11 Best Personal Item Backpacks For Delta, United, American Airlines and more
When it comes to comfort and versatility nothing beats a well-designed backpack. So it should come as no surprise that a backpack is our airline personal item bag of choice.
If you are looking to use a backpack as a personal item on your next trip then you may be disappointed to discover that most backpacks may be too large or just lacking the features needed to used as an on-flight travel bag.
This is why we decided to do the research and list the best backpacks that can be used as personal items on flights. Our top picks fit a number of important personal item requirements such as size, pocket placement and travel-friendly design features.
Difference Between a Personal Item and a Carry-On
Let’s start with explaining the difference between a personal item and carry-on bag.
The difference is simple: a carry-on bag must fit in the overhead compartment while a personal item must fit underneath the seat in front of you.
If a bag is too large to fit in underseat storage then it will be treated as a carry-on bag. If a carry-on bag is too large to fit in overhead storage then it will be treated as a check-in bag and you will not able to bring it on the airplane cabin with you.
Examples of carry-on bags include carry-on luggage, weekender backpacks and large travel bags and duffels. Personal item bags include a purse, briefcase or small backpack.
Each airline has their own specific measurements for what can be considered a carry-on and a personal item so it’s important that you check with your airline to make sure your bags fit the measurement requirements.
When it comes to personal items it’s also important to understand that underseat dimensions can vary by airplane, boarding class and seat location. For example, there is no underseat stowage in the front rows behind the bulkhead and smaller planes tend to have smaller underseat storage dimensions.
Shown above: Knack Pack Series 1 expandable backpack
Is a backpack a personal item?
Can a backpack be a personal item? The simple answer is yes, a backpack can be a personal item.
The important thing to note about airline personal items is that just about any bag can be used as long as it fits under the airline’s personal item dimensions. This includes backpacks, diaper bags, purses and briefcases.
The key to making a backpack count as a personal item is to make sure it’s small enough to meet the size requirements. Many backpacks may be too bulky to fit underneath an airline seat or can be considered too large by the airline.
Below is a chart of the most popular airlines in the United States with their stated personal item bag size. This chart was last updated on 09/24/2019. Make sure to check your airline’s official website for the latest carry-on and personal item size requirements.
| Airline | Personal Item Size |
|---|---|
| American Airlines | 18" x 14" x 8" |
| Alaska Airlines | No specific size |
| Air Canada | 17" x 13" x 6" |
| Delta | No specific size (see our Delta size guide) |
| Frontier | 18" x 14" x 8" |
| JetBlue | 17" x 13" x 8" |
| Southwest | 18.5" x 13.5" x 8.5" |
| Spirit | 18" x 14" x 8" |
| United Airlines | 17" x 10" x 9" |
If you are looking for more airline-specific guidance make sure to check out our personal item backpack guides for JetBlue, United Airlines and Delta Airlines
Best Personal Item Backpacks
Timbuk2 Division Laptop Backpack
The Timbuk2 Division is our top pick for the best personal item backpack, thanks to its airline-friendly size, protective laptop sleeve, and rugged, water-resistant construction. At 22 liters, the Classic Backpack is roomy enough to hold airline travel essentials, such as headphones, clothing, water bottles, and snacks.
The Division's compact dimensions also meet most major airline personal item requirements, including those of United Airlines and JetBlue, which have more restrictive personal item size limits. This makes the Timbuk2 Division a reliable go-to underseat bag for years to come!
Bag dimensions: 17.3” x 10.6” x 5.12”
Db The Strøm Backpack (20L)
Available in a ton of fun colors, the Db Strøm is the backpack for those who want to pack as much as possible while still staying under most airline personal item bag size requirements. This is thanks to the Strøm’s roomy 20 liter clamshell main compartment for easy packing of clothes, toiletries and more.
Since all personal items must be stowed away underneath an airline seat, we really like the Strøm’s large top pocket that allows for easy access to things like a phone, charging cables or headphones without having to pull the backpack out from underneath the seat. It’s small details like these that make the Db Strøm a perfect travel companion.
A great feature of the Db Strøm is that it can attach to Db’s roller luggage using the brand’s innovative Hook-Up System. This allows for easy carry of all your bags at once which can make a big difference on hectic travel days.
Bag Dimensions: 17.7” x 10.6” x 5.5”
Day Owl Backpack
The Day Owl backpack would make an excellent personal item bag to take on flights thanks to its sleek design. It’s low profile also makes it easy to carry and maneuver through crowded airports. Inside, it offers great functionality with carefully designed compartments and pockets to keep your belongings organized during your journey. The padded laptop pocket can securely accommodate up to a 16" laptop, while the spill-resistant bottle pocket is ideal for carrying a water bottle.
