There’s nothing like going on a quick weekend trip to explore other cities or taking the time to visit friends and family you haven’t seen in a while. However, the costs of flying are skyrocketing, suitcases are getting lost, and airlines are charging a pretty penny for carry-on luggage and checked bags. The hunt for cheap flights and convenient travel is an ongoing challenge. One way to keep travel costs as low as possible: utilizing the personal-item carry-on bag. The personal-item bag is a must when you fly a no-frills airline such as Frontier or Spirit Airlines, or buy a basic economy seat for domestic travel, since it’s the only bag you can bring that’s free of extra costs. These functional bags also make long-haul flights easier with convenient access to all your necessities.
What Qualifies as a Personal-Item Bag?
A personal-item bag can be a functional backpack, a stylish tote bag, a spacious diaper bag, a laptop or work bag, or anything small enough to fit underneath the seat in front of you. Each airline has different qualifications on sizes and proportions, so we’ve listed a few common ones below:
- Spirit: 8″ depth x 14″ width x 18″ height
- Frontier: 8″ depth x 18″ width x 14″ height
- United: 9″ depth x 10″ width x 17″ height
- Delta: 9″ depth x 13″ width x 17″ height
- American: 8″ depth x 14″ width x 18″ height
- Southwest: 8.5″ depth x 13.5″ width x 18.5″ height
- JetBlue: 8″ depth x 13″ width x 17″ height
- Allegiant: 7″ depth x 15″ width x 16″ height
A quality personal-item bag has enough room for all your travel essentials and necessities while being compact enough to fit under the seat in front of you according to the airline guidelines. Going on a quick weekend getaway? Or want a set of essentials just in case your checked baggage gets lost? Your go-to personal-item bag should fit all your vacation must haves, including a few outfits, an extra pair of shoes, underwear, toiletries, makeup, skin-care, hair products, chargers, cords, and maybe a reusable water bottle.
There are several stylish and quality personal-item bags on the market that take all your travel needs into consideration, so you can travel smarter. Ahead, we curated the best personal item bags for planes, including tried and tested picks from our editors, like the Béis Mini Weekender Bag.
Ready to hit “buy” on a new one for yourself? Ahead, a selection of the best personal carry-on bags for flying.