The Season's Best Underseat Carry-Ons

Bags that make the most of your space while providing carefree convenience

- LAURIE BROOKINS

SEE IF this sounds familiar: You arrive at your airport gate five minutes after boarding has begun, and the passenger line already stretches the full length of the Jetway. You’re sitting in 18A, and while inching toward the plane door, you’re hoping that the overhead storage above your row is not stuffed to full capacity.

Here’s another scenario: Your carry-on is snugly tucked into the overhead, while you’re happily tucked into your window seat. The plane pushes back from the gate on time, but after 20 minutes on the taxiway, your flight has barely budged amid an endless procession of jets awaiting takeoff. That’s when you realize a much needed item remains in your carry-on—a phone charger, the headphones for the music that keeps you relaxed during the climb-out, the engrossing novel that would help pass the time, or any number of personal comforts. Suddenly that delay goes from annoying to agonizing, as it could be an hour or more before you can finally stand and retrieve what you need from the compartment above.

Apologies for the stressinducing thoughts, but both circumstances are all too common in today’s air travel experience—and they can be solved with an underseat bag. Designed to maximize space while fitting under the seat in front of you, today’s underseat bags are stylish, compact and keep everything insanely handy. With a little planning and any of the five bags featured here, stressful preflight moments will become a distant memory.

Béis The Day Tripper