personal item inside carry on

[liosnzse]

i want to bring a suitcase, a backpack that would be considered a carry on, and a purse with me, but i wanted to know if i could pack the purse inside the backpack? would that count as one bag or two? would i get charged extra?

[tappingmom1 · Accepted solution]

Yes!!  Pack that purse into your personal item carry-on (the backpack)!  It then only counts as 1 item.  I do that all the time.  In fact, they encourage you to do that!! 

FYI:  I bring a small purse that will serve my needs during my trip.  It easily fits into my personal item (backpack) or my carry-on luggage.

[SoCalFlyer97]

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@liosnzse wrote:

i want to bring a suitcase, a backpack that would be considered a carry on, and a purse with me, but i wanted to know if i could pack the purse inside the backpack? would that count as one bag or two? would i get charged extra?

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Hello! The answer is yes, you can combine your personal item into your carry-on at no additional charge. Purses are defined as a "personal" item.

You can do one of two options at no additional cost:

1. If the suitcase is also small enough to qualify as carry-on that will not be checked, you can stow the suitcase in the overhead bin, combine the purse into the backpack and stow the backpack under the seat in front of you. Most standard school-sized book backpacks are considered personal item and can fit under the seat. Note that Window and middle seats from approximately the fourth row of the plane all the way to the very back have the widest area for personal items. The Aisle seats have a narrower space of personal items.
   
   
2. If you plan to check the suitcase, you can keep the purse and backpack separate and stow the backpack in the overhead bin and purse under the seat. Note that Flight Attendants may ask passengers to consider combining and stowing smaller items under the seat for full flights to leave room in the overhead bins for larger carry-on luggage.
   
   Southwest CSA's at the gate are very friendly about this and will also advise passengers to combine any carry-on items to two.

Hope this helps.

[floridaguy]

Keep in mind that your suitcase needs to meet the dimensional requirements.

But yes, if you have a third item, and that item is placed inside one of the other items, then you do not count the item that is inside another item.

I would recommend that you check your bags as it makes boarding easier for everyone.  Carry on the purse only.