One of the worst things that can happen to you when traveling by plane is finding
out your luggage is either too big or too heavy to be considered a carry-on.
Which means the luggage you thought you were going to be able to carry on the
plane with you is now going to have to be stored under the plane as a checked
bag and you will now most likely be stuck having to pay the baggage fees as well.
So, in this video I am going to share with you what the size and weight limits are for
carry-on luggage, what the fees are if you have to check a bag at the last minute, and also give
you some guidance if your carry-on bag just happens to be over the size and weight limits.
Let's go
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So the size and weight restrictions for carry-on luggage, or in your country you might call it
hand luggage, for most airlines is 22 by 14 by 9 inches or 56 by 36 by 33 centimeters.
Now these dimensions do include the wheels and handles of the bag as well.
So you want to make sure you are not forgetting to include those when measuring your luggage.
Some airlines however, do have a smaller size limit.
This is usually because these airlines fly smaller planes and will have smaller storage compartments.
The weight allowed for a carry-on bag also varies by airline, but they usually range
between 22 to 50 pounds or 10 to 23 kilograms.
Most of the major airlines here in the US don't have a weight limit
for carry-on luggage but budget airlines are usually stricter
when it comes to the size and weight restrictions, especially in Europe.
For example, Ryanair the most popular budget airline in Europe has a weight
limit of 10 kilograms or 22 pounds for carry-on luggage and the bag size is 55
by 40 by 20 centimeters or 22 by 16 by 8 inches including the wheels and handles.
Like I said before, some airlines have smaller planes, which are usually the budget airlines,
and they like to make the overhead storage and seats much smaller to fit more seats in the plane.
The more people that fly, the less space there will be for everyone's carry-on luggage.
For this reason it's best to check the airline's website to make sure
your carry-on luggage meets the size and weight restrictions.
So what happens if your carry-on bag is over the size and weight restrictions?
If your carry-on is too big, you will either have to pay penalty fees or check your luggage.
Checking your bag will mean that your carry-on bag will be stored under the
plane's storage compartment and you will not have access to it until you
pick it up at baggage claim at your final destination.
The fees for checking your luggage at the gate varies between airlines but
you can expect to pay between 30 to 70 dollars.
Some airlines will charge a late check-in fee which consists of the normal second fee
plus an additional 20 to 50 dollars for checking the bag at the gate.
So, I have actually done some of the research for you, and here have listed some of the late
check-in fees for oversized carry-on luggage for a few of the most popular airlines.
Now depending on when you are viewing this video you will probably want to
double check the accuracy of these fees as they will most likely change over time.
For American Airlines you will have to pay 30 to 75 dollars depending
on your destination for checking oversized hand luggage at the gate.
It's the normal checked luggage fee with no additional cost.
For JetBlue, for checking oversized hand luggage at the gate their fee
is $65 if it's your first checked bag and $108 if it's your second,
which is more than their typical checked luggage fee of 35 to 105 dollars.
For Delta, checking in oversized carry-ons at the gate, you will have to pay their
typical checked luggage fee which is $30 for the first bag and $40 for this second.
For United Airlines, they charge an additional $25 on top of their normal
checked luggage fee, which depends on your destination and flight class.
And for Ryanair, their oversized carry-ons weighing up to 10 kilograms which is 22 pounds,
Ryanair has a fee of 45.99 euros and 69.99 Euros
for luggage weighing up to 20 kilograms or 44 pounds.
This is more than their typical check-in baggage fees which are
20 to 25 Euros and 17.99 to 50 euros respectively.
If you find out that your luggage is just over the weight restrictions for
the airline you are flying on, and you don't want to check it or pay the penalty fees.
A tip for you here is to wear as many clothing items from
your bag to help reduce the final weight.
You are allowed one personal item bag as well, like a backpack, so if you have one of those,
use that to transfer any items in there to help reduce your weight.
What if your luggage is just over the size restriction?
Most airlines have what's called a sizer box to measure your carry-on bag.
It's basically a metal frame which can only fit bags in the correct dimensions.
Some airlines will even have it out by their check-in area
that anyone can use to see if their luggage meets the size requirements.
Usually, airlines are not going to check every
carry-on bag but will go after the ones that look oversized.
If your luggage does not fit in the sizer,
you might have to pay a checked bag fee and a gate check-in fee.
In my experience the airline staff is not going
to care if your carry-on is just over the limit by an inch or so.
For one, they don't have the time to check every carry-on bag to make sure they meet
the size requirements and the only bags that I've seen that have had to be checked,
are the ones that truly do not fit in the overhead bins of the airplane.
This usually happens with the smaller planes where the size
requirements are reduced from the standard size.
That's why it's important that you call or check the airlines website to make
sure that you don't end up paying for any unexpected baggage fees.
I will say that budget airlines are the ones you have to be careful about because most of their
money is made from additional fees such as baggage fees, seat selections, and early check-ins.
So, in these cases employees are usually pressured by the airline to check more
bags to make sure they meet the size and weight requirements so the airline can make more money.
Now sometimes times if you are on a full flight and you are one of the last ones
to board the plane, the overhead storage bins might fill up by the time you board the plane.
And in those cases you have no choice but to check your bag.
But the good news is that most airlines will not charge you when this happens.
And if you're curious about checked luggage restrictions,
the standard size limit is 62 linear inches or below.
So, if your check bag is 63 or 64 linear inches, usually you will be able to get
away with the extra length and won't have to pay any oversized baggage fees because
the tape measure readings that the airlines use aren't too precise and
as long as the measurement is within an inch or two you shouldn't have any issues.
And hey, if you're in the market for a carry-on bag I'm going to
link some options for you in the show notes that meet the size requirements
for carry-on luggage for both the standard and smaller size carry-ons.
So be sure to check those out.
And also be sure to check out a couple of my other
videos that I think will be helpful to you as well.
Thank you so much for watching this one and hope to catch you in a future video