[OkGoDoIt]

I 100% percent agree with you.

But on a practical note, some advice for those traveling on these budget airlines: if you pack your carry-on in a backpack rather than a suitcase, every budget airline in Europe and the US that I have flown on will not give you a hard time about it. I personally use a very large backpack that holds at least as much as a carry-on suitcase, yet the fact that it is in backpack form means they count it as my personal item and don't give me a hard time. When I travel I usually have a smaller laptop bag inside a compartment in my backpack, once I get on the airplane I take that out and keep it with me as a personal item (so I can easily access it inflight) and I put my backpack overhead like I would a suitcase. I have successfully done this on Frontier, Allegiant, Spirit, and Ryan Air within the last year and have not had any issues.

[dragonwriter]

> I personally use a very large backpack that holds at least as much as a carry-on suitcase, yet the fact that it is in backpack form means they count it as my personal item and don't give me a hard time.

Interesting; they always officially state that the “personal item” must fit under the seat in front of you, which clearly a large backpack won't. No airline's ever enforced it that I've noticed, but then I've never flown Basic Economy (and haven't flown since it was a thing.)

I wouldn't rely heavily, though, on that laxity not changing without notice.

[whistlerbrk]

A full backpacking pack at 60L+ will not. But a stuffed 35L pack will most likely fit.

[just4themoney]

My backpack has no problem fitting under the seat.

[winterismute]

I have been doing exactly the same thing for years! But personally I think it also depends on, well, your physical attributes: being tall/big makes the backpack seem always small, and also makes it kind of invisible to the people in front of you (who are the ones that will eventually decide whether to check if your backpack fits into the limits or not). I think the same trick would not work for shorter/smaller persons. But I might be wrong of course.

[s0rce]

This is also the best plan if you want to use the Basic Economy level on United and possibly other carriers. They will charge you for a conventional roll-a-board carry on suitcase.

[FTA]

Do they even check if you've paid for a full carry-on as opposed to a personal bag? I've flown Frontier a few times worried about the size of my backpack, and I never saw anything on the computer when I scanned my boarding pass to indicate any of that information. I'm fairly certain the gate agent didn't even look at my baggage.