The 9 Best Underseat Luggage Pieces of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Nov 05, 2024

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

Our favorite underseat luggage options are sleek, sturdy, and hold all the essentials.

In This Article

Travel + Leisure / Jhett Thompson

A piece of underseat luggage is one of the best solutions for preventing baggage stress while traveling by air. You can have your valuables right at your feet, you don’t have to worry about checked bag fees, and the best underseat luggage can fit at least a few days’ worth of clothing.

To find the best carry-on luggage that fits under airplane seats, we tested 21 bags in our New York City lab. We packed each bag with a weekend’s worth of clothing, a laptop, and a toiletry bag and then placed the suitcases in a compartment we created to replicate the average dimensions of storage space underneath airplane seats. We set up an obstacle course to test the maneuverability of the wheeled bags by pushing and pulling them around cones, and we even built our own to-scale airplane set to test how each piece of luggage fit under the seats and in overhead bins. Take a look at the picks that withstood the tests and impressed our editors.

It's sturdy, functional, and much more spacious than it looks.

It doesn't maneuver quite as easily on two wheels as it does on all four.

If you're looking for a compact piece of softside luggage, the Calpak Luka Soft-sided Mini Carry-on impressed us in pretty much every category, ultimately snagging the top spot on the list of underseat luggage we tested. After putting it through a series of tests, we discovered the bag is much deeper and more spacious than we thought — in fact, we were effortlessly able to pack two outfits, two toiletry bags, a pair of sneakers, a laptop, and a charger inside. It also boasts three small interior pockets, a laptop sleeve, a small exterior pocket, and an accordion-style front pocket for easy access to your items, making the mini spinner an organized traveler's dream.

When it came to construction, we were equally blown away. Even when packed full, it's incredibly light and wheels easily on four wheels over surfaces of all types. We tossed the bag around and hit with a baseball bat to test its durability, and while the handle did pop open on one particularly rough toss, it never scuffed or scratched and the items inside remained intact. It doesn't maneuver quite as easily on two wheels as it does on all four, but it's lightweight, and you can even use the luggage sleeve to slide it over the handle of a larger suitcase. To top it all off, every zipper on this bag ran smoothly for us, and it fit perfectly under an airplane seat. We tested it out in the rose quartz hue, but we also love it in rouge, peony, and oatmeal.

The Details: 16 x 14.25 x 9 inches | 5.38 pounds | 23.2-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels | Water-resistant polyester

The bag has plenty of storage for small and larger items, making it a versatile option for travel.

It was a tight fit under the seat.

Whether you’re traveling by train, airplane, or car, the Samsonite Spinner Underseater with USB Port is a great choice for a versatile and functional underseat bag. We loved how easy it was to pack a laptop and clothing for a weekend trip. The suitcase has one main compartment, and the U-shaped opening folds out to reveal a mesh zipper pocket. Between the large compartment and the opening flap, there is a padded laptop sleeve that can fit laptops up to 13.3 inches. Since the suitcase has one large compartment, you can fit bulkier items like shoes or a blazer if you’re traveling for work. We thought the exterior pockets on the front and side were ideal for storing headphones or a tablet, and the attached USB port is a game-changer for charging your phone while traveling. The suitcase rolled smoothly and was comfortable to carry with the top handle.

The Details: 16.5 x 13 x 9.5 inches | 6.17 pounds | 36-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels | Polyester

It has a beautiful design that matches other Delsey luggage and accessories.

It's a tight fit under standard seats, and may not fit under smaller seats.

We love Delsey for its stylish matching suitcases and accessories, and this elegant underseater was no exception. It has 20 liters of capacity, so it fit everything on our packing list easily. It has one main compartment and an external front pocket that is large and padded enough to fit laptops and other tech items. We love the interior snaps that allow you to partially open the suitcase (so it opens like a mouth when upright), but then you can unsnap the panel to fully open flat to pack. It also includes cinch pockets inside so you can individually pack shoes, water bottles, or toiletry bottles.

