The Best Lufthansa-Approved Personal Item Bags + Backpacks

Before flying Lufthansa and SWISS for the first time recently, I scoured travel message boards looking for an answer to a query that appeared over and over. Does anyone have any recommendations for a personal item for Lufthansa?

If there were any responses, they usually echoed the author’s question. Or the bag recommended by a helpful commenter was no longer in production. Or the thread was closed due to inactivity. Ugh.

As a frequent flier, I like to think that my travel larder is well stocked—my guestroom closet is packed full of my favorite suitcases, backpacks, organizers and more—and I just assumed I had a bag for just about every airline I would encounter. Well, I guess I did, until I booked a trip that included flight segments on both Lufthansa and SWISS.

This post contains affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking one of these links (at no additional cost to you!). Thank you for your support—it enables me to run this site ad-free!

While most* major European airlines like Air France, British Airways, Iberia, Icelandair, and KLM set their max personal item dimensions at 40x30x15cm, both Lufthansa and SWISS have an even smaller personal item size of 40x30x10cm. As their websites both indicate, these smaller restrictions are for your comfort (cue the collective eye roll).

The personal item’s height and width restrictions aren’t too bad—for my friends who use imperial units, that’s a little over 15.7×11.8in. But it’s the depth that’ll get you. It’s incredibly tough to find a bag that’s only 10 centimeters (or just shy of 4 inches) deep unless you’re looking at briefcases or purses.

Friendly reminder, today we're talking about personal items, or the bag that goes under the seat in front of you. The bag that goes in the bin above you, the carry-on bag, is a topic for another day (though you can find plenty of reviews and packing lists here on the blog!).

Having just endured the agony of finding an efficient travel bag to fit these obscure dimensions, I thought I’d channel all that effort into this guide to approved bags so you don’t have to go down the same rabbit hole (trust me, I was repeating the words “forty-thirty-ten” over and over in my sleep—I would never want to subject anyone else to that same fate):

APPROVED PERSONAL ITEMS FOR LUFTHANSA AND SWISS

I feel like I’ve trekked all the way across the internet and back in search of bags that are just shy of the max dimensions. I mean, sure, you find plenty of tiny bum bags and purses on the market that are well under the limit, but I don’t know that I would consider either of those to be a helpful bag for an extended getaway.

While I wish I could have found hundreds of options out there for you, the truth is that most travel bags exceed the 10cm depth. Until the luggage makers get their act together to develop a travel bag that meets the threshold (hi, I nominate myself to consult!), here are some great options to consider:

BAGS THAT ARE A CLOSE MATCH FOR LUFTHANSA AND SWISS

As someone who can be a rule-follower to a fault, it’s always my preference to provide you with options that fit the rules so you don’t face any issues at the gate. However, a slightly larger bag may be squeezed into the sizer provided it is soft enough and is not packed to the brim.

Since there aren’t very many travel-ready bags on the market that come close to the measurements, I also wanted to include some other options that may be a centimeter or two over in one direction. Just, you know, proceed at your own risk, okay?

*as you might expect, Ryanair is one of the other wildcards, with dimensions of 40x20x25cm

FINAL THOUGHTS ON CHOOSING A PERSONAL ITEM FOR LUFTHANSA AND SWISS

Alyssa in the Charlotte airport with her backpack and pillow for a Lufthansa flight — Me with my *just*-too-big backpack and my neck pillow, that I carried on the plane (psst… my neck pillow is stuffed with my packable puffer coat to save even *more* space)

While Michael and I were fortunate enough to not have our personal items measured by the gate agents on this trip, I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same experience. Believe me, I’ve read plenty of horror stories of people being forced to fork over a hefty chunk of change just because the backpack they brought was too big for the sizer.

My advice? Travel light, and bring a bag that fits the sizer (or one that is soft and so dang close to the right size that it can squeeze in if needed—bonus points for carrying one in a dark color so it appears smaller than it is!). Chances are, you’re traveling for work or for fun—why spoil it with a hassle and an extra fee when you can put that money toward something way more fun?

—

Questions for you

Have you ever had your personal item measured on either of these airlines? Let us know!

Have you stumbled on another bag that fits these restrictions? Feel free to share a link in the comments!

Where to next? Why not pack up and head on over to one of these related posts?

Share this post:

A Roundup of Compact Personal Items for Lufthansa and SWISS