Best cabin bags for Ryanair flights

Many of us have become used to flying with just a cabin bag, but it’s essential you pick luggage that meets the size restrictions of the carrier you mostly fly with – otherwise, you’ll have to pay a hefty fee at the gate.  

Our tests of cabin bags have found that the manufacturer’s official measurements don’t always match reality. All nine bags we measured in our most recent test were a centimetre or two bigger or smaller than the official size. This might not matter, except that in at least one instance those extra couple of centimetres could mean the bag won’t be allowed on board a Ryanair flight.

Ryanair cabin baggage allowance is strict. It allows one main cabin bag, that must be no more than 55x40x20cm in size, and a second smaller laptop bag or handbag. Ryanair has warned passengers that it will ‘rigorously enforce’ cabin baggage rules this summer.

Don’t get caught out at the airport with a bag that’s too big.  Use our table below to make sure that your luggage you buy is guaranteed to pass any at the gate Ryanair measurement test.

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Luggage that's practical

We’re cruel to bags at our test lab. They’re sprayed with water for two minutes, to simulate the effects of a sudden storm. We load them up with weights and drop them, twice, first from 90cm and then 150cm, to make sure you don’t buy a bag that will break easily.

To be sure, we also jerk them into the air by the handle and lower them 100 times. That’s the same number of times we wrench the zip back and forth. Finally, they’re hurled diagonally at the floor, as though by a disgruntled baggage handler keen to get to the pub.

All so you can be sure you’ll get a bag that lasts, and fits on board.