The exterior is made out of fairly soft recycled polyester, so it does scuff a bit during transit, and the lighter colorways are prone to staining. But the bag is so small and lightweight, the two wheels glide smoothly, and it's easy to carry. When packed full, it can be a tight fit under most airplane seats, but it will certainly fit in overhead bins and under more spacious airplane seats. You can also get Delsey's matching carry-ons, checked bags, or even a train case.

The Details: 16.5 x 15.75 x 8.25 inches | 5.97 pounds | 20-liter capacity | 2 wheels | Polyester

It has one large compartment that’s perfect for fitting bulky clothes like shoes and jeans.

The bag may be too large for some underseat spaces, depending on the aircraft and your seat position.

If you’re looking for a roomy piece of luggage that fits under most airplane seats, then the Rockland Melrose Upright Wheeled Underseater Carry-on Luggage is your best option. In testing, we were impressed with how easy it was to pack two days’ worth of outfits, including two pairs of pants, three T-shirts, a sweatshirt, and a pair of heels. After regularly using the bag for six months, this is our new go-to weekend bag as it has plenty of space for all our needs.

The bag has a U-shaped opening with a large main compartment for clothing items, and the opening flap has several mesh and zippered pockets for storing smaller items. We liked how organized the suitcase was thanks to plenty of interior compartments, two mesh water bottle pockets, and two zippered front pockets. The bigger front pocket is tablet-sized but can’t fit a laptop, so you'll need to store your laptop in the main compartment. The roller bag easily fit under the seat during our test, but the ample space inside the suitcase comes with a risk of overstuffing and not being able to slide it in front of your feet.

During our maneuverability assessment, we found the inline wheels to be difficult to turn on tight corners, but the bag rolled smoothly when we pulled it behind us. Additionally, the handle was slightly difficult to pull up to the preferred height of shorter team members. Still, we think the superior organization and impressively plentiful space make this underseat luggage well worth an investment, especially if it’s on sale.

The Details: 16 x 11.5 x 8 inches | 4.56 pounds | 2 wheels | Polyester

It has zippered compartments on the front and sides to easily access your most needed items.

The front tends to bulge outward when the bag is packed full.

This cute and convenient bag comfortably fits everything you'd need for a quick weekend trip, including your shoes and toiletry kit. It has an extendable handle as well as regular bag handles, so you have the convenient option to roll or carry it. The bag also has straps on the inside to keep your items in place during transit.

Two zippered extenders leave room for expansion, although you may have a harder time fitting the bag under your seat when fully extended. Inside, you can keep all of your item organized in two interior stretch pockets and an interior zippered pocket; outside, there's an exterior pocket on the front and one on each side of the bag to keep all of your most needed valuables within reach. This bag moves smoothly across the floor and its four wheels make for easy maneuverability around corners.

The Details: 17 x 13 x 9 inches | 5.6 pounds | 34-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels | Chevron Quilted Polyester-Twill

It provides excellent organization and protection with a laptop sleeve, zippered interior pockets, and pouches.

The bag's lock instructions were not included and aren't available online.

The Calpak Hue Mini Carry-on Luggage is both functional and stylish. The bag fit perfectly under the airplane seat we recreated, and although it’s a hardside bag, we think it has enough give to be able to squeeze it under a tight seat. In testing, the bag provided excellent organization, with one side dedicated to mesh pockets and a laptop sleeve while the other side was an open compartment for shoes and clothes. We fit two pairs of pants, a bomber jacket, flip-flops, and three shirts inside the underseater without issues.

The one downside to the Mini Hue Carry-on is that there are no pockets on the outside of the suitcase. If you need anything during your flight like a laptop or chargers, we recommend pulling those out ahead of take-off since it might be difficult to open the suitcase mid-flight, especially if you are using the dial lock on its side. The four-wheeled rolling bag made up for this access pitfall during a series of tests involving a mini obstacle course: it glided smoothly and felt sturdy, and we love that the Mini Hue handled hurdles like a breeze due to its four 360-degree spinner wheels. This sleek hardside suitcase has a clamshell opening and comes in 10 colors.

