Under-Seat Cabin Bags

Every UK low-cost carrier lets you bring one bag that goes under the seat in front of you at no extra cost. The size they allow differs by airline, and the airlines change it. This page carries the current number for each one, when we last checked it, and a link to the airline's own page so you can see it for yourself. Four of the six use exactly 40 x 30 x 20 cm.
  • 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 BA have withdrawn the hand baggage allowances page we used to read, and now publish the figure through an interactive baggage calculator instead of on a page we can link you to.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.

Airlines publish a box, and that is what gets measured

Airlines publish a size. Nobody at the gate is interested in how many litres a bag holds. They are interested in whether it drops into a metal frame.

That sounds obvious and it is the single most common way people buy the wrong bag. A listing that leads with 30 litres and buries the dimensions is selling you a number that will not be checked, and hiding the one that will.

Work backwards from the box. Find the allowance for the airline you are actually flying, then buy to it. Capacity is what you get once the size is settled, not the other way round.

Where the six carriers actually differ

Four of the six set the same number. Ryanair, Jet2, TUI and Wizz Air all allow 40 x 30 x 20 cm free, on every fare. If you only ever fly those four, one bag covers you.

easyJet is the outlier upwards, at 45 x 36 x 20 cm and up to 15 kg. A bag built for the other four goes in with room to spare.

British Airways is the outlier downwards, at 40 x 30 x 15 cm. Five centimetres shallower than everyone else, which is enough to stop a bag that passes everywhere else. BA give you a full cabin bag at 56 x 45 x 25 as well, so in practice the deeper bag goes in the locker and the problem disappears.

Two of the six also publish a weight: Wizz Air at 10 kg, easyJet at 15 kg. The other four state a size and leave weight alone.

Cabin bag or under-seat bag?

Most UK carriers run two cabin allowances and the words for them are not consistent, which is where the confusion starts.

The under-seat bag is the small one. It goes beneath the seat in front of you, it is included on every fare, and it is the one this page is about. Airlines call it a personal item, a small cabin bag or a small personal bag depending on who wrote the page.

The cabin bag is the larger one that goes in the overhead locker. On Ryanair and Wizz Air it comes only with priority boarding. On Jet2, TUI and British Airways it is included. On easyJet it is sold separately.

So when a fare says hand luggage included, check which of the two it means. It is usually the small one.

What to look for

A stated external measurement. If a bag is described only in litres, the seller has not measured the thing the gate measures.

A square base. Tapered bags lose the corners of the allowance, which is exactly the space you are paying for.

Straps that lie flat. On a backpack these are the difference between a bag that drops into a sizer and one that catches on the way in.

And something that holds its shape when full. A soft bag measured empty is not the bag you will be carrying.

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 in Rose, three-quarter front view
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    TAKT 20 Under-Seat Cabin Backpack

    TAKT 20 Under-Seat Cabin Backpack
    £39.99

People are asking

Questions about this allowance

What counts as an under-seat bag?

The smaller of the two cabin allowances: the bag that goes beneath the seat in front of you rather than in the overhead locker. Every UK low-cost carrier in the table above includes one free on every fare.

Is the under-seat bag always free?

On the six carriers here, yes, one is included on every fare. What you pay for is the larger cabin bag that goes overhead, and on some airlines the priority boarding that comes with it.

Which airline is the most generous?

Of these six, easyJet, at 45 x 36 x 20 cm and up to 15 kg. Ryanair, Jet2, TUI and Wizz Air all set 40 x 30 x 20. British Airways is different again at 40 x 30 x 15.

Should I buy to the allowance or to the space?

To the allowance. Airlines publish a box size rather than a volume, and the box is what the gate sizer enforces. A capacity in litres tells you nothing about whether a bag will go in.

Do the straps and handles count?

Yes on easyJet, who say so in the allowance. Assume yes everywhere. What gets measured at the gate is the whole object, not the fabric panel.

What happens if it does not fit at the gate?

It goes in the hold and you pay the gate rate, which is the most expensive way to check a bag. Measuring it at home is the entire point of a page like this.

More size guides

Other airlines, other allowances