I took this bad to Europe and it was awesome.  Never had to check anything with it, it always fit in the overhead compartment on Ryanair.  At the boarding ticket check point my friends would have to check their bag to see if it would fit in that bag size checking container (not sure what it is called).  I would never have to because the workers would see that it was all soft case and that it would easily fit in the overhead compartment.  I had 5 flights in Europe so it saved me atleast $250 having this bag.  I would also get the packing cubes to go along with this.