Does SAS allow 1 carry-on bag + 1 backpack?

Here is their baggage information:

Basically, you can take one bag and one handbag (purse) or small laptop case. Whether or not a backpack is considered a handbag will be up to them at the time.

SAS allow for one "carry-on" with specific dimensions and a 8 kg weight limit. It also allows for "In addition to this allowance, all passengers are allowed to bring a handbag or small laptop bag onboard for free" but doesn't specify dimensions. The applicable term to the personal bag is "small" but SAS does not provide definative guidance. In practice, your small personal bag would need to fit under the seat. A small backpack that are not stuffed like a sausage could met that test. A 50 litre backpack would not.

Gate personnel may be more critical on full flights than half-full flights.

A couple of thing to note.

The SAS website says 22" x 16" x 9", but they use the metric system, so the limits are really 55 cm x 40 cm x 23 cm.. They've rounded the inches up, but that doesn't mean you can take a bag bigger than the diminsions in cm. 55 cm is really 21-5/8 in, not 22 in. 40 cm is really 15-3/4 in, not 16 in. 23 cm is a little (1/16") over 9 in. And the weight - SAS says 18 lb, but 8 km is 17.6 lb, so an 18 lb bag (really 8.18 kg) would probably have to be checked.

The SAS website also says one small laptop bag or 1 purse. I'm sure a packback the size of an Appenzell bag would likewise be rejected.

The carry on only is a mobility benefit for RS type trips with transfers every two days or so. As a student abroad, you may have a base camp where mobility in less of a concern than a RS tour. SAS allows for one checked 23 kg bag.

If you carry-on is shoulder strap supported (ie. no wheelies), you can easily pull a rolling dufflebag/suitcase and with carry-on over back and "personal" on your shoulder. As a skier, I can pull two checked bags (ski box with wheels and a rolling duffle) in addition to carrying a RS Classic Carryon pack and small messenger bag and have done so on cobbles.

Thank you all for the info! I believe Edgar may be right, the gate personnel will probably decide on a whim whether my second backpack is too big or not based on how full the flight is. I certainly don’t plan on a 50L backpack, I was thinking more of a 20-30L, as I am a small thin person and cannot carry too much.

My study abroad trip is a 3 week trip consisting of moving locations about every 3-5 days, using a lot of buses. We will be studying wildlife, so it involves tent camping for days at a time as well as extensive hiking. Because of that, I am trying to plan ahead to be mobile and efficient with my luggage.

I think the SAS leg of my journey is only that last puddle jump from Stockholm to Poland, so if they check my rolling carryon and let me keep my backpack, I think I can live with that. I just wondered if I could get away with having both.

I just wondered if I could get away with having both.

Give it a try (taking both bags on-board). Worst case is they gate check your bigger bag and you get it back as if it had been checked.

I recently flew SAS from AMS - CPH & ARN - LHR and the gate agent was not checking bags. That's not to say your bag won't be checked. I also saw bags coming onto the plane that looked to be at the size limit. Also as others have mentioned booking a SAS Go fare allows one checked bag.

Question -- camping and extensive hiking ? Will that be after you arrive at each location, or on the way to the location -- that is, will you be carrying your bags over rough terrain or will you mostly be delivered to the sites by bus? You might be better served with a lighter non-wheeled bag.

Hello Laura B, thanks for the insightful question. The camping and hiking will be after we arrive at each location - to get to the different locations, we will use public transport such as buses and taxis. I didn't hear any mention of train travel or subway travel, so I assume we will not use those.
The study abroad trip is split between 3 locations - a hotel in historic Gdansk, a remote field station cabin by a lake (the kind with no beds, I suppose you could call it a hostel), and a field station by the sea that is tent-camping-only. No permanent structures are allowed in that particular nature preserve. I have considered doing two backpacks, but I am still recovering from an old injury that gets worse with lifting heavy objects, so I thought using my small carry-on size rolling duffel would help save my back due to the rolling. It comes with a shoulder strap if I do have to carry it, when I weighed it empty it is 4 lbs. I'm not sure if that's considered too heavy or not, it's certainly way lighter than the other rolling carry-ons I've tried in stores. I went ahead and ordered the Venturesafe X30 to use as my backpack solely because of the amount of bus travel we will do. If I had the funds I'd get a rolling Pacsafe bag and a messenger bag (for museums) also, for the ease of mind.