Ryanair Under-Seat Bag Size

Every Ryanair fare includes one small personal bag, 40 x 30 x 20 cm, which must fit under the seat in front of you.

You will still see 40 x 20 x 25 quoted widely, including in some of Ryanair's own older help articles. Their current Bag Policy page says 40 x 30 x 20. If you are buying to the older number you are buying a smaller bag than you need to.
  • Every allowance read from the airline's own page
  • Checked 14 September 2026 and rechecked monthly
  • Not affiliated with any airline
  • Every row links to the carrier so you can see it yourself

Free under-seat allowance, by airline

Airline Free under-seat bagChecked
easyJet Free small cabin bag, 15 kg45 × 36 × 20 cmYes14 Sep 2026
Ryanair Free small personal bag40 × 30 × 20 cmExactly14 Sep 2026
Jet2 Free under-seat bag40 × 30 × 20 cmExactly14 Sep 2026
TUI Free personal item40 × 30 × 20 cmExactly14 Sep 2026
Wizz Air Free carry-on bag, 10 kg40 × 30 × 20 cmExactly14 Sep 2026
British Airways Handbag or backpack, last known40 × 30 × 15 cmOverhead13 Sep 2026

Airlines set these allowances and can change them without notice. We are not affiliated with any airline.

About the British Airways row. BA have withdrawn the hand baggage allowances page we used to read, and now publish the figure through an interactive baggage calculator instead of on a page we can link you to. The figure shown is the last one we read from them, on 13 September 2026, and we have left it here because it is more useful than a blank. Treat it as the last known figure rather than a checked one, and confirm it in BA's own calculator before you fly.

Why you keep seeing 40 x 20 x 25

Because Ryanair still publish it. Older help articles and some fare-bundle pages carry 40 x 20 x 25, while the current Bag Policy page says 40 x 30 x 20. Both are on their own site, which is why so many people arrive at this question certain they have read one of them.

The Bag Policy page is the current one. That is the number to buy to.

It is worth being precise about what the difference costs you. The old figure is ten centimetres narrower and five centimetres taller. Buy to it and you are carrying a noticeably smaller bag than the fare you have already paid for entitles you to.

Where our figure and Ryanair's disagree, theirs is right and ours is out of date. The row in the table above links straight to their page, and we reread it every month.

What Priority adds

The small bag is included on every Ryanair fare. There is no version of a Ryanair ticket that does not come with one.

What Priority buys is a second, larger bag for the overhead locker. Without it, the bag under the seat in front of you is the only one you are bringing into the cabin.

That second bag is 55 x 40 x 20 cm and up to 10 kg, read from Ryanair's own Bag Policy page on 14 September 2026. It goes in the overhead locker rather than under the seat.

Ryanair set the price of Priority and it moves, so the table above links to the page where they publish it rather than us quoting a figure that goes stale.

What happens at the gate

Ryanair operate sizers and they use them. Plan on being measured rather than waved through, because the outcome if you are wrong is expensive.

A bag that does not go in gets checked into the hold at the gate rate, which is the single most costly way to put a bag on a plane. It is not a small surcharge.

The awkward part is that a soft bag can pass on the way out and fail on the way home, because you packed it differently. If it only fits when you are careful, it does not really fit.

Before you buy anything

Measure it the way the gate does

  1. Pack the bag the way you will actually fly with it. An empty bag measures smaller and tells you nothing.
  2. Flatten the straps against the back panel. Gate sizers make no allowance for a strap sticking out.
  3. Measure the widest point of each face, handles and pockets included. Not the fabric panel, the whole object.
  4. Compare against the airline you are flying, not the one you flew last time.

Bags built to the number

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    TAKT 20 Under-Seat Cabin Backpack

    TAKT 20 Under-Seat Cabin Backpack
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People are asking

Questions about this allowance

What size bag does Ryanair include free?

40 x 30 x 20 cm, one small personal bag on every fare. Read from Ryanair's own Bag Policy page on 13 September 2026 and rechecked monthly.

Why do I keep seeing 40 x 20 x 25 for Ryanair?

Older Ryanair help pages still carry that number. The current Bag Policy page says 40 x 30 x 20. Buy to the old figure and you get a smaller bag than your fare already entitles you to.

Does Ryanair actually measure it?

They operate gate sizers and they use them. Plan on being measured rather than on being waved through.

Can I take a second bag on Ryanair?

The small bag is included on every fare. A larger cabin bag for the overhead locker is a paid extra, sold with priority boarding.

What does it cost if it does not fit?

The gate rate, which is the most expensive way to put a bag in the hold. Ryanair publishes the current figure on the page linked in the table above, and we would rather send you there than quote a number that changes.

Is the allowance the same on every Ryanair fare?

The free small bag is. What differs between fares is whether a larger cabin bag is included.

More size guides

Other airlines, other allowances