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 durable 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 accessories 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 a top-rated weekender bag from Béis.
Ready to hit “buy” on a new one for yourself? Ahead, a selection of the best personal carry-on bags for flying.