Tri-Star under airline seat?

[dksfbay]

Hi all, what is your experience with the Tri-Star fitting under airline seats (domestic US flights)? I just bought the bag to use for 1-2 night business trips and was surprised by the weight and more importantly the depth when I test-packed it. If it helps, I most often fly Alaska Air. Eyeballing the bag it looks like it just won't fit -- but my purchase decision was influenced by photos in the wild of the bag under seat.

[x3n0n]

It looks like the fit is probably close for the flights I've taken: 8x13 inches should get under the seat, but the 19-inch length may cause it to protrude into your foot space. If you've got it packed enough to exceed 9ish inches in "depth", it may not fit.

I see that Alaska Air doesn't have an official "personal item" size on their website, but it looks like it's well within the overhead cabinet size. (Reference: bagsvsairlines.com)

[AlaskaGirl]

Greetings,
The underseat dimensions are at least 17" (L) x 11" (W) x 7.5" (H), based on the pet carrier size.
The Tri-Star is 18.9" (w) x 13" (h) x 8.1" (d).

I've seen photos of the Tri-Star standing up under airplane seats. Many times, if your bag can be squished it will fit. Looking at the measurements, if you lay the Tri-Star on it's side and it's okay to squish the contents, you only need less than two inches of grace in one direction and less than an inch grace in another direction.

Good luck! elisa

[Titus]

A tristar fits under the airplane seat with no problem as long as its not overly stuffed. The dimensions are actually slightly smaller than that of an S25 if that helps.

[earth5]

My experience with the major American carriers is that they grossly underexaggerate what will fit under the seat. I EASILY fit a far too overpacked halycon WF AND a backpack (because they INSISTED that I wasn't allowed to take the WF, a bag that was actually my wee one's carryon, and my backpack because overhead bins were full and that I would need to check luggage. Uh, no. So I repacked everything in front of them and forced it to fit into 2 bags, much to hub's chagrin but I'm a wee bit stubborn. Then they tried to tell me it wouldn't fit under the seat in front of me and I had to check it anyways, and I said "watch me". It all fit AND I had room to spare. The flight attendants were quite annoyed that I'd proven them wrong, but I just smiled). Let me add the caveat that I'm 5'6" and my feet NEVER go under the seat in front of me anyways, they stay in the floor space.

[G42]

My experience with the major American carriers is that they grossly underexaggerate what will fit under the seat.

I think the one big caveat is that some planes, on aisles or windows, have restricted under-seat areas due to media boxes and such mounted under the seats.

Some planes, like the Southwest 737s, are configured with the under seat supports in such a way that it restricts the aisle seat space as well... you can put your foot on one side of the support, but the support takes away from the total volume under the seat that is available for your bag.

[ifer]

I think the one big caveat is that some planes, on aisles or windows, have restricted under-seat areas due to media boxes and such mounted under the seats.

Some planes, like the Southwest 737s, are configured with the under seat supports in such a way that it restricts the aisle seat space as well... you can put your foot on one side of the support, but the support takes away from the total volume under the seat that is available for your bag.

Yes, exactly. I can't imagine a Tristar fitting under one of the aisle seats on most AA flights, but possibly under the middle seat if it's not overstuffed. My S19 barely fits under the aisle seat if there's a media box there, the S25 is hit or miss, and I have never been able to fit my A30 under a seat (but I always stuff it to its brim).

Of course, it'll depend on the plane and carrier, so YMMV!