Ryanair hand luggage size and bag fees

The free bag and the Priority bag, side by side

Ryanair separates two pieces of hand luggage. The first is free on every fare: one small item up to 40 × 30 × 20 cm (15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in) carried under the seat in front. The airline adds that its small bag sizers measure 42 cm by 20 cm by 30 cm, slightly more generous in one direction than the published size. The second piece is the larger cabin bag of 55 × 40 × 20 cm (21.7 × 15.7 × 7.9 in), up to 10 kg (22 lb), which goes in the overhead locker. It is not sold alone: it comes with the Priority & 2 Cabin Bags product, and it is included on Regular and Flexi Plus tickets. Passengers who bought a Plus ticket before December 11, 2019 keep it too, according to the terms.

The price of Priority depends on the route and the date. That is why Ryanair publishes a minimum and a maximum rather than one figure, and why the checker on this page answers the size question first: whether the bag fits is fixed, what it costs is set by the booking engine on the day.

Published price ranges, at booking and afterwards

The table copies the ranges of Ryanair’s fee table, read on October 26, 2026. The first column is the price when the bag is added while booking the flight; the second is the price after booking, in Manage Booking, or at the airport. Every figure is per flight, so a return trip pays twice.

The gap between the two columns is the real lesson. A 20 kg bag can cost £21.49 when it goes into the first basket and up to £75 once the flight is paid. Unbooked bags turned up at the bag drop desk have flat prices: £59.99 for a 20 kg bag.

The 10 kg check-in bag: two Ryanair pages, two prices

For the 10 kg check-in bag bought at the airport without a booking, the two official pages do not say the same thing. The fee table states £35.99 at the bag drop desk for passengers without priority. The general terms of carriage state that the same passengers can buy it at the bag drop desk or at the boarding gate for £35.99 to £60. We show both because both were on Ryanair’s site on the same day. The likely reading is that the desk price sits at the bottom of the range and the gate can charge more, but the terms do not split the range by place. If you know you need the bag, adding it online removes the question.

A different rule covers passengers who bring a pre-booked 10 kg check-in bag to the gate instead of dropping it: Ryanair either refuses it or puts it in the hold for £46 to £75.

Gate charges and the price of an extra kilo

A cabin bag larger than 55 × 40 × 20 cm at the boarding gate is refused, or placed in the hold where there is room, for £70 to £75. The terms add that VAT is charged on top on domestic flights. The same charge applies to a large bag carried by a passenger without Priority. For hold bags, the excess weight fee at the airport, call centre or kiosk is £13 per kilo above what you booked.

Hold bags and the absolute limit

Each passenger can check in up to three items of up to 20 kg each, plus one 23 kg item that must be bought with the ticket. Nothing heavier than 32 kg, and nothing larger than 81 × 119 × 119 cm, is carried at all, in the cabin or the hold: that is a safety ceiling for bulky items, not a normal suitcase size. The hold luggage page compares these weights with the other UK airlines.

Power banks on a Ryanair flight

The terms limit power banks to 2 per passenger and refuse any battery or device over 100 Wh in the cabin or the hold, electric wheelchair batteries aside. A power bank may charge your phone during the flight, but not during taxi, take-off and landing, and it may never be recharged on board. Ryanair also says power banks and spare lithium batteries cannot sit in a bag stored in the overhead lockers: keep them in the small bag under the seat. The power bank page sets out the general rules.

Before you pay for the flight

Measure the bag you actually own, wheels and handles included, and decide at the booking stage. If it is deeper than 20 cm, it is not a Ryanair cabin bag, whatever the label says. If you need the overhead locker, compare the price of Priority with a Regular fare, which bundles it. If you need the hold, add the bag in the first basket and weigh it at home, since each kilo over costs £13 at the desk. Ryanair’s fee table and terms and conditions are the pages to check on the day, as both can change without notice. This site is independent and is not Ryanair.