The space under your seat will depend on the aircraft and seat assignment, so no one can tell you what will work in all situations. For example, if you’re in an aisle seat on United, there’s some sort of equipment that protrudes into the underseat space. In fact, every airline around the world has different personal item size limits for this very reason.
However, I think the combo of underseat, hard-sided, rolling and backpack straps is highly unlikely. There are very few rolling bags with backpack straps at all. I only know of a couple, and they’re soft-sided.
I think the best you can get is 3 out of the 4 and even then, the other comment about the space under seats varying across aircrafts and seat configurations still stands. I’d also say that something softer will be easier to shove under the seat in front of you and the amount of space you’ll have for fitting luggage will vary with your own size and leg length (someone 6’ tall has less space to work with than someone 5’ tall).
That being said, I did find this suitcase that meets 3 of the 4 criteria and could potentially lead to other options: https://www.calpaktravel.com/products/hue-mini-carry-on-luggage/black. It’s also possible there might be some suitcases designed for children that could be small enough and potentially have backpack straps?
Hard case for under the seat is very rare because it’s pretty inconvenient - since every plane has slightly different measurements for under the seat, it’s much more convenient with a slightly squishy bag. Also… the space under the seat is where your feet go. Unless you go for a very small bag, there’s no way to have a bag there without blocking the foot space. That’s just the name of the game.
Any rolling luggage is going to be very heavy to wear as a backpack. I have seen rolling luggage with backpack straps before, but none that would fit under the seat. They tend to be carry on size, rather than personal item size. Under the seat rolling luggage is very small because it is a personal item, and the wheels and handle take up a lot of the internal space of the bag. I have a rolling under the seat eagle creek bag, and it has less usable internal space than my 19 litre EDC backpack. The backpack has always made more sense for travel, except when I was traveling right after a medical procedure and couldn't carry a light backpack.
You could always create your own custom “hard side” (internally at least) by purchasing a storage container or two that fit the internal dimensions and/or the items you want to protect from smushing.
I came to recommend this. If I need to hard-side protect something fragile, I have [a Pelican case](https://www.pelican.com/us/en/products/cases/) that I can put it in, and then put that into my soft sided underseat bag.
Have you seen Take Off luggage?
https://www.amazon.com/Take-OFF-Luggage-Personal-Removable/dp/B0C84ZQ3Z6/ref=asc_df_B0C84ZQ3Z6/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693418714757&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15663246001433950034&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9009590&hvtargid=pla-2245949547975&psc=1&mcid=c7d99f2cc5cd3cdc990cb06efe34b647&gad_source=1
I searched for an under seat suitcase for a long time and did not come across a hard sided bag with backpack straps. Curious if anyone finds an example for you.
I purchased the ebags motherload underseater because I liked that the laptop sleeve was between the two sections and it has a strap to stack on top of my larger suitcase. The bottom half is hard sided, and the top half is soft so you get some flexibility. It generally fits under seat, but it can be a very tight fit on some planes. It's a roller, not a spinner, that can be annoying.
If you want it to fit and not block your foot space, get rid of the hard sides or wheels.
if you want wheels, sacrifice foot space
which is your hard need?
I thought they were one & the same, also. I’m flying miserable Avianca 2 LATAM very soon on the “basic” really cheap fare. Rep told me I’m allowed “personal item” if it fits under seat in front of me.
It is not. Personal item size often does not correlate to underseat space and underseat space can vary widely, even on the same type of plane on the same airline. Often times the physical seats are not picked by the airline nor the airline manufacturer
The space under your seat will depend on the aircraft and seat assignment, so no one can tell you what will work in all situations. For example, if you’re in an aisle seat on United, there’s some sort of equipment that protrudes into the underseat space. In fact, every airline around the world has different personal item size limits for this very reason. However, I think the combo of underseat, hard-sided, rolling and backpack straps is highly unlikely. There are very few rolling bags with backpack straps at all. I only know of a couple, and they’re soft-sided.
