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Top 5 Carry-On Bags (personally tested on multiple airlines by Aly Smalls)

Top 5 Carry-On Bags (personally tested on multiple airlines by Aly Smalls)

These are my tried and tested carry-on bags that I’ve personally traveled with and still use. 

I’ve featured most of these on my YouTube channel so that you can see them live in action! 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you click through and make a purchase I may make a small commission. I only share information about things I know, love and trust!

My Favorite (& personally tested) Carry-on Bags:

As seen (and demonstrated in my YouTube video:

Mixi Carry-on (20”)

Monos Carry-on

Travelpro 19” international size

Bric’s X-Travel

BEIS Small Carry-on 

Mixi Carry-on (20”)

Why I like Mixi: 

  • Built in cup holder & shelf
  • Extremely sturdy
  • Tons of interior space
  • Top open design
  • Great for small hotel rooms/airbnbs
  • Wheels are very smooth

Watch my in-depth review video of Mixi carry-on bag here!

Monos Carry-on

Why I like Monos: 

  • Sleek & minimalist design
  • Slim, fits on most North American and European airlines
  • Amazing organization and compression pad system
  • Whisper quiet wheels
  • Rounded telescopic handle makes it easy to attach any bag/tote to carry

Watch my in-depth review video of the Monos Carry-on here.

Travelpro Maxlite 5 (19”)

I have both the 19” 4-wheel spinner and the 20” 2-wheel roller bag

Why I like Travelpro: 

  • Fits in virtually every airline sizer
  • Lightweight
  • Trusted brand 
  • Affordable

Watch my in-depth review video of the Travelpro bags here.

Bric’s X-Travel

Why I like Bric’s: 

  • Fits on airlines with small sizing allowances
  • Lightweight
  • Soft-sided with lots of give
  • Large interior capacity
  • 2 front-zippered pockets

BEIS Small Carry-on

Why I like the BEIS Small Carry-on:

  • Intentionally designed to fit in all overhead bins
  • Retractable bag strap (I love this!)
  • Memory foam cushioned-handle
  • Very sturdy and solid
  • Innovative interior compartments and compression pad design 
  • Comes in fun colors!

Buy Me a Coffee?

If you found this helpful and would like to support me, you can ‘buy me a coffee’ (thank you!!!!): https://buymeacoffee.com/alysmalls

Ian Wishart

Wednesday 2nd of April 2025

Hi Aly, greetings from the UK. We’ve just watched your excellent video on the various sizing frames/ cages that are in use with various airlines. We have a couple of questions for you.

1, Did you question the airlines regarding their use of two different types of sizing methods. It seems that you could check in and feel that your luggage is good to go but then you might encounter an over zealous rep at the gate who is utilising the smaller frame/cage and feels obliged to relieve you of cash for placing your correct size luggage in the hold. 2. Have you thought about doing a study that investigates the capacity of the luggage racks on aircraft? It does seem odd that airlines using the same type of aircraft have different limits when they have similar or identical luggage capacity in the cabin.

Keep up the great content

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