carry on luggage

[poohfriend77]

I've always used a backpack as my carry-on bag for my kids, for snacks and things to keep them busy on the plane. But with the new baggage fees, I'm considering taking 20-in. suitcases as carry-ons for each of us. I'll never be one of those people who ONLY takes carry-ons, but maybe I can get away with only one checked suitcase this way. I said MAYBE...

My question is, do those little suitcases fit under the seats, or do they have to be stored overhead? It's always such a pain to get things out of there. Last time we flew, I sat in the bulkhead seat, so underseat storage wasn't even an option, and I can't really remember how much room there is.

My other thought was to pack a small backpack inside the suitcase. When we get on the plane, I could stow the suitcase overhead and take out the backpack to put under the seat. Now that my kids are getting older (6 and 4) I feel like I need less stuff to keep them occupied. I could probably get away with just a DS and a book for DD6, and a coloring book, crayons, and DVD player for DD4. And snacks, of course!

 

[turtlegirl1]

The suitcases would have to go in the overhead, I don;t think that size would fit under a seat. But each person gets 1 carry on (the suitcase ) + 1 "personal item", which I would make the backpack to go under each of your seats.

 

[whitneyNC]

That's right. We take a rolling 20" piece and a backpack each and check nothing. Plenty of room, no fees.

 

[poohfriend77]

Thanks! I'm making this to hard, aren't I? I've always taken a backpack as my "big" item, plus a purse as my personal item. It didn't even occur to me that the backpack could be a personal item.

I still think we'll have to check one bag, but now I'm more confident that it will only be ONE bag. I admire those of you who do carry-on only!

 

[jana616]

That's right. We take a rolling 20" piece and a backpack each and check nothing. Plenty of room, no fees.

I've asked this on several other threads and gotten mixed answers...when you say a backpack, are you talking school-type, Jansport, Spiderman, etc.? I was hoping to do the same, and let each kid bring their school backpack as their personal item with things to keep them busy, but I keep getting differing answers as to whether they're too big. I do not want to get there and have to check something else, you know? Thanks!

 

[disneymomofmyca]

I've asked this on several other threads and gotten mixed answers...when you say a backpack, are you talking school-type, Jansport, Spiderman, etc.? I was hoping to do the same, and let each kid bring their school backpack as their personal item with things to keep them busy, but I keep getting differing answers as to whether they're too big. I do not want to get there and have to check something else, you know? Thanks!

A school back back is fine. We bring messenger bags as well as 20 in. carry ons and have never had trouble.

 

[whitneyNC]

I've asked this on several other threads and gotten mixed answers...when you say a backpack, are you talking school-type, Jansport, Spiderman, etc.? I was hoping to do the same, and let each kid bring their school backpack as their personal item with things to keep them busy, but I keep getting differing answers as to whether they're too big. I do not want to get there and have to check something else, you know? Thanks!

Yep, fairly large LL Bean school packs for the kids, a sling type for husband, and the larger Vera backpack for me. All considered personal items.

 

[Colleen27]

We take one school-sized backpack with activities & snacks, one school-sized backpack as a diaper bag/purse, one camera bag, and one laptop bag as our personal items. This time, to avoid checked bag fees, we'll also have 3 20" suitcases (for 5 of us) and we'll have a grocery delivery on arrival to supply diapers, wipes, baby food, sunscreen, and other consumables for the trip. The only thing we plan on checking for our 9 night stay is DH's golf bag.

 

[all4fun]

My other thought was to pack a small backpack inside the suitcase. When we get on the plane, I could stow the suitcase overhead and take out the backpack to put under the seat. Now that my kids are getting older (6 and 4) I feel like I need less stuff to keep them occupied. I could probably get away with just a DS and a book for DD6, and a coloring book, crayons, and DVD player for DD4. And snacks, of course!

We always take a small suitcase and put it in the overhead bin. I don't know what it measures but it is small enough that usually we can put it in wheels first so the top is facing the aisle and the wheels are facing the outside of the plane. It is too big for under the seat. It holds our laptop, cameras, and dh's PSP. The PSP and anything else we need during the flight (food, book, etc) comes out of the suitcase prior to boarding and gets put in a bag that will go under the seat. I always have a small backpack or messenger that things will fit in. Sometimes ds will have a backpack as well. We just started letting ds, who just turned 6, have his own backpack this last trip because prior to this, we would have ended up carrying it anyway, so we just carried his stuff. He is taking more pride in being a "big boy" lately so we are using that to our advantage now.