Additional features like the floating top pocket, flat front pocket, and secret side pocket provide convenient storage for small essentials such as glasses, lip balm, wallet, pens, keys, phone, and more. With its sustainable materials and thoughtful design, the Day Owl backpack is the perfect companion for hassle-free and stylish travels.
Bag Dimensions: 17” x 12" x 5”
Osprey Arcane Daypack
The Osprey Arcane is a minimalist backpack for both daily carry and travel for those who want to keep things organized. Known for their functional outdoor bags, the Osprey Arcane is made with highly water resistant fabric to keep your gear safe and a breathable mesh back panel for all-day comfort. It’s this commitment to functionality that allowed Osprey to gain a spot on our favorite brands like Fjallraven list.
Inside you’ll find a 16” laptop sleeve as well as an array of organizer pockets for a boarding passes, a passport and tech accessories. The Arcane’s small footprint and compact design is compliant with all airline personal item size restrictions for peace of mind when traveling.
Bag Dimensions: 17.72” x 11.81” x 8.66”
Everlane ReNew Transit Backpack
Everlane’s newest addition to their bag line is also incredibly airline friendly. The Everlane ReNew Transit backpack offers a roomy design that also fits most airline personal item size requirements. The backpack has travel-friendly features such as a side water bottle pocket, outer zip pockets for small items and a generous main compartment for clothes, toiletries and more. When used as an airline personal item we like that you have access to a zip pocket located on the top of the backpack lid for easy access to essentials like headphones or a phone while the bag is stored underneath the airplane seat. The laptop sleeve also has side zip access so you don’t have to open up the main compartment to access your tech.
The Everlane ReNew Transit backpack is designed to be unisex and can be worn by just about anyone. And thanks to Everlane’s multiple color options you can choose the right one to fit your style and taste.
Bag Dimensions: 17.5” x 12” x 7.25”
Pacsafe Venturesafe Anti-Theft Day Pack
The Pacsafe Ventursafe is an anti-theft travel backpack made for lugging around essentials during busy travel days. It’s safety features include RFID blocking pockets, slashproof materials, and an anti-pickpocket design. As for carry, the Venturesafe includes a handy organization panel pocket in the front for easy access to small items during a flight in addition to a roomy main compartment with a 13-inch laptop sleeve. Once you arrive to your destination, the Pacsafe Venturesafe makes the ideal travel daypack thanks to it’s anti-theft design and moderate size.
Bag Dimensions: 18.1” x 10.2” x 6.3”
Knack Small expandable knack pack
Knack’s Small Expandable Knack Pack is a multi-functional backpack designed to be used as both a daily backpack and travel bag. This is thanks to it’s expandable main compartment that makes room for clothing and travel gear when you need it to. Compressed, the Knack Pack gives you plenty of pockets and compartments that you have come to expect in a daily driver backpack - making it perfect to use as a daypack once you get to your destination.
The Small Expandable Knack Pack is recommended for anyone looking for a quality travel backpack to use as a free personal item on most airlines. Even when fully expanded, the Small Knack Pack only measures in at 17" x 12" x 9” which is small enough to fit underneath most airlines seats.
Bag Dimensions:
Unexpanded: 17" x 12" x 5"
Expanded: 17” x 12" x 9"
Matein Anti-Theft Hard Shell Backpack
It’s not often that you can find an affordable weekender backpack small enough to fit underneath an airline seat but Matein pulls it off with their Anti Theft Hard Shell backpack. This backpack has an expandable main compartment that so that you can master the art of one-bag travel on short trips.
Matein does a great job at providing enough internal organization for your laptop, chargers and personal travel items. Plus the entire backpack features a hard shell construction that’s usually only reserved for suitcases. Add in a built-in anti-theft lock, external USB phone charging and a sleek compact design and you have the perfect personal item backpack.
Bag Dimensions: 17” x 10”x 6.5” (unexpanded) & 17” x 10” x 8” (expanded)
Troubdaour Bivy Tote Backpack
If you are on the hunt for a stylish travel backpack for air travel then the Troubadour Bivy is worth a closer look. This small backpack fits most airline personal item requirements while still providing room for light packing thanks to its 21 liter capacity and endless pockets.
Designed as a daily and travel backpack the Troudabour Bivy Tote Backpack offers clever features such as discreet side water bottle pockets, padded laptop and tablet sleeves and waterproof fabric and zippers for extra protection from the elements. Want to change your look? The Troubdadour Bivy converts from backpack to tote bag in seconds thanks to its stowable shoulder straps.
