, but I have never seen a piece of "normal" luggage being measured during check in. Even if they do, a small discrepancy like this is highly unlikely to be a problem, especially since your overall dimensions are good. However, you may not know for sure until you get there and deal with a specific gate agent.– HilmarJul 17, 2018 at 16:27
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Same here. From my experience with Etihad they don't check dimensions, only weight. They might do it when luggage is ostensibly oversized, but not for small discrepancies.– guillaume31Jul 18, 2018 at 10:02
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On the other hand, as your luggage exceeds the stated allowable dimensions, you should probably be prepared to deal with it, in the event that either the airline, or more likely, one of its employees/agents were to be picky all of a sudden.– CGCampbellJul 26, 2018 at 12:13
1 Answer
Airlines do weigh checked baggage and that is the most important measurement, actual dimensions are almost never measured for 'normal' luggage. Even when they do, small differences are hardly ever a problem, especially if the overall dimensions are good.
There is, however, no guaranty a specific agent may measure and give you a harder time.
At this time there is no tradition of measuring luggage out of sight of the passenger and coming back to them with complains.
If the rules change in the future, you might be stuck with a piece of luggage that can not be used on flights.