12 Best Carry-on Luggage (2024): Away, Travelpro, and More

Air’s Travel Pack 3 Travel Bag is as close to a Swiss Army Knife as you can get. It’s a practically indestructible bag made of 1680-denier ballistic nylon! It’s a sophisticated briefcase with a handle! It’s a tech organizer and a laptop bag and a suitcase! Although this may be too engineered for some (“approx Too much bag,” according to my husband), the Travel Pack has a sleek, unisex design (available in black, gray, navy, or olive) and utility that makes it perfect for everything from everyday work to business trips. Makes it usable for international backpacking.

There’s a roomy, clamshell-style main compartment that fits shoes and about two pieces of clothing, or more with packing cubes, plus a separate partitioned laptop compartment for two computers. Two rows of front pockets open reminiscent of a small over-the-door shoe organizer, perfect for pens, power cords, snacks or notepads. There are compression straps on both sides to bring it down to a more manageable size. It should be noted that even when not compressed, the 21.5 x 13-inch profile is still small enough to fit under an airplane seat. Both main compartments have zippers that can be locked, and a loop on the bag allows it to fit over a suitcase handle. The only objection is that the water bottle holder is awkwardly small, even when unzipped to its full capacity. It barely fits into a 40-ounce thermos flask, and the included magnetic strap won’t even fit halfway around it. As long as you don’t get thirsty, it’s a pretty solid bag that I think most people will be happy with. – Kate Merck

★ Alternatives: I recently took Travelpro’s Altitude Travel Bag ($280) on a work trip. I loved the full-access, flat-top opening, which saves space in a small hotel room. I also liked that it’s structured, so you can pack it like a suitcase, and it’s expandable so you can bring home a big book or a library souvenir t-shirt if you really want to. .