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Best cabin luggage brands in 2025
More than 1,700 Which? members rated cabin bags to reveal the ones worth buying, some as little as £40
Our latest cabin luggage survey reveals that the most popular brand isn’t always the best choice for quality at a good price.
We asked more than 1,700 cabin bag owners for their opinions on a variety of carry-on luggage brands. The most popular is legacy brand Samsonite, and members paid more for its luggage than for any other brand's.
While Samsonite garnered a high 81% score, there are cheaper alternatives that beat it – and still give you lots of luggage space in a small package. We reveal all the results below.
Looking for a larger suitcase to go in the hold? See what brands more than 1,300 Which? members rated in best suitcase brands to buy in 2025.
How the best cabin bag brands were rated
The best luggage can be expensive, but it’s worth every penny if it means you won’t have to wrangle wonky wheels in the terminal or pay extra to put your cabin bag in the hold. That’s why we ask members who have owned each bag brand to tell us about their experiences rather than accept freebies in exchange for good reviews. We’re editorially independent, that’s why you can trust our scores.
What are the best cabin bag brands rated by Which? members?
Just looking to buy the best? See our reviews of the best overall cabin bags using the links below. Or look at our full list of cabin bag results to compare all the brands we surveyed.
RECOMMENDED BRAND | 86% | £109 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | ||||
RECOMMENDED BRAND | 83% | £37 | n/a | n/a | |||||||||
| 83% | £89 | ||||||||||||
| 83% | £39 | ||||||||||||
| 81% | £125 | ||||||||||||
| 78% | £66 | ||||||||||||
| 78% | £42 |
Table notes: Results from a survey of 1,708 members of the Which? Connect panel who told us about cabin bags they’d owned in the past five years. Research was carried out in April and May 2024. N/A indicates that we didn’t receive enough responses to report on a company in that category. Average price paid is based on what members told us they paid for their luggage.
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Best cabin luggage brand overall
Osprey review
Customer score: 86%
Average price paid: £109
Verdict: Cleverly designed travel (and hiking) bags, but a little pricey
While Osprey sells wheelie cases and holdalls, it started out with backpacks, which is probably why 70% of those who told us about their Osprey cabin luggage own a backpack.
Members are happy with the brand and, despite it being new to our survey, it was named the best provider of carry-on luggage. Owners raved about clever features, such as a waterproof cover hidden in the base of the bag and rucksacks that you can attach to larger Osprey backpacks. Several commented on the mesh back panels that improve ventilation and prevent sweating when you're wearing it in high temperatures.
If you’re unsure about swapping to a backpack-style carry-on, Osprey sells hybrids with trolley handles so that you can switch between the two.
The catch? The cost. It’s the second-priciest cabin bag brand, with members telling us that they paid £109, on average. However, it still scored four stars for value for money, suggesting most customers thought it was worth it.
Compare prices of its popular cabin bags or shop Osprey cabin bags direct.
Best cabin luggage brand for less
Cabin Max review
Customer score: 83%
Average price paid: £37
Verdict: An excellent, low-cost brand
From backpacks that will neatly slide under the seat in front of you on a Ryanair flight, to cases that fit into easyJet’s overhead lockers, Cabin Max helpfully breaks down its bags by airline sizing. Cabin Max was launched when its founder couldn’t find anything that maximised the dimensions permitted by Ryanair and wanted to avoid the baggage carousel scrum.
Best of all, its products are cheap and have the lowest average price in our survey, with members telling us they paid just £37. When we checked its website, we found some underseat bags for that price, while slightly larger cabin bags were closer to £50 – still a bargain.
Regardless of its reasonable prices, it still scored four stars out of five for how robust its bags are, including the zips and handles. Given that Cabin Max landed the same overall score as Eastpak, which costs members triple the price, it’s a tempting alternative. Its fun range of colours, such as orange, teal and graphite, is the cherry on top.
Compare retailer prices above or shop Cabin Max bags direct.
Another top cabin bag brand
Eastpak review
Customer score: 83%
Average price paid: £89
Verdict: A worthwhile investment with outstanding durability
Eastpak got the full five stars in both the suitcase and cabin bag surveys with readers praising its tough and durable wheels, zips and handles. Its bags are proven to last – one member said that they’d had their cabin bag for 15 years, which isn’t surprising when you learn Eastpak started out making durable gear for the US military in the 1950s.
However, a few owners did comment on their cabin bags toppling over when they were full. They were mainly referring to mini-wheelie cases; three quarters of people who responded about the brand’s cabin bags owned these rather than the backpacks or duffle bags Eastpak sells.
We've curated some of the brand's most popular cabin bags you can buy at retailers above. Or go direct to Eastpak to shop.
What size luggage is best for a carry-on bag?
While a cabin bag traditionally meant a miniature wheelie suitcase, the term has evolved to accommodate stingy airline allowances. EasyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air have roughly halved the size of free cabin bag allowances since 2018. So unless you pay for a bigger carry-on, you’ll have to cram more clothing into less space.
Some airline’s free bag allowance dimensions are so tiny that most brands don’t make wheeled cases that small, so we’ve had to turn to backpacks and duffle bags.
The good news is that all the cabin bag brands in our survey sell mini suitcases and either backpacks or holdalls, so you have options.
If you’re hoping to maximise bag allowances, you may need to invest in a different carry-on for each airline or one that expands. While British Airways and Jet2’s bag allowances align (and are among the largest), easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air’s sizing are each unique. The latter three often have cheap flights, but if you need to add a carry-on bag bigger than a handbag or laptop bag size, you’ll pay extra, pushing up that initially attractive headline price. Factor this in when choosing your next flight.
See below for the dimensions of free bag allowances offered by short-haul airlines (updated June 2025). If you only want to invest in one bag, you’ll have to choose one to fit Wizz Air's free carry-on dimensions (because it's the smallest) to ensure it will fit whichever airline you next fly with. But it's important to double-check the airline's allowance each time you fly, because there's no guarantee that they won’t change the requirements. Remember, the measurements always include wheels and handles, so don't forget to factor those in.
Free carry-on bag allowances
| Short-haul airline | Free carry-on bag size (economy) |
| British Airways | 56 x 45 x 25cm (max 23kg) (+ 40 x 30 x 15cm handbag) |
| easyJet | 45 x 36 x 20cm (max 15kg) |
| Jet2 | 56 x 45 x 25cm (max 10kg) (+ 40 x 30 x 15cm laptop bag or handbag) |
| Ryanair | 40 x 20 x 25cm (no max kg) |
| Wizz Air | 40 x 30 x 20cm (max 10kg) |
Head to all our travel product reviews to find our other top recommendations from sun creams to outdoor clothing.