The best way to travel cheaply these days is to pack light. That’s because in the majority of cases, a basic airfare “just covers getting on the plane,” says Jasmine Anderson, travel agent and co-host of the podcast Travel Fly Sexy. “Everything else is additional.” With full-size carry-on bags an optional expense, what remains free for now is each passenger’s “personal item,” which can theoretically be anything that’s TSA-approved and small enough to fit under the seat in front of them. For short trips on a budget, “you can absolutely travel with just a personal-item bag,” says travel creator Jessica Ufuoma. It’ll potentially make for a more enjoyable vacation: “You might be arriving on a morning flight and want to explore as soon as you arrive,” says Daniel Burnham, senior product-operations specialist at Going. “You can’t do that with a trolley full of bags in tow.”
No-frills carriers like Frontier and Spirit are strictest on personal-item-size bags, with Frontier even offering commission to staff members who charge passengers extra luggage fees at the gate. To avoid being pulled aside as you board, make sure your bag’s dimensions don’t exceed 8 x 18 x 14 inches and that it’s not too overstuffed to slide into a baggage sizer. Passengers can technically bring only one bag aboard as their personal item, which means that you might be questioned for wearing a cross-body in addition to your backpack. To get around this, try buying a snack at the gate, suggests Travel Fly Sexy co-host Natasha Wilson. “Then place your purse in that plastic shopping bag and smuggle it onto the plane.”
Best personal-item bags
You’ll have to leave your Away carry-on at home when traveling with a personal-item-only, but that doesn’t mean hard luggage is completely out of the question. Anderson, Wilson, and packing expert Lauren Kelly all praise this tiny suitcase with snap-off spinner wheels that can slide miraculously into the cruelest of baggage sizers. (“Frontier lately is charging people for wheels and handles sticking out of the sizers,” says Kelly. “That means $100 extra for each leg of the trip.”) Measuring 18 x 14 x 8 inches, the suitcase’s rectangular shape maximizes space and allows you to use packing cubes: “I have put a laptop and a week’s worth of clothes in the Take Off,” says Anderson. Kelly agrees that “it will give you the most packing space if your goal is a weeklong trip where you pack a personal item only.” The suitcase comes with a small bag to put its wheels in while your bag is being sized by airline staff — you can also just stash them in your pockets.
When packing light, Kelly tends to swap between the Take Off suitcase above and this backpack, which she recommends because the brand “also focuses on personal-item-size bags only — it doesn’t even make bigger bags.” Unlike a hard suitcase, the Underseat Pro backpack has side pockets for easy access to essential items and can obviously be worn on the shoulders to keep your hands free. Like the Take Off, it meets personal-item-sizing requirements exactly, measuring 18 x 14 x 8 inches. It also features a luggage-handle sleeve for when you’re traveling with an additional suitcase.
Calpak’s durable bags were highly regarded among travel experts I spoke with. Measuring 18 x 12 x 7.5 inches, the brand’s Terra backpack helps maximize packing space while meeting dimension requirements, and its rectangular shape also fits cleanly into baggage sizers. If you’ve overpacked, external compression straps can help you squash things down a bit, says Ufuoma. And the clamshell zip means this “nice-looking and durable” bag “flips out like a suitcase, which makes it easier to use packing cubes.”
Calpak’s slightly smaller Luka shoulder bag measures 12 x 16 x 7 inches and features a hidden shoe compartment as well as useful external pockets that are big enough for a small water bottle or book. As above, this bag’s rectangular shape is designed to slide smugly into baggage sizers. Among travelers in the know, it’s “popular for good reason,” says Ufuoma. “It’s very roomy, and it just works.”
For a sleeker look, Ufuoma recommends this vegan leather Monos backpack. “There’s space for a laptop, there’s a compartment in the front for skin care and makeup, and in the main area you can fit at least four tops and two pairs of pants,” she says. “So, including what you wear on the plane, that means you’ll have three pairs of pants with you on the trip.” The backpack has a sleeve on the back to slide onto your carry-on luggage handle, should you be embarking on any longer trips in the future. For short ones, it measures 11.5 x 16.5 x 6 inches, complying with personal-item standards.
Dagne Dover’s Landon bag is “an absolute gem and a lifesaver,” says Jessica Morrobel of Traveling With Jessica. Going’s travel spokesperson, Katy Nastro, is also a fan, especially for quick overnights. She likes that it has “all the pockets built in, so I can be very organized,” and that the bag slips over her luggage handle when she’s on longer trips. The duffel comes in five sizes, but medium is the best option if you know you’ll be flying on budget carriers with strict rules. Measuring 14.5 x 7.5 x 9 inches, it’s more compact than other bags here, although the flexible neoprene fabric allows for overpacking.
Another stylish option for weekend trips is this thoughtfully designed backpack with slightly rounder edges than the Underseat Pro above, making it appropriate for day hiking and office commuting. Travel creator Jessica Wright of Bon Traveler is a longtime user and says she is “shocked” by how much she can fit in this 18 x 12 x 6 inch bag. “You can definitely fit everything you need for two nights,” she says. “It’s wildly spacious, like a black hole almost.”
Best personal-item packing cubes and organizers
The 12 travel experts I spoke with were divided on the issue of packing cubes, especially as most personal items are only big enough to fit one or two. They also warned that packing cubes sometimes give people the confidence to overpack clothing they don’t technically need on short trips. The consensus was that if you do use cubes, compressive ones like these from Calpak are ideal. Ufuoma says they’re made from a material that’s “thick and durable — your clothes will stay where you put them.”
