Ryanair Baggage: Cabin Bag Sizes, 10kg Options and My Hacks

Every Ryanair fare includes one small bag measuring up to 40 × 30 × 20 cm, which goes under the seat in front of you. A larger 10kg cabin bag, up to 55 × 40 × 20 cm, needs Priority & 2 Cabin Bags or a fare that includes it. A 10kg checked bag is a different purchase: you hand it over before security. That little difference is where I see people get caught out.

We usually travel with small backpacks, even with our two young sons. We have managed a long weekend in Rome and a ten-day trip to Mallorca this way. Below I explain which bag to buy, what happened when I compared baggage prices for Alicante, and what my readers have reported about checks at the gate. If you are about to book, compare the total price with luggage before paying.

Ryanair baggage sizes: what is included?

Bag	Size	Weight	Where it travels
Small personal bag, included in every fare	40 × 30 × 20 cm	No separate weight limit stated in the bag policy	Under the seat in front
Larger cabin bag with Priority & 2 Cabin Bags	55 × 40 × 20 cm	10kg	Overhead locker
10kg Check-in Bag	See my note about size below	10kg	Aircraft hold; drop off before security
20kg Check-in Bag	80 × 120 × 120 cm	20kg purchased allowance	Aircraft hold
23kg Check-in Bag	80 × 120 × 120 cm	23kg purchased allowance	Aircraft hold

I would start with the exact baggage allowance in your booking confirmation or the Ryanair app. The small personal bag and the larger cabin bag are both hand luggage, but only the small one is included in the cheapest fare. Wheels, handles and bulging pockets need to fit too. A suitcase advertised as “cabin size” may be 23cm deep, which is already too deep for Ryanair’s 20cm cabin limit. You can check the official bag policy before packing.

The backpack we use on Ryanair

We use an Aevor Trip Pack. I like that it opens like a suitcase, so I do not have to rummage through everything to find something at the bottom. The back support also works well for us when we carry it around all day. I talked about this backpack so much that a friend who owns a Czech outdoor shop started stocking it, and gave me a discount code as a thank-you.

There is one important catch: the Aevor’s listed dimensions are 50 × 31 × 18 cm, so it is larger than Ryanair’s free personal-item allowance. Ours has fitted when it was not packed to the top, as you can see in my photo. That is our experience, not a guarantee that yours will pass. Measure the bag as you will actually carry it, and only use it as the free bag if it fits within 40 × 30 × 20 cm.

If I were buying a bag specifically for the free allowance, I would look first at its packed dimensions, then at comfort and how it opens. The CabinZero Classic 28L, for example, is listed at 39 × 29.5 × 20 cm. For the larger cabin allowance, the Samsonite Base Boost Upright 55/20 version measuring 55 × 40 × 20 cm is a useful reference. Check the exact model before buying, because a similar name does not mean identical dimensions.

10kg cabin bag or 10kg checked bag: do not mix them up

This is the distinction I would check twice: Priority & 2 Cabin Bags lets you bring the larger 10kg bag into the cabin; a 10kg Check-in Bag does not. People see “10kg” in their booking and assume they can wheel the case straight to the aircraft. If you bought the checked option, take it to the bag-drop desk before security. At the gate it can be refused or, where available, put in the hold for an extra fee.

There are three useful ways to compare a ticket with a small suitcase: a Regular fare, Basic plus Priority, or Basic plus a 10kg checked bag. The first two give you the larger cabin bag; the third puts the case in the hold. I would compare them for the actual flights and passengers you want, because the cheapest option can change. Do not assume that every more expensive fare includes the same bags.

1. Choose the Regular fare

Regular includes the small underseat bag, the larger 10kg cabin bag, Priority boarding and a standard reserved seat. You choose from the seats included in that fare, rather than any seat on the plane. I would compare it with Basic plus the extras I actually need. Priority boarding can be useful, but sometimes it feels rather pointless when another fifty people have bought it too. I would buy it for the baggage allowance first.

2. Add Priority & 2 Cabin Bags to Basic

Another option is to buy the cheapest Basic fare and add Priority & 2 Cabin Bags. This can cost less than Regular if you do not want to choose a seat, but I would check both totals. Seat selection is separate: you can pay for it or accept a randomly allocated seat for free. The useful part here is that both the small bag and the larger 10kg bag stay with you through the airport.

