Frontier Airlines Baggage Rules
Frontier publishes one of the roomiest carry-on boxes in the US market, a weight cap almost nobody else has, and a fee to use any of it.
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.
Frontier publishes 24 × 16 × 10 in for the carry-on with a 35 lb weight cap — and charges for it. The 18 × 14 × 8 in personal item is included on every fare. On Frontier the free bag is the one worth planning around.
Figures from Frontier’s own published bag sizes and weight limits page, checked 3 September 2026. Fees vary by route, fare and when you buy.
| # | Product | Published box | Fits | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Osprey Daylite Plus 20L BackpackA personal item that is also the daypack for the whole trip | 19 × 11 × 9.5 in | 0 carriers | 6.8 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 2 | LEVEL8 Road Runner Carry-On (20 in)Anyone who wants a front laptop pocket on a hard shell | 21.5 × 14.4 × 9.2 in | 4 of 11WN F9 G4 SY | 4.7 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 3 | American Tourister Airconic Carry-On SpinnerHawaiian's 25 lb carry-on cap, and anyone lifting a bag overhead unaided | 21.7 × 15.8 × 7.9 in | 4 of 11WN F9 G4 SY | 3.8 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 4 | Narwey Foldable Personal Item Bag (18 × 14 × 8 in)Frontier and Allegiant flyers refusing to pay for an overhead bag | 18 × 14 × 8 in | 3 of 11AA F9 G4 | 2.1 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
| 5 | MATEIN Professional Travel Laptop BackpackWorking travelers whose personal item has to be the laptop bag | 18 × 14 × 8 in | 3 of 11AA F9 G4 | 2.1 | Check price on Amazon#ad How we earn |
No live price is currently verified, so every button here reads Check price on Amazon rather than a number we cannot stand behind. See how we handle prices.
The published limits
| Allowance | Frontier's published limit | Included? |
|---|---|---|
| Carry-on | 24 × 16 × 10 in, 35 lb | Paid extra |
| Personal item | 18 × 14 × 8 in | Included on every fare |
Frontier is one of only four US carriers in our table publishing a cabin-bag weight limit at all, and one of five that charges for the overhead bag on its cheapest fare. Both facts matter and they interact.
A paid bag that is also weighed
Most US travelers have never had a cabin bag weighed. Frontier publishes 35 lb, which is generous next to Hawaiian’s 25 lb and restrictive next to the seven US carriers publishing nothing.
The consequence is specific to a paid-bin carrier: every pound of empty case is a pound you paid to carry and then have to justify on a scale.
| Empty case | Published weight | Share of Frontier's 35 lb | Payload left |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Tourister Airconic | 4.43 lb | 13% | 30.6 lb |
| LEVEL8 Road Runner 20 in | 9.3 lb | 27% | 25.7 lb |
Nearly five pounds of payload separates those two, which is several days of clothing. The lightweight ranking.
The free bag is the real product
Frontier’s published personal item — 18 × 14 × 8 in, or 2,016 cubic inches — is one of the more generous under-seat boxes in the US market, matching American’s exactly and beating United’s by 32%.
And it is included on every fare. Which means the sensible Frontier strategy is not to buy a smaller carry-on; it is to not buy a carry-on at all and fill the free box properly.
A 30 L bag built to exactly 18 × 14 × 8 in holds three to four days of clothing packed deliberately. That is a genuine trip, in the bag you were already entitled to. Bags built for that box.
When paying for the bin is worth it
- Trip under four days → personal item only. The free box does it, and the fee is pure loss.
- Trip over a week → compare the bin fee against the checked-bag fee on the same fare. On several ultra-low-cost carriers the hold is the cheaper product, which is counterintuitive and frequently true. When checking wins.
- Buy the bag at booking, never at the gate. Fees are tiered and the gate is the top tier on every carrier that publishes tiers.
- Weigh it before you leave. A 35 lb cap on a bag you already paid for is the worst place to discover you are over. An $11 scale settles it.
The size trap, same as Southwest
Frontier’s 24 × 16 × 10 in box is joint-largest in our table. A bag bought to fill it is over the limit at American, Delta, United, Alaska, JetBlue and Hawaiian on all three dimensions.
Since you are paying for the bin anyway, there is no advantage in a larger bag — buy for the 22 × 14 × 9 in standard and keep every other carrier available. The same trap at Southwest, in more detail.
