Carry-On and Personal Bag for IcelandAir

Disclaimer: This Iceland Itinerary guide may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. All opinions are my own and I would never post about something I have not personally used.

As I began my research, I found that I could either upgrade my ticket or pay for a checked bag for $100 each way, totaling $400 for two bags for this family of four. Ain't no way my friends.

IcelandAir allows each person to have a carry-on as well as a personal item. However, they can be very strict making you measure at the gate and depending on how full the flight is, they can ask you to check the bag for free or for the $100 fee anyway. I wasn't about to take that risk because I knew we would be spending a good amount of money on food and gas once we arrived. So off to measuring and finding a budget-friendly bag online and ways to fit everything we needed in just carry-on bags (dimensions from their website included at the bottom of this post).

Spend no more time searching. This luggage set comes in different colors and fits perfectly as the carry-on + personal bag combo. You could also buy just the rolling suitcase for the carry-on and use your purse OR this water repellent RFID safe sling bag that you'd need on your upcoming hikes anyway as the personal item. ;) It really was so nice to have a sling bag big enough for extra handwarmers, gloves, snacks, or anything the kids needed in a water repellent bag and this one was fairly affordable!

The luggage set was $35.99 for me on sale and I purchased one set for myself (purple) and another for my husband (forest green). I was determined to fit all layers and puffy winter items in our carry-ons, so I bought these vacuum sealed bags with a hand pump to help compress them on the way home too. This was an absolute life changer and will forever be how I pack. Just be careful because the carry-on can only be 22 pounds or less.

All in all, these 4 items cost me $103, which saved us $300 and I could keep the bags for upcoming trips that have similar carry-on policies.

Hope this helps save time researching for the right bag at the right price!

From IcelandAir's website:
Carry-on: 21.6 x 15.7 x 7.8 inches (55 x 40 x 20 cm), maximum weight of 22 lbs (10 kg).
Personal Item: 15.7 x 11.8 x 5.9 inches (40 x 30 x 15 cm)