Bag fees
Overweight baggage fees by airline, and what oversize costs
Choose an airline and enter the weight and size of your bag: the calculator gives the surcharge on top of the normal bag fee, each way.
Overweight or oversize: what one checked bag costs extra
American Airlines, each way, on top of the bag fee
$100
| Overweight charge | $100 |
| Oversize charge | $0 |
| Checked bag limit | 50 lb, 62 in |
When a bag is both overweight and oversize, American applies the higher fee only.
A checked bag over 50 pounds pays a surcharge on top of the normal bag fee, each way. On Delta, Southwest, Alaska and Hawaiian it is $100 from 51 to 70 pounds and $200 above that, with 100 pounds as the ceiling. American splits the first band: $30 for a bag just over the limit, up to 53 pounds, then $100 to 70 pounds and $200 beyond. JetBlue charges a flat $150 from 51 to 99 pounds. Frontier starts earlier, at 41 pounds, with $75, then $129 from 51 pounds. Allegiant is the cheapest at $50 and $75. Oversize bags, over 62 linear inches on most airlines, pay a separate charge, often $200. UK airlines charge by the kilo at the airport instead: £13 on Ryanair, £12 on easyJet, per kilo over what you booked.
Hold bag over the weight you booked: the airport charge
Ryanair, at the airport
£39
| Per kilo | £13 |
| Kilos charged | 3 |
Read on the airline’s fees page; weight added online before the flight costs less.
Sizes, fees and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we check
Overweight and oversize charges of the US airlines
Each figure below is a surcharge added to the normal checked bag fee, per bag and per direction. The weight bands are written as each airline publishes them; where the airline says "over 50 up to 53 pounds", the table reads it as 51 to 53.
| Airline | Overweight bands | Oversize | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 51 to 53 lb: $30 54 to 70 lb: $100 71 to 100 lb: $200 | 63 to 65 in: $30; 66 to 115 in: $200 | February 28, 2026, archived copy |
| Delta Air Lines | 51 to 70 lb: $100 71 to 99 lb: $200 | from 63 linear in: $200 | October 26, 2026 |
| Southwest Airlines | 51 to 70 lb: $100 71 to 100 lb: $200 | from 63 linear in: $200 | October 26, 2026 |
| Alaska Airlines | 51 to 70 lb: $100 71 to 100 lb: $200 | from 63 linear in: $200 | October 26, 2026 |
| JetBlue | 51 to 70 lb: $150 71 to 99 lb: $150 | from 63 linear in: $150 | October 26, 2026 |
| Frontier Airlines | 41 to 50 lb: $75 51 to 99 lb: $129 | from 63 linear in: $75 | October 26, 2026 |
| Allegiant Air | 51 to 70 lb: $50 71 to 100 lb: $75 | from 81 linear in: $75 | September 30, 2026, archived copy |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 51 to 70 lb: $100 71 to 100 lb: $200 | from 63 linear in: $200 | October 26, 2026 |
United is missing from the table. Its checked bag page, read on an archived copy of October 11, 2026, shows overweight and oversize amounts only inside its own fee calculator; the page itself states only that bags over 100 pounds are not accepted. Frontier raised its charge for 51 to 99 pounds from $100 to $129 for bookings made from April 4, 2026, while its band for 41 to 50 pounds stays at $75. Spirit, which also charged from 51 pounds, stopped flying in May 2026 and is left out.
How the bill adds up on a real trip
The calculator above gives the charge for one bag in one direction. A round trip doubles it, and every overweight bag of every traveler counts separately. Two travelers on Delta with one 60 pound bag each pay $100 four times in surcharges, $400, on top of $180 in first-bag fees. Bags that are free thanks to status, a co-branded card or military service may still pay the overweight charge: the free-bag benefit usually covers the standard bag, and only some programs, such as Frontier’s for military travelers and Alaska’s for military travel on orders, also waive the excess charges.
UK airlines: priced by the kilo
In the UK, the weight you book is the limit, and every kilo above it is charged at the bag drop. The rates below are the airport prices published on each airline’s fee page.
| Airline | Rate at the airport | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Ryanair | £13 per kg | airport/call centre/kiosk |
| easyJet | £12 per kg | airport (hold items heavier than pre-booked weight) |
| Jet2 | no per-kilo rate on the pages read | |
| British Airways | no per-kilo rate on the pages read | |
| Wizz Air | €13 per kg | airport |
| TUI Airways (tui.co.uk) | £15 per kg short and mid-haul, £20 long-haul | airport |
The cheaper route is almost always to book the weight in advance. easyJet, for example, sells additional weight on a pre-booked bag at up to £15 per 3 kg before the flight, against £12 for each single kilo at the airport. Ryanair and Wizz Air sell heavier bag bands at booking. The calculator below gives the airport bill for the kilos over your allowance.
Repacking at the counter, and before
A bag that is two or three pounds over is the most expensive mistake in this table, because the whole surcharge applies to a weight you could carry in your hands. Before leaving home, weigh the bag and keep a margin of a pound or half a kilo. At the airport, if the scale shows a small excess, step aside and move the heavy items: shoes, books, a laptop charger, toiletries in travel sizes. They can go into your carry-on or personal item, within the cabin limits and the liquids rule, or be worn. If you travel with someone whose bag is light, even out the two bags before you reach the desk. The weight limit page explains how to weigh a bag accurately at home.