Hand luggage size: will your bag fit? Every airline, one check
Enter your bag's measurements once and see instantly, for every airline we track, whether it flies as the free personal item, as the paid cabin bag — or not at all. Checked against each airline's official limits.
Your bag's measurements
The order doesn't matter — we test every orientation. Measure the widest points, including wheels, handles and packed pockets.
Every airline, side by side
23 airlines
Personal item vs cabin bag — know which one your ticket includes
Personal item — the small bag
Fits freeHas to fit under the seat in front of you. On low-cost carriers it's usually the only bag included in the basic fare.
Cabin bag — the big one
Fits the paid bagGoes in the overhead locker. Included on most legacy carriers, a paid extra on most low-cost ones.
The verdicts above follow the same split: 'Fits free' means the bag passes as the personal item; 'Fits the paid bag' means it needs the larger cabin-bag allowance — included or paid depending on the airline and your fare. Before you fly, check which tier your ticket actually includes; the airline's own policy is linked in every row.
How to measure your bag — the way the sizer will
Pack it first
A soft bag grows when it's full — measuring it empty is how people end up arguing with a gate agent.
Height — floor to handle
Stand the bag upright and measure from the floor to the highest point, top handle or grab loop included.
Width — at the widest point
Side to side, across the widest part of the bag.
Depth — everything counts
Front to back: wheels, feet and filled outer pockets all count.
Then weigh it
If your airline sets a cabin weight limit, weigh the packed bag with a hand scale — the limits are in the rows above.
The order doesn't matter — we test every orientation. Measure the widest points, including wheels, handles and packed pockets.
Soft bag or hard shell: it changes what happens at the gate
Soft bag: it has give
A centimetre or two over on paper can still compress into the sizer — especially if it isn't packed to the brim.
Hard shell: no give at all
If it's over on paper, it's over in the sizer. What the tape measure says is what the gate agent gets.
And don't trust a listing that says 'cabin size': manufacturers measure the shell, not the wheels or handles. Measure your own bag, packed.
Borderline bag? What actually happens at the gate
Enforcement is not a coin flip you control: it varies by airport, by agent, and above all by how full the flight is. Busy flights get sizers and tape measures; empty ones often wave everything through.
If your bag fails at the gate, it travels in the hold — at the airport price, which on most low-cost carriers is the most expensive way to buy luggage they sell. The maths is simple: if you're borderline, either book the bigger allowance online in advance or pack smaller. The rows above tell you exactly where you stand.