International Carry-On Size Limits

Every figure on this page comes from the carrier’s own published baggage policy, checked 3 September 2026, and is linked in the table. Carriers whose published page we could not read are not listed — we would rather show three verified rows than ten borrowed ones.

The published limits

The shape difference, not the size difference

The instinct is that European carriers are stricter. On volume they are not — a 56 × 45 × 25 cm box is larger than 56 × 36 × 23 cm. What differs is the shape.

So a US-standard bag fits comfortably inside the BA and easyJet boxes with 9 cm of width to spare. Against Ryanair it fails on depth alone, by 3 cm, while leaving 4 cm of width unused.

Depth is the dimension that fails. On a fabric bag half of that squeezes; on a hard shell none of it does. Why that matters at a sizer.

Weight caps are the real difference

This is where US travelers get caught, and it is not about the box at all. Seven of the eleven US carriers we track publish no cabin-bag weight limit whatsoever. Every international carrier here publishes one, and they are enforced far more often.

Ryanair’s 10 kg — 22 lb — is the constraint that reshapes what you should buy. A 9.3 lb hard case has consumed 42% of it empty; a 4.43 lb one has consumed 20%. The lightweight ranking, in that light.

The Ryanair Basic trap

Worth its own section because it catches people who did everything else right. The cabin bag in Ryanair’s 55 × 40 × 20 cm row is not included in the Basic fare. Basic includes only a small under-seat bag at 40 × 30 × 20 cm.

In US terms that is roughly 15.7 × 11.8 × 7.9 in — a personal item, not a carry-on. Bringing a suitcase requires paid Priority, and on a cheap fare the Priority charge can exceed the ticket. Budget for it at booking or do not bring a case.

Doing the conversion yourself

Rounding matters more than it looks at these margins. 9 in is 22.9 cm, not 23 — but a bag sold as 23 cm deep is over Ryanair’s 20 cm either way. And a bag published at exactly 20 cm is at the limit rather than inside it, which on a rigid shell means it will be measured rather than waved through.

Measure your own bag the way a sizer does — the widest point, wheels and handles included, not the manufacturer’s figure. How to do that properly.

The strategy for a mixed itinerary

• Size for the strictest carrier on the ticket. One bag that clears Ryanair clears everything else on this page. The reverse is not true.
• Weigh it before you leave for the airport. Stand on a bathroom scale holding the bag, then without it. Accurate to within a pound, which is more precision than gate enforcement uses.
• Buy depth margin, not width margin. Width is the dimension European carriers are generous with; depth is where every failure happens.
• Check the fare class, not just the airline. Ryanair Basic and the Ryanair row in the table above are different allowances on the same carrier.
• Re-check before you fly. These figures were verified on 3 September 2026. Carriers change them, usually downward.