Bag Dimensions: 17" x 11" x 7”
Topo Designs Rover Pack
The Rover Pack by Topo Designs is a medium-sized backpack that can be used for everything from air travel to sightseeing and outdoor hikes. This is thanks to the Rover Pack’s thoughtful travel features and handy pocket placement that makes accessing your essentials a breeze while on the move. Features include everything from a convenient top pocket for easy-access to passports and boarding passes to a padded 15” laptop sleeve to keep your expensive tech safe and secure.
Bag Dimensions: 17” x 11” x 4.5”
Read more about the Topo Rover
As a travel bag, the Rover Pack packs a punch with a generous 20 liter of main compartment capacity. This travel bag is also made super tough - Topo uses nylon pack cloth on the body and heavy duty YKK zippers for the pockets. When all is said and done the Topo Designs Rover Pack might be one of the best values on this list given its great quality materials that are usually reserved for more expensive bags.
Fjallraven Kanken 15-inch
The Fjallraven Kanken is one of the most popular backpacks on the planet right now and it’s easy to see why. Beloved by school children and traveling adults alike, the Fjallraven offers a large and roomy main compartment with full panel zipper access. This design makes the Kanken perfect for storing clothing, toiletry bags and other travel items. Its compact size and square shape makes it ideal for underseat airline storage and the top handle makes the bag easy to grab when you are seated.
We chose to go with the slightly larger 15-inch laptop version of the Kanken for this list. Not only does it include a padded laptop sleeve (the original Kanken design does not) but despite its larger size, the Kanken 15-inch still measures under the personal item bag requirements for most airlines.
Bag Dimensions: 15.7” x 11” x 6.3”
How to Choose the Best Personal Item Backpack
If you have read this far and didn’t love our any of the backpack choices then that’s ok.
Each backpack on this list was chosen because it fit our own personal item bag requirements and you can use these same guidelines to find the right personal item backpack for you.
These requirements include:
Backpack size
Pocket accessibility
Travel features
Backpack quality
1. Backpack Size
It’s no secret that airlines will crack down on the size of your personal items and carry-ons, this is especially true on smaller planes and crowded flights. We made sure that each backpack on our list fits the maximum personal item bag size for most airlines.
Southwest Airlines has one of the largest personal item size limits at 18.5”x 13.5” x 8.5” while United Airlines has one of the smallest personal item bag limits at 17” x 10” x 9”. Since each airline bag requirement is different we can’t guarantee that every backpack on this list will be the right size for you next trip, but we have found that 18-inches is the average maximum height for most airline personal item bags.
When it comes to carrying capacity, backpacks under 20 liters are usually small enough to be considered a personal item with the most common size being around 18 liters. While you can’t expect to pack for an entire 2-week vacation at this capacity, it’s the perfect size to carry the essentials you will need for a comfortable flight. Travel pillows, water bottles, books and a laptop can all comfortably fit inside an 18-20 liter backpack.
2. Pocket Accessibility
Another must-have in a personal item backpack is good pocket placement that can be easily accessed while you are seated on the flight. A personal item is meant to be stored underneath the seat in front of you and the most important items in your bag should be easily accessible.
Ideal pocket placement will be on the top and front of the bag. This allows you to grab small essentials like headphones, charging cables and snacks without having to remove the entire backpack from underneath the seat.
Laptop accessibility is also important as you will want to be able to quickly grab or store your laptop without having to rummage through the backpack’s main compartment. Backpacks with side or top laptop access are the best options when choosing a personal item bag. It also makes going through security checks at the airport much smoother as you’ll have quicker access to your tech.
3. Travel-friendly Features
Travel-friendly features include things like trolley sleeves so that you can attach the backpack to rolling luggage, passport or ticket stash pockets and lockable zippers. Find out which travel features you can’t live without and go with a backpack that includes as much of them as possible. This may sound like a no-brainer but it’s still worth mentioning. Getting to the airport and not having a quick pocket to stash your airline tickets is a sorry fate.
4. Backpack Quality
The final requirement we have for choosing the best personal item backpack is quality. When choosing any travel bag you want to make sure the quality is good enough to withstand the rough handling usually encountered on busy trips.
Brands with a reputation of good quality like Patagonia, eBags and Fjallraven were sure to make our list. But we also made sure to not mention backpacks that were too cheap. We’re talking about those $20 backpacks that may get the job done but fall apart with repeated use.
You want to make sure the bag you purchase can be your go-to travel bag for years to come. This means spending a little more on brands that offer quality materials, good construction, and smart designs.
If you are looking for a versatile backpack that can also be used as a daypack once at your destination make sure to look out for high quality materials that are water resistant. If protecting expensive tech on your travels is important, then going with bags with extra padding in the laptop sleeve and separate fleece-lined pockets for small electronics will be your best bet.