Anyway, this method works really well for us. We always get to the airport with plenty of time to spare so there is always plenty of time to shift things from the suitcase to the bag. It makes getting things through the airport a little easier.

Oh and a word of warning about taking one rolling suitcase for each of the kids. If the kids are too young to pull their own then you will be pulling it for them. We did carry on one small suitcase for each family member (3 of us) on our December trip since we could only check 1 case per person and we were doing a 2-1/2wk trip. One week was a cruise. So we had lots of clothing (and used it all too). Anyway, ds was still too little to pull a suitcase so dh and I had to each pull two bags plus we had a stroller for ds...Anyway, It wasn't fun. At our home airport, we can take a smart cart through security to the gate so it wasn't a problem, but they don't let you do that in Orlando (MCO). just fyi...

hth

 

[CyndiLooWho]

The best thing to do with your carryon "luggage" (not the personal item) is to take the time to stop by the airport and check to see if your carryon fits in their checker. I have flown before (usually KLM and Air France), where they refused to let people bring bags on b/c they didn't fit right. My own beloved rolling valise is not allowed as a carryon for those carriers, and it stinks.

So, before you breathe easy, take your 20" carryons and make sure they fit into the bag measure thing. They are usually located right at the check-in area, so your spouse can sit in the loading zone with the car and you can pop in and check the bag out. If you don't live close enough to an airport, carefully measure your bag, and check it against the measurements on the carrier's website. If they say 20x10x37" (my made up number - DON'T go by it), make sure your bag is less than or equal to 19x9x36". This ensures that you don't get tripped up by wheels or handles sticking out too much. Don't get hit with the checked baggage fee for something you can easily check beforehand.

 

[SassyCat]

DH and I will be taking our first flight in years and years for our July trip. I have been freaking out about the size of carry on. It has gotten so much smaller than the last time I flew (erm...around 2000). I have been having a hard time finding a suitcase that seems to completely fit Delta's carry on standards (approximately 22"x14"x9"). which appear to be a tiny bit smaller than some of the other airlines I've looked at. Does anyone have a suggestion for a suitcase they know counts as a carry on?

There is no way we are going to check anything in. eeek!

At this point, it is a very short trip, so we are planning on brining the bare minimum. We are going to just use bookbags as our complete carryon.

We will be taking a trip in sept for mnsshp and the expedition everest challenge. I know we will need to pack more then, so we would like to do a carry on suitcase and a bookbag to get as much as we can in there. Now, being the worry wart I am, I'm worried Delta will not let a bookbag be the personal item.

There web site says:

Personal Items
You're allowed one personal item from this sample list:

Purses, briefcases, camera cases, and diaper bags
Laptop computers (can’t be checked and must be carried on)
Items of a similar or smaller size to those above (I guess the bookbag would count as this one?)

Has anyone had experience with using a bookbag as their personal item on a delta flight?

Thanks!

 

[jana616]

delta is what we're flying too, so I'd love to know this specifically as well!

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Has anyone had experience with using a bookbag as their personal item on a delta flight?

Thanks!

We've flown Delta both domestically and internationally numerous times in the last 3 years. Our personal items have ranged from dvd players to my dh's computer backpack and we've never been questioned on them. The only time we've had issues with carryons has been on legs where Delta was not the flight operator (ie, it was a Delta flight, but the plane and personnel were Air France or KLM).

So, if you are flying within the US, I think you'd be ok with just about anything that was smaller than carryon size.

A good rule of thumb is that one of your carryon/personal items MUST be able to fit under the seat in front of you, otherwise you may be forced to check one. We got around that be divvying up bags between the four of us, making sure we had no more than one item (usually your 20-22" rollaboard) per person that was too big to go under a seat.

 

[poohfriend77]

OP here again! I just wanted to say thanks for all the helpful advice.

I told DH my plan last night and he looked at me like I was crazy. He said "you'd rather drag three or four small suitcases all over the airports, rather than spend $15 to check our big suitcase? What's an extra $15 when we're talking about a $3000 vacation?" OK... so maybe he has a point. At least I tried.