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Pack & Porter

Which Airlines Charge for a Carry-On Bag

On most US carriers the overhead bag comes with the fare. On five of the fourteen we track it is bought separately, and the bag you get for free is the one under the seat.

By Sawyer V.Last updated

We have not tested this gear. Every figure here is compiled from published manufacturer specifications and published airline policies, and the arithmetic is public so you can check it. This page contains affiliate links — see the affiliate disclosure.

Of the 14 carriers whose published policies we track, 5 publish the overhead carry-on as a paid extra: Frontier, Allegiant, Breeze, Sun Country and Ryanair. The other nine include it with the fare. On all five, the bag that stays free is the personal item, and the published box for it is between 15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in and 18 × 14 × 8 in.

Click any row to jump to the full write-up. Published sizes include wheels and handles.
#ProductPublished sizeFitsScorePrice
1Narwey Foldable Personal Item Bag (18 × 14 × 8 in)Frontier and Allegiant flyers refusing to pay for an overhead bag18 × 14 × 8 in3 of 11AA F9 G42.1Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn
2MATEIN Professional Travel Laptop BackpackWorking travelers whose personal item has to be the laptop bag18 × 14 × 8 in3 of 11AA F9 G42.1$20.67 · Check on Amazon#ad How we earn
3Osprey Daylite Plus 20L BackpackA personal item that is also the daypack for the whole trip19 × 11 × 9.5 in0 carriers6.8$89.80 · Check on Amazon#ad How we earn

Prices last verified September 24, 2026. Prices move — the figure you see on Amazon at the moment you click is the real one.

Passengers queuing at an airline check-in counter

Who charges, on published policy

Published policies as checked on 3 September 2026. Fees themselves are not listed here because carriers change them by route, fare and purchase date.
CarrierOverhead carry-onPublished carry-on boxFree personal item box
FrontierPaid extra24 × 16 × 10 in18 × 14 × 8 in
AllegiantPaid extra22 × 16 × 10 in18 × 14 × 8 in
Breeze AirwaysPaid extra22 × 14 × 9 in17 × 13 × 8 in
Sun CountryPaid extra24 × 16 × 11 in17 × 13 × 9 in
RyanairPaid extra21.7 × 15.7 × 7.9 in15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in
American, Delta, United, Alaska, JetBlue, HawaiianIncluded22 × 14 × 9 inVaries; two publish none
SouthwestIncluded24 × 16 × 10 in18.5 × 13.5 × 8.5 in
British Airways, easyJetIncluded22 × 17.7 × 9.8 in15.7 × 11.8 × 5.9 / 17.7 × 14.2 × 7.9 in

Two patterns are worth noticing. First, the carriers that charge for the bin tend to publish the roomiest boxes — Frontier at 62.9 L of geometry and Sun Country at 69.2 L, against 45.4 L for the standard box. They are selling you the space, so they are generous about how much of it there is.

Second, Ryanair inverts the pattern: it charges for the cabin bag and publishes the smallest box of anyone in the table, at 44.1 L. The free Ryanair bag, at 15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in, is the tightest published personal item we track.

Why this page has no prices on it

Because any number we printed would be wrong. Carry-on fees move by route, by fare bundle, by whether you buy online, at the airport or at the gate, and by how close to departure you are. Several of these carriers price the same bag differently on the same route on the same day depending on which of those applies.

What does not move nearly as fast is the published dimension, which is why this site compiles those and sends you to the carrier for the price. If a site quotes you a precise fee for a named airline, check the date on it.

The free bag is a real bag

The instinct when a carrier charges for the bin is to treat the personal item as a handbag. It is not. Frontier and Allegiant both publish 18 × 14 × 8 in, which is 33.0 L of geometry — about three quarters of a standard overhead carry-on, and more than most 30 L daypacks.

For a two or three night trip, packed with cubes, that is enough for most people. The catch is that it has to actually be that size: the published personal-item boxes vary more than the carry-on boxes do, from United’s 17 × 10 × 9 in to Southwest’s 18.5 × 13.5 × 8.5 in.

What fits the free box

Of the bags in our ledger with published dimensions, two are built to the 18 × 14 × 8 in box exactly, and both are inexpensive soft packs. The Osprey Daylite Plus, a better-known 20 L daypack, publishes 19 × 11 × 9.5 in — an inch too tall for the free bag on Frontier and Allegiant, which is the kind of detail that costs money at a gate.

The personal-item shelf, ranked goes deeper on that, and what actually counts as a personal item covers the rules that decide it.

Basic economy is a separate question

On the legacy carriers the carry-on is included with the fare, but the cheapest fare bucket can remove it: basic economy on some carriers allows only the personal item, and the rules differ between them. What each basic economy fare publishes is the page for that, because it is a fare rule rather than a bag rule.

Every pick, with the working

Each entry below shows the published inputs, the four axis scores they produce, and what you give up. The order is the computed order, not a commercial one.

1 · Frontier and Allegiant flyers refusing to pay for an overhead bag

Narwey Foldable Personal Item Bag (18 × 14 × 8 in)

2.1

Built to exactly the 18 × 14 × 8 in personal-item box that American, Frontier and Allegiant publish, which is the entire point of it.

Published size
18 × 14 × 8 in
Weight
Not published
Capacity
30 L
Weight per liter
Not published
Cost per covered year
Not published
Published list price
Not published

Warranty No warranty term published

Fits 3 of 11 US carriers: AA, F9, G4. See the limits.