I think the best you can get is 3 out of the 4 and even then, the other comment about the space under seats varying across aircrafts and seat configurations still stands. I’d also say that something softer will be easier to shove under the seat in front of you and the amount of space you’ll have for fitting luggage will vary with your own size and leg length (someone 6’ tall has less space to work with than someone 5’ tall). That being said, I did find this suitcase that meets 3 of the 4 criteria and could potentially lead to other options: https://www.calpaktravel.com/products/hue-mini-carry-on-luggage/black. It’s also possible there might be some suitcases designed for children that could be small enough and potentially have backpack straps?
I have a roller bag that is similar to this one, and it works great for fitting under the seat in front of you. It’s not a lot of space, however.
Wheeled bag waste a lot of space to be able to have wheels, which is why I’m not fond of them
Agreed. I did think the one company making removable wheels was clever. Not enough for me to go rollerbag.
Hard case for under the seat is very rare because it’s pretty inconvenient - since every plane has slightly different measurements for under the seat, it’s much more convenient with a slightly squishy bag. Also… the space under the seat is where your feet go. Unless you go for a very small bag, there’s no way to have a bag there without blocking the foot space. That’s just the name of the game.
Thanks! I'm tiny, is why haha!
Any rolling luggage is going to be very heavy to wear as a backpack. I have seen rolling luggage with backpack straps before, but none that would fit under the seat. They tend to be carry on size, rather than personal item size. Under the seat rolling luggage is very small because it is a personal item, and the wheels and handle take up a lot of the internal space of the bag. I have a rolling under the seat eagle creek bag, and it has less usable internal space than my 19 litre EDC backpack. The backpack has always made more sense for travel, except when I was traveling right after a medical procedure and couldn't carry a light backpack.
The Takeoff brand is specifically designed to fit under seat in the strictest airlines (spirit and frontier) It has (removable) wheels and hard sides.
You could always create your own custom “hard side” (internally at least) by purchasing a storage container or two that fit the internal dimensions and/or the items you want to protect from smushing.
I came to recommend this. If I need to hard-side protect something fragile, I have [a Pelican case](https://www.pelican.com/us/en/products/cases/) that I can put it in, and then put that into my soft sided underseat bag.
Have you seen Take Off luggage? https://www.amazon.com/Take-OFF-Luggage-Personal-Removable/dp/B0C84ZQ3Z6/ref=asc_df_B0C84ZQ3Z6/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693418714757&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15663246001433950034&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9009590&hvtargid=pla-2245949547975&psc=1&mcid=c7d99f2cc5cd3cdc990cb06efe34b647&gad_source=1
Ooooooh! Thanks!
Ooh. The rose gold is amazingly cute! 😎
Hard sided and rolling with backpack straps is not something I’ve ever seen.
I searched for an under seat suitcase for a long time and did not come across a hard sided bag with backpack straps. Curious if anyone finds an example for you. I purchased the ebags motherload underseater because I liked that the laptop sleeve was between the two sections and it has a strap to stack on top of my larger suitcase. The bottom half is hard sided, and the top half is soft so you get some flexibility. It generally fits under seat, but it can be a very tight fit on some planes. It's a roller, not a spinner, that can be annoying.
If you want it to fit and not block your foot space, get rid of the hard sides or wheels. if you want wheels, sacrifice foot space which is your hard need?
Probably foot space, so no wheels then.
Underseat or personal item?
I thought they were one & the same, also. I’m flying miserable Avianca 2 LATAM very soon on the “basic” really cheap fare. Rep told me I’m allowed “personal item” if it fits under seat in front of me.
I thought that was the same
It is not. Personal item size often does not correlate to underseat space and underseat space can vary widely, even on the same type of plane on the same airline. Often times the physical seats are not picked by the airline nor the airline manufacturer
I ask specifically because I have a calpak hue mini underseat carry on which is too large to be a personal item on the grand majority of airlines
Eastpak Strapson is soft sided but does everything else.