Ryanair’s allowance for its under-seat carry-on and larger paid-for cabin bag is the smallest of most budget carriers, and if you want to avoid hefty fees, you’ll want to pack as smartly as possible
Budget airlines like Ryanair and easyJet are known for their tempting low-cost fares, with some flights available for less than £20. However, these bargain prices often come with a catch – additional fees, particularly for those who wish to travel with more than the free hand luggage allowance.
This is especially true for Ryanair, which offers very little for free. Over the years, the free baggage allowance provided by budget airlines seems to have steadily decreased. To investigate this, experts from Which? Travel tested some popular packing hacks to see if they really help travellers fit more into their small bags.
READ MORE: Cruelty-free hair growth tablets that gives ‘biggest difference in weeks’
Ryanair’s allowance for its under-seat carry-on and larger paid-for cabin bag is among the smallest offered by budget carriers. Therefore, Which? used bags that complied with the Irish airline’s restrictions for their tests.
“We used two under-seat bags with the dimensions 40x25x25cm: a tiny wheelie case by a brand called Travel Ready and a squishy holdall by Kono that went viral on social media for being the ideal Ryanair-sized carry-on you can fill to the brim without going over the strict dimensions,” said Which?
They also tested two pieces of larger carry-on luggage: a hard-shelled suitcase and a rucksack (50x40x20cm), both from Cabin Max.
Despite the popularity of vacuum bags and packing cubes, often recommended by experts and influencers on social media, Which? remains unconvinced of their effectiveness.
“Read manufacturers’ claims, and these are miracle products. Packing cubes will help you ‘pack more in less space’ while one brand of vacuum roll bags boasts it will help you fit three times as many clothes into your suitcase,” they said.
“Head to TikTok and you’ll find video after video of users raving about ‘the sorcery’ of compression cubes and how they help them to cram more into their bags.”
However, when it came to packing the experts found that the vacuum packaging and cubes fit less than simply folding their clothes into the bags, reports the Express.
Similarly, they also found folding fit slightly more clothes than when they rolled. “Our results show you can forget the hype around vacuum packing and compression cubes. Even rolling our clothes didn’t give us an advantage,” said the Which? experts.
“Instead, we found that folding was best. We fitted 129 garments across all four bags using this technique – that’s 16 more pieces of clothing than vacuum packing.
“The compression cubes social media influencers sometimes promote also failed to impress in our test. They fitted in 11 items fewer than folding, although they were useful for stuffing in lots and lots of socks because there were plenty of gaps left around each cube.
“But considering we spent over £50 on these cubes, we expected them to work miracles.” How much free luggage can you take with Ryanair and easyJet?
When hopping onto a Ryanair flight, passengers can bring one small personal bag aboard without additional cost, which might include items like a handbag or a laptop bag. However, there’s a catch – the bag should not exceed dimensions of 40 x 20 x 25cm, and it must neatly fit under the seat in front of you.
Anything larger means forking out extra cash. On the other hand, easyJet allows a more generous leeway for customers with standard tickets, permitting a slightly larger cabin bag that fits under the seat, capped at 45 x 36 x 20cm, wheels and handles included, at no extra fee.
But beware if you stroll to the airport with a bag that contests the limits of the luggage sizer; the cost at the gate could be substantially steeper compared to the price of pre-booking an extra bag online.
Want a tip to dodge those fees? It’s simple: check your permitted luggage allowance, then pack with precision and smarts. Consumer champions Which? issue a stern caution: overshooting an airline’s luggage dimensions by even a hairbreadth can dip into your wallet.
“Even going over an airline’s allowance by a few centimetres could end up costing you,” they warned.