3. Add a 10kg checked bag

If you do not care about Priority boarding and would rather hand over your suitcase, choose a 10kg Check-in Bag. You can add it during booking or later through your booking’s baggage options. You still keep your included small bag with you, but the suitcase travels in the hold. If Priority has sold out, a checked bag can also be the alternative, as long as you allow time to drop it off before going through security.

I previously asked Ryanair support about the size of the 10kg checked bag, and they told me the same 80 × 120 × 120 cm maximum as for a 20kg bag. I have not found a separate 10kg dimension in the current bag-policy page. Ryanair publishes that size as its general maximum for individual checked items. If you plan to use a particularly large, light case, I would confirm it for your booking first. My old Samsonite is still going strong, so I would also check what you already own before buying another case.

How much does Ryanair baggage cost?

I cannot give you one price that works for every flight. When I compared my booking to Alicante with a new search for the same flight, adding Priority to my existing booking cost about €20 per flight. In the new search, Priority for the first flight was only about €6. Same route, same flight, different baggage price. That is why I compare the baggage options before I buy the tickets.

The checked bag comparison went the other way. A 10kg checked bag in my existing booking cost about €14 per flight, while the same option in the new booking cost about €17. These are approximate euro equivalents of the prices in my Czech-currency screenshots. My advice is to compare Regular, Basic plus Priority and Basic plus a checked bag together. For a return trip, remember to check both directions rather than doubling one price automatically.

For a current quote, use your actual booking and Ryanair’s table of fees. The cost varies with the route, travel date and when you add the bag, so I would compare the available options for each flight. I would also check whether the fare already includes a checked bag before adding another one. The useful comparison is the final amount for the whole trip, with the bags and seats your family will use.

20kg and 23kg checked bags: size and sharing weight

Ryanair offers both 20kg and 23kg checked bags, with a maximum size of 80 × 120 × 120 cm. These go to the airport bag-drop desk and travel in the hold. The weight you buy is your allowance, not permission to fill any suitcase without weighing it. I would use a case you already have if it is suitable, then compare a larger shared checked allowance with several smaller bags for your group.

You can share checked baggage allowances between passengers on the same flight reservation. For example, if two of you have bought 20kg each, one bag can weigh 30kg and the other 10kg. The total is still 40kg. No individual bag may exceed 32kg. This is useful when one person’s things are heavier, but it does not give you an extra bag or extra weight beyond what you bought.

I recommend weighing each suitcase separately before leaving, and again before the return flight if you have bought souvenirs. A small hanging luggage scale is handy: hook it around the handle and you can see whether anything needs moving to another bag. A model such as the EMOS PT-506 has a 50kg measuring capacity, but that is simply the scale’s capacity. It does not change Ryanair’s allowance or its 32kg maximum for an individual bag.

Which bag would I choose for each fare?

Before buying a backpack or suitcase, I would open the booking confirmation and read the included services. Priority is an add-on, not the name of a fare. Regular, Flexi Plus and Time Saver include the two cabin bags, while Plus and Family Plus focus on checked baggage. That means Plus is not automatically the option you want for a suitcase in the cabin. Here is how I would match the bag to the actual allowance.

What you need	What I would choose	What to check
Free bag only: Basic or the small bag included with another fare	A backpack within 40 × 30 × 20 cm, such as the CabinZero Classic 28L	The full bag, including pockets, must fit under the seat
A backpack for walking around all day	Our Aevor Trip Pack, only partly packed and measured	Its listed 50 × 31 × 18 cm size exceeds the free allowance; our experience is no guarantee
A wheeled case in the cabin: Regular, Flexi Plus, Time Saver, or Basic plus Priority	The 55 × 40 × 20 cm Samsonite Base Boost Upright 55/20 version, or another case within those dimensions	Maximum 10kg including the case; wheels and handles count
A case to drop off: Plus, Family Plus or a purchased Check-in Bag	A suitable suitcase you already own	Plus includes 20kg checked; Family Plus includes 10kg checked per group member and one shared 20kg checked bag. Confirm the allowance in your booking

How strict is Ryanair about baggage size?

