The Best Underseat Backpack For Travelling With Kids: Our CabinZero Review
We’re knee-deep in preparations for our next long family trips. We’re going to the South of France in just a couple of weeks, and we’ve just booked a month-long trip to Japan for next spring. Which means we knew it was time to upgrade the boy’s hand luggage.
This is something we’ve been planning for ages. We wanted something that looked cool without looking too ‘kiddie’ (our Trunki days are over). But whatever we chose also had to be lightweight, roomy, and easy for the boys to manage on their own.
After lots of research, we were excited to try the CabinZero Classic backpacks. The boys LOVE how they look, and they’re such a great fit for our kind of travel. We were kindly gifted two bags by CabinZero in exchange for sharing our honest thoughts, and we’ve spent the last week putting them through their paces! So far, we all love these bags.
Whether you’re heading off on a city break and don’t want to pay extra for your luggage, taking a long-haul flight and need all your essentials close to hand, or (like me) just trying to get through the airport without carrying everyone’s bags by yourself, here’s what we really think of the CabinZero backpacks for our kids and tweens.
- What We Were Looking For
- Our First Impressions of CabinZero (The Features We Love)
- What Fits Inside?
- Why We Chose CabinZero For Our Kids
- Final Thoughts
- Keep Planning Your Perfect Trip!
Disclosure: We were kindly gifted these backpacks by CabinZero but all opinions are our own and we only ever share products we genuinely use and love. This post may also contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!
What We Were Looking For
Once we’d all agreed the boys definitely needed new carry-on bags, I wrote a checklist of what we were looking for. (Full type-A overload over here!) We needed:
- Something lightweight and comfortable for the kids to carry.
- Something with enough space for their clothes, snacks, tech and activities (we weren’t looking for small, toddler-sized bags).
- Something that would fit underneath an airline seat and meet RyanAir’s strict requirements, so we didn’t have to pay to take them on board.
- Something stylish. Preferably bright (because my boys love bright colours) but cool and not babyish.
Our First Impressions of CabinZero (The Features We Love)
Enter CabinZero. This is a backpack specifically designed to maximise every mm of space allowed for carry-on luggage, which is why it has a boxy, rectangular shape. And it met every single wish on our wish list.
Like I said, the boys love bright colours. So W chose his backpack in Meadow Green whilst H went for London Red.
Both opted for the 28-litre classic model, which is the perfect size for fitting underneath the seat in front of you (meaning you’ll never have to pay to take it on board any airline!) It’s officially underseat approved for super strict airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet.
Other features that we LOVED about this backpack are:
- It’s super light. It only weighs 600 grams. We took it for a test drive and both boys were able to carry it for ages (even our notoriously fussy youngest who regularly has me carry all his stuff!)
- It has top and side handles, so the boys can carry it in any way that feels comfortable for them.
- Not a feature for the kids perhaps, but I love the side compression straps that mean I can squeeze in those essential extra changes of clothes
- It’s water resistant, meaning that even if you’re carrying it through a rainstorm, your clothes won’t get wet.
- It has loads of handy pockets! These include a laptop sleeve, spacious inner zip pocket, roomy inner zip mesh pocket, and an easy-access zip pocket on the front.
- As an added bonus, the backpack also has a limited lifetime warranty, so we know it’s good quality and it’s going to last us for plenty of trips.
🎁 You can order these backpacks here and code THATMUMTRAVEL will get you a whopping 15% discount
What Fits Inside?
Now it’s time for the ultimate test – what will fit inside the CabinZero backpack? I had the boys pack for one of our many ‘hand-luggage only’ trips and they managed to squeeze in:
- Four outfits each (plus swimwear and pjs)
- A change of shoes
- Reading and activity books, plus pencil cases
- Nintendo Switch and headphones
- A small tub of toys
- Water bottles and snacks
- Toiletries
- Hats and sunglasses
- I even had room to add a beach towel!
I honestly think, thanks to the compression straps, that I could pack everything they would need for a week in the sun in these backpacks!
🚄 Planning your next big trip? We’ll be taking these backpacks on our next trip to Japan, and you can check out our Japan travel essentials here.
Why We Chose CabinZero For Our Kids
So why did we choose CabinZero for our kids? The boys had decided they no longer wanted kid-like cartoon character bags. They wanted something more grown-up. And they love the colours, the sleek urban styles, and the comfort of their new travel bags.
Meanwhile, I wanted something durable, lightweight, and built to last. I wanted something that wouldn’t break the bank (these have a £55 price point) and I wanted something that’s as comfy as possible too, mostly so I wouldn’t be carrying three bags. The wide, padded straps are comfortable for kids and adults alike.
But the main selling point of these bags? They fit perfectly in the under the seat space for budget airliners without a single centimetre wasted. The travel nerd in me is so excited about this! And it’s going to save us so much money on our short haul and city break journeys too.
Final Thoughts
We’ll be putting the boys’ new CabinZero backpacks through their paces properly on our next couple of trips. But even in these early tests, they’re already more than earning their keep. I love that the maximise every cm of space available for free with budget carriers like RyanAir and EasyJet: as you know, we use these a lot! It’s also pretty rare to see the boys so excited to carry their own bags.
If you’re in the market for a practical underseat backpack that will work for kids, teens, and adults too (Mike is already making noises about wanting one of these for himself!) then CabinZero is a brand that’s worth checking out.
They’ve also given me a 15% discount code for readers of That Mum Travel Life.
👉Use the code THATMUMTRAVEL at checkout on the CabinZero website for 15% off. Click here to order now!
This code is limited to one use per person BUT you can add as many bags as you like to that discounted order! So if you want to order for multiple people (like me) then order all of your backpacks at the same time.
We’ll be sharing more photos and tips with the boys’ new bags once we hit the skies, but for now we can’t wait for our next trip – and these backpacks are coming with us!
Keep Planning Your Perfect Trip!
Travelling with kids isn’t always easy, but we have lots of posts that will help you keep planning your perfect family trip.
💺 Travel With Kids: What to Pack For Kids on a Plane (Short Haul)
🗼 What to Pack for Japan: Japan Travel Essentials
🚗 Planning a Roadtrip to France with Kids: What to Pack
Do you have a favourite travel bag? Or anything tried and tested travel essential that you wouldn’t want to travel without? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!
Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!
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