Bag sizes
Personal item vs carry-on: the difference that costs money
Pick an airline: the calculator gives the volume of its under-seat bag and of its overhead-bin bag, and whether the larger one is included on its cheapest fare.
Personal item or carry-on: how much more space?
Carry-on space vs personal item
1.4 times
| Personal item | about 33 liters |
| Carry-on | about 46 liters |
| Carry-on on the lowest fare | included |
Volume of the largest box allowed; soft bags rarely fill it.
The personal item goes under the seat in front of you; the carry-on goes in the overhead bin. On American the first is 18 × 14 × 8 in (46 × 36 × 20 cm) and the second 22 × 14 × 9 in (56 × 36 × 23 cm), so the carry-on offers about 40 percent more space. Where the line matters is the price. The large network airlines include both bags on almost every fare, United excepted on Basic Economy. The low-cost airlines include only the personal item: Frontier and Allegiant sell the carry-on per flight, and Ryanair includes 40 × 30 × 20 cm (15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in) for free while its 55 × 40 × 20 cm (21.7 × 15.7 × 7.9 in) cabin bag is a paid extra. If a trip of three or four nights fits in a backpack, the personal item alone avoids every bag fee. Frontier publishes a 35 lb (15.9 kg) cap on both bags, so weight is not a way around the size.
Does my bag fit on Frontier Airlines?
Smallest way it travels on Frontier Airlines
Carry-on
| Personal item | too big |
| Carry-on | fits |
| Checked bag | fits |
Limits read on Frontier Airlines’s page; measure with wheels and handles.
Sizes, fees and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we check
The two allowances side by side
The table lists the airlines that publish both sizes. Where an airline writes inches, the centimetres are our conversion, and the other way round for the UK airlines.
| Airline | Personal item | Carry-on | Cheapest fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 18 × 14 × 8 in (46 × 36 × 20 cm) | 22 × 14 × 9 in (56 × 36 × 23 cm) | both included |
| United Airlines | 17 × 10 × 9 in (43 × 25 × 23 cm) | 22 × 14 × 9 in (56 × 35 × 23 cm) | carry-on not on basic |
| JetBlue | 17 × 13 × 8 in (43 × 33 × 20 cm) | 22 × 14 × 9 in (56 × 36 × 23 cm) | both included |
| Frontier Airlines | 18 × 14 × 8 in (46 × 36 × 20 cm) | 24 × 16 × 10 in (61 × 41 × 25 cm) | carry-on paid or in a bundle |
| Allegiant Air | 18 × 14 × 8 in (46 × 36 × 20 cm) | 22 × 16 × 10 in (55 × 40 × 25 cm) | carry-on paid or in a bundle |
| Ryanair | 40 × 30 × 20 cm (15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in) | 55 × 40 × 20 cm (21.7 × 15.7 × 7.9 in) | carry-on paid or in a bundle |
| easyJet | 45 × 36 × 20 cm (17.7 × 14.2 × 7.9 in) | 56 × 45 × 25 cm (22 × 17.7 × 9.8 in) | carry-on paid or in a bundle |
| Jet2 | 40 × 30 × 20 cm (15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in) | 56 × 45 × 25 cm (22 × 17.7 × 9.8 in) | both included |
| British Airways | 40 × 30 × 15 cm (15.7 × 11.8 × 5.9 in) | 56 × 45 × 25 cm (22 × 17.7 × 9.8 in) | both included |
| Wizz Air | 40 × 30 × 20 cm (15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in) | 55 × 40 × 23 cm (21.7 × 15.7 × 9.1 in) | carry-on paid or in a bundle |
| TUI Airways (tui.co.uk) | 40 × 30 × 20 cm (15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in) | 55 × 40 × 20 cm (21.7 × 15.7 × 7.9 in) | both included |
Three ways airlines draw the line
The first model gives both bags to everyone: American, Delta, Southwest, Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue work this way on domestic flights, and so do Jet2, British Airways and TUI in the UK. The second model removes the overhead bin from one fare only: United Basic Economy on most domestic routes. The third sells the carry-on as an extra on every fare except bundles: Frontier, Allegiant, Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air. The bag you own matters less than which model your airline follows.
Packing a trip into the smaller bag
A personal item of 18 by 14 by 8 inches is about 33 liters of box, less once a soft bag curves at the corners. Clothes rolled rather than folded, shoes worn rather than packed, and a toilet bag of travel sizes leave room for three or four days. The weak point is the depth: eight inches is the first side to fail when a backpack is overfilled, and it is the side the sizer is strictest on. Leave the front pocket half empty and carry the jacket.
The Frontier example
Frontier publishes 18 × 14 × 8 in (46 × 36 × 20 cm) for the personal item and 24 × 16 × 10 in (61 × 41 × 25 cm) for the carry-on, with the same weight cap on both. The tool below checks a bag against both Frontier sizes at once and says which one it qualifies as; Frontier's own page sets the price of the carry-on when you book.