Some travellers say their bags are never checked and boast about getting through with a huge backpack. I would not build my packing plan around that. We have experienced a check where every passenger had to put their bag in the metal sizer, and anyone whose bag did not fit had to pay. Quite a few readers have sent me similar reports. Priority passengers can be checked too, so paying for a larger cabin bag does not remove its size limit.

Readers have reported charges of around €60 to €70 when a case was only slightly too deep, or its wheels or front pocket stuck out. Those are reported charges, not a universal fee. The important point is that a small difference still matters if the bag does not fit. Ryanair has its own explanation of bag sizers and gate fees. I would measure the case including everything sticking out, especially if its advertised depth is 23cm.

In my Instagram poll, readers reported stricter checks at Prague, Wrocław, Dublin, Gdańsk, Budapest, Malta, Skiathos, Corfu, Faro, Varna, Barcelona, Málaga, Catania, Kraków, Poznań, Lanzarote, Alicante, Brno and Vienna. Some described checks of every passenger, including the Priority queue. This is a collection of readers’ experiences, not an official ranking of airports. An airport missing from this list can still check your bag, so I would pack to the limit for every departure.

Readers also reported staff checking the contents of duty-free bags and charging for extra handbags or bum bags. Ryanair allows a duty-free bag containing duty-free purchases in addition to cabin baggage, but an ordinary extra handbag is different. Leave space to put your handbag or bum bag inside your permitted bag before boarding. Otherwise you may end up rearranging everything at the gate, or putting on clothes you had packed. Yes, that really does happen.

What can you pack on a Ryanair flight?

The baggage allowance is only one part of packing: airport security and prohibited-item rules still apply. Weapons and replica weapons, dangerous sharp objects, explosives, flammable substances and toxic chemicals do not belong in your cabin bag. Ryanair also prohibits more than one litre of edible oil, such as olive oil, in checked baggage. Keep phones, tablets and power banks in the cabin, and check the prohibited-items list if you are bringing something unusual.

Power banks: keep them under the seat

Check the Wh rating on your power bank before packing. Ryanair allows a maximum of two power banks per passenger, each no more than 100Wh. Keep them on your person or in the bag under the seat, not in checked luggage or in a bag in the overhead locker. Protect each one against short circuits, for example with a separate protective pouch. If your cabin case is taken for the hold at the gate, remove the power bank first.

You must not recharge a power bank while on board. You may use it to charge your phone, except during taxiing, take-off and landing, or whenever the crew tells you otherwise. I would keep it where you can reach it rather than burying it in the larger case. The Ryanair battery and power-bank rules also explain the requirements for spare lithium batteries and smart luggage with a built-in battery.

Toiletries and liquids in hand luggage

For a short trip, I recommend decanting shampoo and shower gel into small bottles instead of carrying full-size containers. A set of 100ml travel bottles, such as the Go Travel cabin-bottle set, and a transparent resealable bag are practical. Under the usual security rules, each container must hold no more than 100ml and all liquids go in one bag of up to one litre. The container’s capacity matters, even if it is nearly empty. Check your departure airport and your return airport, as local arrangements can differ.

Ryanair baggage for babies and children

With children, I would check their age and whether they are travelling on an adult’s lap before counting the bags. A child aged two or over has the baggage allowance included with their ticket. For a baby on your lap, the useful allowance is the separate baby bag rather than another normal cabin bag. Baby equipment has its own rules too, so do not count a free pushchair allowance as another suitcase for clothes.

Travelling with	Baggage allowance
Baby on an adult’s lap, aged 8 days to 23 months	No normal cabin-bag allowance of their own; an additional baby bag up to 5kg and 45 × 35 × 20 cm is allowed
Child aged two or over	Baggage according to their fare: Basic includes one small 40 × 30 × 20 cm bag
Pushchair and baby equipment	Two items of baby equipment free per child, such as a pushchair plus a car seat, booster seat or travel cot

For a baby, you may bring the milk, sterilised water and baby food needed for the flight even when the quantities exceed the usual liquid limits. Have them ready for separate screening at security rather than hiding them at the bottom of your bag. I would check the baby baggage rules when booking. And do not be afraid of travelling light with children: so far, we have made it work with our two young sons. For a cold-weather example, see my Rovaniemi itinerary with kids. We flew to Lapland with cabin bags only and wore our snow boots on the plane.

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