Bags that fit Frontier's free personal-item box
Checked against Frontier's published 18 x 14 x 8 in under-seat limit on all three sides. This is the allowance included on every fare, so it is the one worth sizing for.
Nothing in our ledger publishes dimensions inside this box on all three sides. That is a finding rather than an omission — it means the limit is tighter than the bags this market actually sells.
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 · A personal item that is also the daypack for the whole trip
Osprey Daylite Plus 20L Backpack
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.
Specs: Osprey published specifications and price, compiled 3 September 2026.
2 · Anyone who wants a front laptop pocket on a hard shell
LEVEL8 Road Runner Carry-On (20 in)
Skip this one. Skip it for Frontier on the number nobody else applies. At a published 9.3 lb empty it has spent 27% of Frontier's 35 lb cabin cap before you pack a shirt - and you paid for the bin. On a carrier that charges for the bag and then weighs it, dead weight is billed twice.
The only hard case here with a published height under 22 in, and it pays for that with the worst weight-per-liter figure in the ledger.
- Published size
- 21.5 × 14.4 × 9.2 in
- Weight
- 9.3 lb
- Capacity
- 35 L
- Weight per liter
- 0.27 lb/L
- Cost per covered year
- $9.50/yr
- Published list price
- $189.99
Warranty Lifetime warranty
Fits 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY. See the limits.
What it does well
- 21.5 in published height is genuinely under the 22 in standard
- Front-opening laptop pocket that takes a 15.6 in machine
- $9.50 per covered year against a lifetime warranty
What you give up
- 9.3 lb for 35 L is 0.27 lb per liter, more than double the Maxlite 5
- 14.4 in width is still a fifth of an inch over the 14 in standard
- The lightest thing in the bag will be the bag's own dead weight allowance
The arithmetic behind the score
- Value 6.6/10 — $189.99 ÷ 20 yr = $9.50/yr; $189.99 ÷ 35 L = $5.43/L
- Airline-fit breadth 3.6/10 — Fits the published carry-on limit at 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY
- Carry efficiency 1.4/10 — 9.3 lb ÷ 35 L = 0.266 lb/L
- Warranty & support 6.0/10 — no stated end date (6 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.
Specs: LEVEL8 published specifications and price, compiled 3 September 2026.
3 · Hawaiian's 25 lb carry-on cap, and anyone lifting a bag overhead unaided
American Tourister Airconic Carry-On Spinner
At 4.43 lb it is the lightest hardside carry-on in this ledger by nearly a pound, which matters most on the carriers that publish a weight cap.
- Published size
- 21.7 × 15.8 × 7.9 in
- Weight
- 4.43 lb
- Capacity
- Not published
- Weight per liter
- Not published
- Cost per covered year
- Not published
- Published list price
- Not published
Warranty Limited 10 year global warranty
Fits 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY. See the limits.
What it does well
- 4.43 lb empty leaves over 20 lb of payload inside Hawaiian's 25 lb published cap
- Polypropylene flexes and returns where ABS cracks
- 7.9 in depth is the slimmest here, which is what actually decides a tight bin
What you give up
- 15.8 in width fails the 14 in limit at six US carriers
- No published price, so we cannot compute cost per covered year
- Light shells transmit more impact to what is inside them
The arithmetic behind the score
- Value not scored — No manufacturer-published price, so this axis is not scored.
- Airline-fit breadth 3.6/10 — Fits the published carry-on limit at 4 of 11 US carriers: WN, F9, G4, SY
- Carry efficiency not scored — No published capacity, so weight per liter cannot be computed.
- Warranty & support 4.0/10 — 10 yr (4 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.
Specs: American Tourister published specifications, compiled 3 September 2026. American Tourister lists the Airconic on its own store but did not publish a price we could read on 3 September 2026, so the Value axis is not scored for this bag.
4 · Frontier and Allegiant flyers refusing to pay for an overhead bag
Narwey Foldable Personal Item Bag (18 × 14 × 8 in)
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.
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.
5 · Working travelers whose personal item has to be the laptop bag
MATEIN Professional Travel Laptop Backpack
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.
Specs: MATEIN published product specifications, compiled 3 September 2026. No manufacturer-published list price readable on 3 September 2026.
No live price is currently verified, so every button here reads Check price on Amazon rather than a number we cannot stand behind. See how we handle prices.