With airline tickets being increasingly a la carte instead of all-inclusive, paying for even carry-on bags is becoming more common. Here are some carry-on baggage that FIT. These bags range from $9 to $300 so there is something for every budget.
This is Part 2 of a 3 Part Series.
I made bag sizers to match most dimensions of Canadian airline sizer rules (as of July 2024) and did a sample pack of both carry-on and personal item sizes to show just how much you can, or can't fit.
BUT! The real challenge is finding a bag that suits your budget and your lifestyle to fit all that stuff in. In this part, I tackle carry-on bag options.
Part 1 is here. An overview of the actual clothes you can fit in a carry-on and personal item space
Part 3 is here. A look at personal-item sized bag options
Here are 5 Carry On Bag options
If you prefer a video - click here for a full breakdown!
I wanted to find something that would be extremely affordable, and this hit that goal.
While this bag is very affordable, it is best suited for the infrequent traveller who just needs something to carry their items. I would not expect this to be a bag that would tolerate frequent heavy-duty use.
The added benefit to this bag is that it is collapsible and stores in its own pocket, so you could bring it along on other tips as a secondary bag if you will be shopping a bunch or bringing a bunch of extra items home.
I already owned this bag, so I threw it into the mix to compare. At 60L, it absolutely is too big of a bag to fill and it fits in a carry-on sizer.
However, if you under packed this bag, it is comfortable enough to carry, use the shoulder strap, and also wear the carry straps like a bookbag to simply use what you have instead of buying something new. We are all inundated with hidden marketing and ways to make us feel like we need more and more stuff. You don't. Use the bags you have!
JUST DONT FILL IT.
This bag also comes in a smaller size at 35L which would also fit carry on sizes very well!
I actually spotted this bag on someone's TikTok and I gasped! I had hunted for a bag that opened like a suitcase for months before purchasing each of my Cotopaxi Allpas, and there were very few on the market, and even less affordable options.
This Decathon affordable option does just that! At under $100, it even has some features that my Cotopaxi bags don't have and can be a pain point. It has compression straps on the outside to compress your belongings inside. It also has an exterior water bottle holder, which the Cotopaxi bags do NOT have.
The build quality seems a little lower than some of my premium-priced bags, for example, the zippers fetch more on the corners of the zipper line, but overall I absolutely wish I had known about this bag before and would. have purchased it over my Cotopaxis.
I have two bags from the same line that have the same appealing zip-open sections. I purchased the 28L first, used, but it is quite small and probably is more of a minimalist traveller level of carry-on packing!
I use this bag the most and have used it for 14 days of travel, but find it's best suited to 7-day trips or less. Unfortunately, it falls slightly above the normal personal bag size for Canadian airlines, but still works great for me as most of the time I am travelling on a ticket that is a free carry-on. I bought this used for $80 USD. The added bonus of a soft-sided bag is it's easier to buy them used as you can fully wash them in the washing machine to know they're squeaky clean, even if they're used.
5. Cotopaxi Allpa 35 -$300
This is the larger version of the 28L Allpa above. I mostly use this for longer trips now - 14 days or more.
I found in my sample packing experiments in my video that this felt bigger than the Forclaz, even though it technically holds 5L less.
I wonder if the exterior pockets on the Forclaz contribute to the overall volume calculation.
Here are some packing lists to give you an idea of what to bring! 14 Days in a Carry-On Bag
UP NEXT!
Part 1 - How much can you pack Canadian carry-ons and personal items?
Part 3 - Great Personal Item Bags (from $0 to $150)
Disclosure: I am not a travel agent and this is all my personal opinion based on what I have experienced.
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