The Details: 16 x 13.5 x 8 inches | 6.05 pounds | 31-liter capacity | 4 spinner wheels | Polycarbonate

It has fully-lined interior and exterior compartments, convenient for storing toiletries and accessories.

It’s smaller than the average underseat luggage and might not work for bulkier clothes like winter jackets.

Functional and practical for weekend trips, this Steve Madden Underseat delivers an elegant look and much, much more. The bag has a U-shaped opening that unfolds outward to reveal two clear-plastic-lined, zippered pockets and one large zippered pocket. The interior pockets are great for easily finding items in the bag and staying organized. There are also zippered pockets on the front, back, and sides of the suitcase, creating ample storage space for small items like toiletries, jewelry, or phone chargers. After six months of use, this bag still looks brand new with no sign of wear and tear.

This bag is a bit smaller than the average underseat luggage, so it may not be ideal for long trips. In addition, the bag fit under the seat with slight difficulty initially due to the zippers and dangling accessories getting caught, but when we flipped it onto the flatter side, it slid under with greater ease. We were impressed that despite being packed full of clothes, the bag felt lightweight when we pushed and pulled it through our obstacle course, and the two wheels glided smoothly.

The Details: 14.5 x 8 x 13.5 inches | 4.8 pounds | 5-liter capacity | 2 wheels

Travel + Leisure / Conor Ralph

It's features an innovative protective laptop case and extreme durability.

It has some trouble on uneven surfaces.

If you often travel with a laptop or tablet and don't trust any old laptop sleeve to keep your tech safe, we recommend giving the Hartmann Herringbone Deluxe Underseater a try. The wheeled luggage is crafted with a unique laptop case that is suspended in the middle of the main compartment by elastic straps — and we were absolutely mesmerized by it while testing it in our lab. The suspension prevents your laptop from touching the sides of the bag when empty, and when full, the laptop case acts as a divider and becomes further cushioned by the items packed around it.

Beyond the innovative laptop compartment, we were also impressed with this underseater's durability. We pushed it off a counter multiple times, and even after skidding across the floor after one push, it suffered no damage at all. All zippers on the Herringbone ran smoothly, though we did have slight difficulty closing some of them when the bag was stuffed to the brim. Through out tests, we discovered the spinner rolls smoothly over flat surfaces but has a little trouble with uneven ground, so we wouldn't recommend it for heavy use over cobblestone sidewalks.

The Details: 18.5 x 14.5 x 8.5 inches | 7.16 pounds | 4 wheels | Polyester Herringbone

The bag has tote bag handles, a detachable shoulder strap, and a rear strap for placing it on a suitcase to carry.

There wasn’t enough room for a laptop after placing two days' worth of clothes in the bag.

For those in search of a bag that doesn’t have wheels to worry about fitting under a seat, the Travelpro x Travel + Leisure Underseat Tote is a great option that you can sling over your shoulder or place on a suitcase. During our test, the bag fit perfectly under the seat, however, after placing two days’ worth of clothes inside, there wasn’t enough room for a laptop. If the bag isn’t filled to capacity, there is a laptop sleeve in the back for safely storing a computer. The zippered top opens up to one main compartment that has a buttoned sleeve and zippered pocket. You can easily store phones and passports in a small pocket on the front of the bag.

After regularly using the bag for six months, including on international trips, we still love the capacity, quality, and overall look of this underseat bag. We especially liked having the option to carry the bag either as a tote or with the detachable shoulder strap. If you’re also traveling with a wheeled carry-on suitcase, you can use the tote bag's rear strap to slide it over the handle of your suitcase instead. While the price point is on the higher end, we think the versatility and sleek design of this tote bag will ensure you’ll get more than your money’s worth.

The Details: 17 x 9.5 x 9 inches | 2.26 pounds | 22-liter capacity

Travel + Leisure / Conor Ralph

A few bags came close to making our list for the best underseat luggage, but fell short during testing.

