I can't get my airline (KLM) to answer my question. I'm allowed one suitcase (55X35X25) with 1 personal item i.e. purse, laptop, briefcase etc. I just need to know if my personal item can be a standard size backpack? Does anybody else travel with a small suitcase and backpack and if so do you have any problems? Thanks

I frequently use a personal sized backpack as a carry on when traveling. It fits my purse, camera w/ lenses, some other sundries, and some amusements for long plane trips. United, Continental, and Jet Blue have never given me a problem about it.

I think as long as you can get your personal item under the seat in front of you, you should be cool.

What's a standard size backpack? Both of mine would be too big and neither is a big expedition pack.

I think all the EU airlines have the same basic rules. You could check say BA or somebody else to see what they say about carry ons.

Allegedly the EU has raised the limits but who knows when/if the EU airlines will.

And of course you can find stories about people that can carry on their bag for one leg of their flight but the next leg they are told it is too big or too heavy and it must be checked. When I've taken a bigger carryon I have a small bag inside that contains my critical stuff so if I do have to check the larger bag I just pull out the smaller one. Unfortunately, when trying to find out what size bag you can carryon can be dependent on the mood of the gate agent.

It can also depend on how crowded a given flight is and whether you board early or later when most of the overhead bin space may already be taken.

I've been frustrated when I had to gate check my roller board only to find easy space when I got to my seat. But, you can't really blame the attendants when there is so much pressure to have on-time departures. A couple of people carrying on roller boards which don't fit can delay take-off by 10 minutes by the time they can struggle to the front of the plane with their recalcitrant bags, get tags, and the bag gets stowed underneath the plane.

If what you're carrying will fit under the seat in front of you, I've never seen restrictions. But even that can be variable--are you in the aisle seat with smaller space underneath, or does your flight have seat-side video which means there is a metal box under your seat, thus shrinking the normal under-seat storage.

I'm bringing up this thread, which kind of answers my question about what I can bring as a personal item in addition to a carry-on on a KLM intra-Europe flight. I have a shoulder bag that could be called a laptop bag although I don't carry a laptop; it gets bloated at the end of a trip but should still fit under the seat. I may have a problem with the 12 kg weight limit but it isn't the end of the world if I need to check my main bag.

Even though this trip wouldn't be affected by American's fee for checking a bag, that's causing a paradigm shift for me to try to carry-on only for a 3-week trip, in particular with an 11.30 p.m. arrival in Amsterdam, then going through customs in Minneapolis with the minimum connect time. My current rolling bag is just over the carry-on limit; it's sturdy and allows rolling on the narrow side through train corridors and narrow sidewalks, but I haven't made much use of those features and it's heavy even empty; it's a problem to put on the high shelves on trains. Although I'm identified with trains, I don't think I'll be taking any train trips with luggage in this year's trip to Italy.

So for a good carry-on as a main bag, how about the Weekender Convertible? I feel pressure to order it with the Sunday 20% discount. It would mean not rolling; this would be for a 3-week trip, generally doing one laundry but I could do more, and I don't change clothes that much. As I get ready to post, I see some question about it meeting the carry-on limits.

I'm a great fan of the Weekender Convertible. I've used it as carry-on on plenty of European airlines (Easyjet, Ryanair, BA, Alitalia) without any questions. It's soft sided, so you can usually squeeze it in a bit if it doesn't look like fitting in the measurement gauge (but I've never been asked...).

Jonathan