Ryanair vs easyJet vs Wizz Air: How Their Baggage Models Differ

For the standard passenger setup covered here, Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air all include a small bag with the basic travel product, but the published limits are not interchangeable. A bag that is within easyJet’s free allowance can be too large for Ryanair or Wizz Air. A trolley bag that matches Wizz Air’s larger-cabin limit can be too deep for Ryanair.

This comparison was checked against five official airline help pages on 9 September 2026. It places the published dimensions, weight limits, access conditions and checked-bag choices side by side while preserving important differences in the airlines’ wording. It deliberately leaves out baggage prices because the final amount can depend on the flight, booking path and time of purchase. A live checkout remains the price source.

Current allowance snapshot

The table uses the airlines’ own maximum dimensions. “Free bag” means the small item described for a standard passenger or customer on the cited page; “larger cabin bag” means the additional item intended for an overhead locker. It does not describe child or lap-infant allowances, which can differ by airline and seating arrangement.

These are allowance limits, not target bag sizes. Measure the bag at its widest points. easyJet says its dimensions include handles and wheels. Wizz Air says handles and wheels are excluded from its stated dimensions, but wheels may add no more than 5cm. Ryanair’s reviewed overview lists the dimensions without an equivalent handles-and-wheels note. Those wording differences are another reason to check the operating airline’s page before departure.

What changes when the same bag moves between airlines

The comparison becomes useful when it is applied to an actual bag rather than treated as three separate policy summaries.

• A 45 × 36 × 20cm bag sits at easyJet’s free maximum. It exceeds the 40 × 30 × 20cm free limit published by both Ryanair and Wizz Air.
• A 55 × 40 × 23cm trolley bag matches Wizz Air’s larger-cabin dimensions. Its 23cm depth exceeds Ryanair’s listed 20cm maximum for the larger cabin bag.
• A 55 × 40 × 20cm bag is within the listed larger-cabin dimensions for all three airlines, but access and weight conditions still differ.
• A bag at easyJet’s 56 × 45 × 25cm larger-cabin maximum exceeds at least one published dimension for the Ryanair and Wizz Air larger bags.

Passing a dimension check does not establish entitlement. Ryanair ties its second cabin bag to Priority & 2 Cabin Bags. Wizz Air ties the trolley bag to WIZZ Priority. easyJet allows a large cabin bag when it has been bought or is available through the relevant fare or membership benefit. The booking must show that entitlement for the particular passenger and flight.

Our published-dimension calculation

To show the scale of the dimensional difference, Fly with Bags multiplied each airline’s published height, width and depth, then divided by 1,000. This produces a nominal published-dimension product expressed in litres. It is not a measurement of usable capacity or a perfectly normalised physical volume.

On that limited arithmetic, easyJet’s free-bag dimension product is 35% larger than the figures calculated for Ryanair and Wizz Air. Its larger-cabin result is about 43% larger than Ryanair’s and about 25% larger than Wizz Air’s. These percentages compare the published numbers, not identical measurement methods: easyJet includes handles and wheels, Wizz Air excludes them subject to its 5cm wheel condition, and Ryanair’s reviewed overview does not specify an equivalent convention.

The calculation is reproducible:

maximum height × maximum width × maximum depth ÷ 1,000

It is not a shopping-capacity promise. Rounded corners, wheel housings, handles, fabric thickness and the way a bag compresses all reduce or alter usable space. The airline’s measurement wording, sizer and staff decision still govern acceptance.

The checked-bag models are different too

The reviewed policies do not offer the same set of hold-bag choices.

Ryanair lists 10kg, 20kg and 23kg checked bags. Its page says passengers can purchase up to three 20kg checked bags on their booking and up to one 23kg bag on their booking. That makes “one checked bag” an incomplete comparison unless the selected weight is also recorded.

easyJet lists 15kg and 23kg hold bags. It says each customer, including children and infants, can bring up to three hold bags. Extra weight can be added online in 3kg units, subject to a 32kg maximum for one bag, and the page describes when weight can be pooled across people on the same flight and booking.

Wizz Air’s detailed checked-bag page lists 10kg, 20kg, 26kg and 32kg choices and allows up to six checked bags per passenger. It limits the 10kg choice to one per passenger. Its excess-baggage section says the first three items can be paid for online and any remaining items at the airport, where higher fees apply. That cannot be represented fairly by a generic “includes checked bag” badge.

For every carrier, record the weight, quantity, passengers covered, flight directions and whether the amount applies to the whole booking. Do not compare a 10kg outbound-only charge with a 23kg return allowance.

Why this page does not publish a fee table

A fixed fee table would look precise while answering the wrong question. The relevant amount is the price offered for the actual route, date, passenger and bag choice at the time of booking. A minimum or example fee cannot establish the cost of that trip.

Use the baggage cost calculator to copy the whole-party return fare and every current checkout amount for up to three options. Mark an item “Included” only when the selected fare confirms it. Leave the item “Unknown” when the booking path has not supplied a price; the calculator will withhold the total instead of treating the gap as zero.

This approach also handles bundles more honestly. If a required cabin bag is only available with priority boarding, a fare upgrade or another bundle, enter the amount needed to obtain that product. Do not replace the bundle price with an imagined standalone bag fee.

A repeatable three-airline check

Use the same sequence for Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air:

1. Measure the packed bag, including the parts covered by the airline’s rule.
2. Choose one baggage need for the comparison: under-seat bag, larger cabin bag or a checked bag at a stated weight.
3. Search the same route, date, direction and passenger count on each airline.
4. Confirm which fare, add-on, priority product or membership benefit supplies the required allowance.
5. Record the whole-booking price after that choice, keeping every unknown cost visible.
6. Recheck the operating airline’s allowance and final total immediately before payment.

If the outward and return flights use different carriers, repeat the allowance check for each direction. A bag accepted by one airline is not automatically within the other carrier’s limits.

Where Fly with Bags helps—and where it stops

The Fly with Bags app can apply the same supported request for a small under-seat bag, larger cabin bag or checked bag to returned flight options. It keeps policy guidance separate from offer-bound prices. When the selected-bag amount cannot be established, the result stays incomplete rather than being ranked as if the missing amount were free.

Use the app to keep the requested bag consistent across flight results. Use the calculator for live checkout amounts the app cannot establish. Use the airline policy and checkout as the final authority for entitlement, dimensions, weight, availability and price.

FAQ

Which airline publishes the largest free-bag dimensions?

By the published maximum dimensions checked on 9 September 2026, easyJet’s 45 × 36 × 20cm free under-seat allowance produces the largest nominal dimension product of these three. It is not a like-for-like capacity measurement: easyJet explicitly includes handles and wheels, while the other cited wording differs. A particular bag must still meet every dimension and the airline’s conditions.

Are Ryanair and Wizz Air free bag limits the same?

Their reviewed pages both publish 40 × 30 × 20cm for the free under-seat bag. Wizz Air also publishes a 10kg limit. The Ryanair overview reviewed for this comparison does not state a separate weight limit for that small bag.

Can one trolley bag work for all three airlines?

It can if its packed dimensions and weight stay within the smallest applicable limits and the booking includes each carrier’s larger-cabin entitlement. For the published dimensions in this snapshot, 55 × 40 × 20cm is within all three larger-cabin size limits; the access product and weight still need checking.

Which airline is cheapest once bags are added?

The policy pages cannot answer that. Compare the live whole-booking totals for the same route, date, passengers and baggage need. If any required price is missing, there is no defensible cheapest result yet.