Nomad Lane Bento Bag V 3.0: This underseat tote bag had excellent organization for small items like toiletries, but it likely wouldn’t fit bulky clothes and is better suited for an overnight trip.

Verage Spinner Carry-on Underseat Luggage with USB Port: Although the bag glided smoothly when we pushed it, it didn’t fit under the plane seat and would make a good weekend bag for train or car trips instead.

Travel + Leisure / Conor Ralph

We tested 21 pieces of underseat luggage from popular luggage brands like Samsonite, Tumi, Delsey, and more. We compared the bags after testing capacity, design, functionality, and maneuverability, which helped us determine the overall value of the underseat luggage.

We started by measuring each bag by length, width, and height as well as recording the weight. To judge the design, we took into consideration the organization of each bag, including the main compartments, as well as the front, side, and back pockets. To test the capacity of each bag, we packed a weekend’s worth of clothes which included two pairs of pants, two shirts, a pair of shoes, a toiletry bag, and a laptop. We noted if the bags could fit the clothes and laptop with ease and if there was room left over or if items got left out because there wasn’t enough space.

Travel + Leisure / Jhett Thompson

After packing the bags, we wheeled or carried them through an obstacle course to see how well they rolled when pushed and pulled, or how comfortable the tote bags were to carry around tight corners. We quickly walked through the obstacle course to simulate a busy airport where travelers might be rushing to get to their flights and looked for resistance in the wheels, flimsiness in the handle, and comfort of the handles or shoulder strap. We also wheeled the bags over different types of flooring to see how smooth the wheels felt.

Next, utilized our mock airplane set (complete with to-scale dimensions) to test how luggage would actually perform on a flight. We placed the bags under the airplane seats and in the overhead bins to see if they fit and how easy or difficult it was to position them for a flight. After completing the tests, we considered whether the performance of the underseat luggage lived up to, fell short of, or exceeded expectations set by their price points to determine the overall value of the bags. Our editors long-term tested each underseater on real-world travels for an additional six months to make sure they held up over time.

Travel + Leisure / Jhett Thompson

Before you buy underseat luggage, you’ll want to check the dimensions of the bag usually listed in the product description. We learned from testing that, although a bag might say it’s airline-approved, it’s a good idea to double-check an airline’s underseat dimensions, as they vary. While airlines have different underseat dimensions, the average size of an airplane seat is 16 x 14 x 9 inches — the dimensions we used to test each bag. Most underseat bags will have similar measurements, but the suitcase’s ultimate size may depend on how full it is. If you really are looking for a small-capacity personal item option to combine with a cabin bag, a more compact weekender or duffel bag may fit the bill.

Travel + Leisure / Conor Ralph

If you’re a frequent flier, an underseat bag with two or four wheels could be a better fit for navigating busy airports. Tote bags are generally lighter since they don’t have wheels, which could be a better option for weekend trips by car or train where space isn’t as limited as an airplane. We tested tote bags and wheeled bags that came with rear straps for securely attaching to a bigger suitcase to make carrying the underseater a breeze, especially through airports.

If you're using underseat luggage as your primary suitcase, you'll want to minimize your packing list to just the basics: a small toiletry bag, a compression packing cube that will fit your wardrobe and cut down on bulk, and any necessary can't-do-without electronics and accessories. Consider a wardrobe of basic, neutral pieces that you can mix and match throughout your trip.

For our tests, we tested capacity by fitting two days’ worth of clothes, a laptop, and a toiletry bag into each suitcase. Generally, an underseat bag can’t fit much more than a weekend’s worth of clothes, but it varies by the types of clothes or electronics you bring.

Anna Popp is an associate commerce editor at Travel + Leisure where she writes and reviews travel products. She has been travel writing since 2018 and product testing since 2021. Anna worked with travel editors to determine the results for the best underseat luggage based on a series of tests completed in our T+L lab.

Love a great deal? Sign up for our T+L Recommends newsletter and we'll send you our favorite travel products each week.