What it does well

  • 18 × 14 × 8 in matches the published personal-item limit at American, Frontier and Allegiant exactly
  • 30 L in a bag that folds flat when it is not the bag you need
  • Sleeve strap that drops over a suitcase handle

What you give up

  • Too big for United's published 17 × 10 × 9 in personal-item box
  • No published weight, warranty term or price
  • A soft duffel packed to 30 L stops being 8 in deep
The arithmetic behind the score
  • Value not scored — No manufacturer-published price, so this axis is not scored.
  • Airline-fit breadth 3.8/10 — Fits the published personal-item limit at 3 of 8 US carriers: AA, F9, G4
  • Carry efficiency not scored — No published weight, so weight per liter cannot be computed.
  • Warranty & support 0.0/10 — no published term (0 of 6); no published repair route (+0); airline damage not covered (+0)

Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.

Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn

Specs: Narwey published product specifications, compiled 3 September 2026. Sold through retail rather than a manufacturer store with a published list price. Check the live price before buying.

2 · Working travelers whose personal item has to be the laptop bag

MATEIN Professional Travel Laptop Backpack

2.1

The same 18 × 14 × 8 in box as the Narwey, worn on your back and built around a 17.3 in laptop instead of clothes.

Published size
18 × 14 × 8 in
Weight
Not published
Capacity
Not published
Weight per liter
Not published
Cost per covered year
Not published
Published list price
Not published

Warranty Warranty against defects in materials and craftsmanship for as long as you own it — no term published

Fits 3 of 11 US carriers: AA, F9, G4. See the limits.

What it does well

  • 18 × 14 × 8 in matches the published personal-item limit at American, Frontier and Allegiant
  • Takes a 17.3 in laptop, which most personal-item bags will not
  • Ownership-length defect warranty, published without a stated end date

What you give up

  • Over United's published 17 × 10 × 9 in personal-item box on all three dimensions
  • No published weight or capacity, so neither carry efficiency nor cost per liter can be computed
  • Warranty covers defects, not the wear that actually kills a bag
The arithmetic behind the score
  • Value not scored — No manufacturer-published price, so this axis is not scored.
  • Airline-fit breadth 3.8/10 — Fits the published personal-item limit at 3 of 8 US carriers: AA, F9, G4
  • Carry efficiency not scored — No published capacity, so weight per liter cannot be computed.
  • Warranty & support 0.0/10 — no published term (0 of 6); no published repair route (+0); airline damage not covered (+0)

Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.

$20.67 · Check on Amazon#ad How we earn

Specs: MATEIN published product specifications, compiled 3 September 2026. No manufacturer-published list price readable on 3 September 2026.

3 · A personal item that is also the daypack for the whole trip

Osprey Daylite Plus 20L Backpack

6.8

Skip this one. Not as a fee-dodging personal item. It is a good 20 L daypack, but its published 19 x 11 x 9.5 in is an inch over the 18 in height that Frontier and Allegiant publish for the free bag — which is exactly the bag you cannot afford to be wrong about on a carrier that charges for the bin.

The only personal-item bag here with a published weight, a published price and a warranty that names no end date — $4 per covered year is the cheapest figure on this site.

Published size
19 × 11 × 9.5 in
Weight
1.31 lb
Capacity
20 L
Weight per liter
0.07 lb/L
Cost per covered year
$4/yr
Published list price
$80

Warranty All Mighty Guarantee — any reason, any product, any era

Fits No US carrier in our table publishes a limit these dimensions satisfy. See the limits.

What it does well

  • $4.00 per covered year is the lowest cost-per-year figure in this ledger
  • 1.31 lb for 20 L, and it is the bag you then use every day at the destination
  • 19 × 11 × 9.5 in fits the published personal-item box at American, Southwest, Frontier and Allegiant

What you give up

  • Over United's published 17 × 10 × 9 in limit on all three dimensions
  • 20 L is genuinely small — this is a day bag, not a week's clothes
  • No lockable zippers
The arithmetic behind the score
  • Value 8.3/10 — $80 ÷ 20 yr = $4/yr; $80 ÷ 20 L = $4/L
  • Airline-fit breadth 0.0/10 — Fits the published personal-item limit at 0 of 8 US carriers
  • Carry efficiency 9.4/10 — 1.31 lb ÷ 20 L = 0.066 lb/L
  • Warranty & support 10.0/10 — no stated end date (6 of 6); repair published (+2); covers airline damage (+2)

Weights and breakpoints are published on how we rank. Where an input is not published, that axis is dropped and the remaining weights are re-normalized.

$89.80 · Check on Amazon#ad How we earn

Specs: Osprey published specifications and price, compiled 3 September 2026.

Prices last verified September 24, 2026. Prices move — the figure you see on Amazon at the moment you click is the real one.

Common questions

Which airlines charge for carry-on bags?
Of the 14 carriers we track, five publish the overhead carry-on as a paid extra: Frontier, Allegiant, Breeze Airways, Sun Country and Ryanair. On all five the personal item is the bag included with the fare.
Is a personal item always free?
On every carrier in our table, yes - the charge applies to the overhead bag. What varies is the published size of the free bag, from Ryanair’s 15.7 x 11.8 x 7.9 inches to Southwest’s 18.5 x 13.5 x 8.5 inches.
How much does a carry-on cost on Frontier or Allegiant?
It depends on the route, the fare bundle and when you buy - which is why this page publishes the dimensions rather than a price. Both carriers publish current fees at their own checkout, and buying at the gate is consistently the most expensive way to do it.
Is it cheaper to check a bag than to pay for a carry-on?
Sometimes, on the carriers that charge for both - the two prices are set independently and the checked bag is occasionally the cheaper one. Compare them at checkout for your specific route rather than assuming the cabin bag is always cheaper.

Sources