Topics
Guides and shortlists for travel gear, measured against the under-seat and overhead limits of Spirit, Frontier, United, Delta and American.
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A basic-economy or budget fare includes a personal item and charges for a carry-on; the difference is measured in inches at the gate. This guide lists what American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and Frontier publish for each, read from their own pages on one day, explains what is missing and why, and shows how to pack a weekend into the smaller bag — with four bags as worked examples.
Comparison · Travel
A 20-liter hiking daypack at 1.3 lb that carries beautifully and is an inch over the personal-item line on paper, or a 28-liter laptop backpack at 1.7 lb cut to the 18 x 14 x 8 box that fits the rule and looks like every bag at the gate. On Delta or Southwest the Osprey is the nicer bag. On Frontier, at a sizer, the Matein is the one that flies free.
Review · Travel
Forty liters, a 17-inch laptop sleeve, straps that hide to make a duffel, water-repellent nylon, 2.2 lb and a lifetime warranty on defects, for less than most daypacks. It is inside the 22 x 14 x 9 carry-on box on American, Delta and JetBlue and is not a personal item anywhere. This review is about what 40 liters on thin straps feels like, and the one measurement Matein cannot agree on.
Shortlist · Travel
Packing cubes only work if they fit the bag: a 14 by 10 inch cube lies flat in a personal-item backpack, an 18 by 13.75 inch one fills a carry-on and nothing smaller. Five sets from Eagle Creek, Bagail, Gonex, BAGSMART and Shacke, compared on cube dimensions, piece count, material and compression, from the makers' pages where they publish them and the listing, marked, where they do not.
Shortlist · Travel
On American and Frontier the personal item is 18 by 14 by 8 inches; JetBlue says 17 by 13 by 8; Delta and Southwest say only that it must fit under the seat. A 19-inch backpack is over the line on paper and usually fine in practice, until it is not. Five backpacks from 16 to 40 liters, compared on the makers' dimensions, weight and laptop fit against the airlines' published limits.
