Budget airline cabin baggage rules have been tightened, relaxed, renamed, and restructured enough times that most travellers are carrying outdated information. Here's the current state of play for the main carriers used by UK travellers, as of 2025-2026.

Ryanair

Ryanair has two cabin bag tiers:

Small personal bag (free on all fares): Maximum 40 x 20 x 25 cm. Must fit under the seat in front. No overhead locker access on standard fares.

10kg cabin bag (Priority Boarding fare or paid add-on): Maximum 55 x 40 x 20 cm. Goes in the overhead locker. This is what most people think of as a standard carry-on. Without Priority Boarding, you cannot take this bag into the cabin, it gets gate-checked into the hold.

In practice: if you're not buying Priority Boarding, your bag must fit under the seat. If it doesn't, it will be gate-checked and you'll pay a fee on the spot. Fees at the gate are higher than pre-booking a bag online.

The free personal bag is genuinely small. A standard tote bag works; a 20L backpack almost certainly doesn't.

easyJet

Small under-seat bag (free on all fares): Maximum 45 x 36 x 20 cm. Larger than Ryanair's free allowance. A 20L backpack fits this easily.

Cabin bag (Hands Free or paid add-on): Maximum 56 x 45 x 25 cm, up to 15kg. Overhead locker access. Passengers with Hands Free or Plus fares are allocated overhead locker space first.

easyJet's free under-seat allowance is one of the more generous in the budget sector. Most travellers doing a 3-5 night city break can manage without paying for a cabin bag upgrade if they pack efficiently.

Wizz Air

Wizz Air has arguably the most complicated tiered system:

Small cabin bag (free on all fares): Maximum 40 x 30 x 20 cm. Must fit under the seat.

Large cabin bag (Wizz Priority or paid): Maximum 55 x 40 x 23 cm. Overhead locker access.

Checked baggage: Paid add-on, separate from the above.

Wizz Air enforces bag size checks at the gate with metal frame gauges. If your bag doesn't fit in the gauge, it gets checked and you pay. Their free allowance is the smallest in this list.

Jet2

Jet2 is significantly more straightforward. All passengers get a hand luggage allowance of 56 x 45 x 25 cm (up to 10kg) included in the base fare, no tier system, no Priority Boarding game. This is why Jet2 consistently scores well for customer satisfaction despite not being the cheapest option.

The Practical Rules That Apply Everywhere

Weigh your bag at home. Most carry-on bags are weighed at the gate or check-in on budget airlines. The limit is typically 10kg. Pack and weigh before you leave.

Liquids rules still apply. Each liquid must be 100ml or under, all in a single clear resealable bag of no more than 1 litre. This applies to all cabins on all European carriers regardless of fare class.

Bag gauge checks. Ryanair and Wizz Air use gauge frames at gates. If the bag doesn't go in cleanly, it gets checked. Soft bags squash to fit more easily than rigid carry-ons.

Buy the bag add-on in advance. Gate prices for oversized or overweight bags are materially higher than pre-booking online, often 2-3x the pre-booked price.

The Bottom Line

For a 3-night city break with hand luggage only: easyJet is the most forgiving, Jet2 the most straightforward, Ryanair requires either buying Priority Boarding or packing into a genuinely small bag. Wizz Air is fine if you're experienced with their system and pack accordingly.

Check the specific airline's current policy before every trip. These rules change and the airline website always supersedes any third-party summary including this one.