Flight Attendants Say They Can Pack a Week's Worth of Clothing Into This 16-inch Underseater—and It's on Sale

Travel + Leisure

11 hours ago

To an aspiring light packer, traveling for a week with only underseat luggage is the dream. No luggage fees, no hoisting heavy carry-ons into overhead bins, or, worse, having them ushered away unexpectedly at the gate. Going underseater-only means having everything you need at your feet for the entirety of the flight.
We found out exactly how a flight attendant travels for a week—seven whole days—with only a 16-inch rollaboard in the review section of Amazon. Their secret, besides rolling clothes instead of folding, is this little-known underseat carry-on from Figestin, currently 35 percent off.
The bag measures 17 by 13 by 8.5 inches and weighs under five pounds, which falls within the requirements of many major airlines' underseat luggage dimensions. Reviewers wrote that they successfully carried it on as a personal item when flying Delta, Southwest, Spirit, Frontier, and other airlines. 'This was exactly what I needed to maximize my carrying capacity on the budget airlines,' one said, though several reviewers warned against overstuffing the bag, which is easy to do with any softside luggage.
Without overstuffing it, one flight attendant said they brought all the clothes they needed for a week-long trip to Spain, calling the bag 'small but mighty.' In the main compartment, they packed two pairs of capris, four T-shirts, three long-sleeve shirts, a pair of flats, a pair of Converse sneakers, flip-flops, a sweater, seven sets of socks and underwear, hair rollers, an umbrella, a collapsible water bottle, pajamas, leggings, and a hair towel. They packed an iPad and a book into the large front pocket, which contains a padded slot and lots of little pockets for tech accessories, and their travel documents and smaller items into the three front pockets. There's also a narrow side pocket on the exterior.
The bag sits on two wheels and can be stacked on top of a larger carry-on using the trolley sleeve, saving reviewers some back pain on their vacation. Another flight attendant wrote that they even use the underseater for work. 'It holds just enough clothes and my work items for a turn or a two-day,' they said. 'It's light and fits everywhere.'
Flight attendants typically go for higher-end brands like Travelpro and Briggs & Riley, whose underseaters cost anywhere from about $150 to $500. This Amazon option is regularly priced at $90, but at 35 percent off via an on-site coupon, you can get it for as little as $59 and still possibly be twins with a crewmember.
Even with its glowing reviews—including several shoppers calling it their new 'go-to' for short trips—the Figestin suitcase is still a little under the radar. It has only about 140 ratings at the time of writing, with an average rating of 4.4 stars. It comes in black, royal blue, light purple, and wine red. Hurry to save up to $31 on it, or check out more spacious underseaters for under $100 at Amazon, below.
At the time of publishing, the price started at $59.
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