I am traveling on NWA and my carry on has to be 45 linear inches or less. If my bag is 50 linear inches ..

Question

but I don't stuff it, will it be ok? The box the bag came in says 26IN X 12.5IN X 11.5IN. Am I correct that this means it is 50 linear inches?

Answer 1

Yes, you are correct.  Your bag is 50 linear inches.  Some airlines are really fussy about carry on being too big, but some are not.  I would not chance it, as you don't want to have to go all the say back to check in and have to pay to check it.  Possibly you can borrow a smaller bag from someone if you don't want to buy another one.