Jewels Rhode of Travel With Jewels says she’s had no issue with this more affordable full set of compression cubes that also has options for a longer trip.
While travel TikTok has popularized the concept of packing 30 outfits into a carry-on using vacuum storage bags, none of the experts I spoke with recommended using this method. “Please don’t listen to the influencers,” says Kelly. “I do a lot of trips where I move from place to place, and if I had to vacuum everything every time? Just no.” Anderson and Wilson do, however, recommend these small space-saver bags that don’t require a vacuum and are “like Ziplocs for clothes.” As Wilson explains, “Several of them can fit inside packing cubes — so you can organize your outfits but keep them all in one cube.”
“I can’t stress enough how essential it is to have an organizational pouch that can neatly hold my cables and smaller electronic gadgets,” says Morrobel. She says that this one “fits the bill perfectly — it’s water-resistant and fits comfortably inside any bag.”
Best personal-item laundry products
“If you want to be minimalist in your packing, think about doing laundry every two days or so,” says Nastro. “Especially for a week, it’s totally doable.” Because they are small and essentially weightless, she takes along a few of these instant laundry sheets that dissolve in water: “And now I don’t feel worried about packing an outfit for every single day.”
When rolling your clothes up tightly or using compression cubes, there’s a high chance they’ll emerge from your bag looking a little rumpled. If this is a serious concern, Ufuoma suggests bringing along a small bottle of Downy’s wrinkle releaser so that you don’t have to locate a steamer or iron on the ground.
Alternatively, “you actually can fit a steamer in a personal item,” Wilson insists. She likes this folding one, but admits that the best hack is still probably “to pack fabrics where you don’t have to worry about wrinkles.”
Best personal-item accessories
Anderson and Wilson both recommend this stuffable travel pillow as a way of sneaking extra clothes onto the plane. “It’s a great hack because you can fit extra T-shirts, shorts, and swimwear into something that no one is looking at you sideways for because it’s a pillow,” says Wilson.
Water bottles are both a travel essential and a complete packing nightmare, which is why we’ve been recommending this “Capri Sun for adults” since 2020. When empty, just roll it up and put it in your pocket — or clip it to the exterior of your bag with the included carabiner.
A packable nylon tote bag can hold dirty laundry, wet beach clothes, or groceries. Going’s senior product designer, Pratika Appaiah, “never travels without” this Baggu one, which she says “can even be a picnic blanket for one if I go to a park, because it’s waterproof.”
Weight typically isn’t a concern with personal-item bags, especially on domestic airlines. “But for international travel, especially in Europe, they definitely do care,” says travel agent and content creator Adrie Smith. Because she “never wants to be the person unpacking their stuff on the airport floor,” she always makes sure to bring along a travel scale. Burnham agrees that one of these is “an excellent investment.”
Wilson says that this compact three-in-one wireless charger “has significantly decreased the number of cords and gadgets I have to take with me.” It can simultaneously charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods case.
Best personal-item toiletries
A common piece of advice among the experts I spoke with was that even “travel-size” miniature toiletries are too large to pack into a personal-item bag. “It’s a really common mistake that I see people make,” says Kelly. “People will bring a lot of big ‘travel-size’ things in a huge toiletries bag. That will take up a quarter of your luggage — it ends up being as big as a packing cube.” Instead, she recommends decanting a small amount of product into these miniature Cadence capsules, which can be slipped anywhere in your bag and are completely leakproof.
Small shampoo and soap bars are also a great packing solution, says Appaiah. She likes Lush’s bar shampoo because it lasts for months.
Most Dopp kits don’t pack flat, which makes them tricky to tesselate with your packing cubes, especially in a small bag. One of the most compact solutions surprisingly comes from luxury skin-care brand Aesop, says Wright, who purchases this Kyoto travel kit on a yearly basis. “I can take it off the shelf and have everything I need,” she explains. “It all fits in this small, flat case. When I’m really traveling light, I just bring the set and don’t fuss.”
Best clothes to pack in a personal-item
When packing light, make sure all your tops and bottoms can be mixed and matched. “If you can, stick to a color scheme,” advises Ufuoma. “Take neutral colors that go well with each other.” A comfortable pair of pants that can be worn both out to dinner and on the plane is a great starting point. Yolo Journal’s Yolanda Edwards loves these stretchy flares from Anne Mashburn, which she says are both cheaper and more durable than High Sport’s popular kick pants. “I’ll wear them on every single flight,” she says. “It’s thick cotton with a lot of Lycra, but it’s not a legging, so you don’t feel like you’re wearing exercise clothes.”
Wright says that L.A .brand the Great’s cotton tees are so thin “you could probably fit 12 of them” in your bag. Available in numerous neutral shades, “they’re amazing quality, they’re soft, and they don’t wrinkle like thicker tees do.”
Merino wool is a natural fiber beloved by outdoorsy people for its sweat-wicking and anti-microbial properties. In other words, merino-wool clothes don’t need to be washed as regularly as cotton ones do, which makes them great for travel, says Kelly. She likes dresses from the brand Wool& because “it has cute, fashionable things where you don’t necessarily look like a hiker.”
Cold weather is probably the biggest challenge a light packer can face. Rather than a bulky coat, Burnham (who is currently on a trip that started in Iqaluit in the Canadian Arctic and will finish in tropical Vietnam) carries a packable down jacket from Eddie Bauer that folds into its own pocket, which he says “is just as good as any packing cube.”
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