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 (pun intended), luggages are getting lost, and airlines are charging a pretty penny for carry-on bags and checked luggage. 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 bag. The personal-item bag is a must when you have to fly no-frills options like Spirit Airlines, Frontier, or basic economy seating for domestic travel, since it's the only bag you can carry that's free of extra costs. These functional bags also make long-haul flights easier with convenient access to all your necessities right in front of you.
What Qualifies as a Personal-Item Bag?
A personal-item bag can be a backpack, a tote bag, a diaper bag, a laptop bag, or anything small enough to fit underneath the seat in front of you. Each airline has different qualifications on sizes and proportions, and we've listed a few common ones below:
United: 9" depth x 10" width x 17" height Allegiant: 7" depth x 15" width x 16" height Spirit: 8" depth x 14" width x 18" height Delta: 9" depth x 13" width x 17" height Southwest: 8.5" depth x 13.5" width x 18.5" height JetBlue: 8" depth x 13" width x 17" height Frontier: 8" depth x 18" width x 14" heightA quality personal-item bag has enough room for all your travel essentials and necessities while being compact enough to fit the airline guidelines. Going on a quick weekend getaway? Your go-to personal-item bag should fit all your vacation must haves, including a few outfits, an extra pair of shoes, toiletries and makeup, necessary chargers, and maybe even a flat iron and a reusable water bottle. There are several stylish and quality personal-item bags on the market that take all this into consideration, so you can travel smarter. Ahead, we curated the best personal-item carry-on bags for flying.