Is a 40L Backpack a Carry-On or a Personal Item?
A 40 L pack is overhead-bin sized on US majors (about 22 x 14 x 9), not under the seat. Liters are interior volume. A sizer measures the packed exterior.
Practical travel tips covering budgeting, planning, safety, and getting more out of every trip.
A 40 L pack is overhead-bin sized on US majors (about 22 x 14 x 9), not under the seat. Liters are interior volume. A sizer measures the packed exterior.
United's personal item is 17 x 10 x 9 inches (United writes 9 x 10 x 17). Basic Economy is personal item only on most routes, and CommutAir on every fare.
Weigh a packed suitcase on a bathroom scale by subtracting your body weight. The empty bag weights come from brand spec sheets, not TBE scale readings.
Ryanair's free bag is 40 x 30 x 20 cm under the seat on every fare. The 10 kg 55 x 40 x 20 cm overhead bag needs Priority, and an oversize bag costs 70 to 75 EUR at the gate.
Vueling's free bag is 40 x 30 x 20 cm under the seat, and Fly Light is that bag only. Gate fees run 60 to 75 EUR for the small bag and 110 to 140 EUR above 55 x 40 x 20 cm.
You can check a backpack under the same size, weight and contents rules as other luggage. Stow or cover the harness, and keep power banks and spare lithium in the cabin.
An expansion zip counts when the packed exterior breaches the airline's limit. Measure the bag closed and open, then compare both totals with the cabin box and the checked limit.
Pack the backpack as you'll fly it, stow the harness, then measure height, width and depth at the widest exterior points and compare them with the airline's box.
Power banks belong in carry-on, not checked luggage. Use the printed Wh rating or calculate it from mAh and cell voltage, then check your airline's count and onboard rules.
Frontier and Allegiant both publish an 18 x 14 x 8 inch personal item, written in different orders and checked in different ways. Spirit used the same box before it stopped flying.