Whether you’re hitting the beach or indulging in a fancy city break, a cabin bag is one of the most essential items you’ll need for a vacation. Ideally, you want a durable, lightweight bag with enough room to fit all your travel essentials and a capsule wardrobe for looking stylish on the road.
As a travel journalist and podcaster, I have flown on many airlines and tested many bags in pursuit of the perfect cabin bag to avoid those pesky extra charges.
Frustratingly, different airlines have different policies regarding hand luggage sizes – Ryanair’s free allowance is 40 x 20 x 20 cm, EasyJet’s under-the-seat bag is 45 x 36 x 20 cm, and WizzAir’s free bag size is 40 x 30 x 20 cm. This can make finding a suitable cabin bag that will fit most airline bag sizers a tad tricky. Some airlines, like British Airways and KLM, will allow you to bring one carry-on baggage and one personal item.
A personal item is typically considered a handbag, laptop bag, small backpack, or camera case. Personal items should always be small enough to fit underneath the seat in front of you.
Carry-on bags, sometimes known as hand luggage or cabin baggage, are luggage items taken into the plane’s cabin. They are not checked in before your flight and are usually stored in the overhead storage compartment above your seat.
Individual airlines tend to have strict policies about the height or weight of carry-on baggage, so you’ll need to carefully check the airlines’ size and weight rules.
Keeping up to date with your airline’s current baggage restrictions is vital to avoid surprise charges at the gate if your bag is too big or heavy.
How to avoid airline baggage charges
With reports of lost bags, fines for oversized cabin bags and massive baggage pile-ups at Heathrow Airport earlier this year, travelling with just hand luggage seems the smart thing to do this half term.
“The best tip for those looking to travel hand luggage only is to embrace the freedom of travelling light, and save yourself money on baggage fees,” says Creative Director of Cabin Max, Sean Gresty.
Speaking on the Travel Goals Podcast, Gresty offered advice for travellers looking to travel light and save money on bag fees.
“Look at a smaller luggage allowance as an opportunity rather than a hindrance. Travelling lighter can be incredibly freeing and much less stressful than carting a large suitcase all over the globe.”
Buy what are the best cabin bags to take abroad? What features and specs should you look out for?
I’ve compiled a list of the best cabin bags, from bargainous to bougie, to help you travel smarter.
Best bags if you don’t want to check your luggage
The Travel Hack Hybrid by Cabin Max
Dimensions: approx. 60 x 34cm
Best for: Switching from backpack to trolley bag
Designed by Welsh mum and travel blogger Monica Stott, The Travel Hack Hybrid is part of a range of ‘Travel Hack’ bags and has been created with frequent travellers in mind and features many handy features for pro packers.
Suitable for most major airlines, it’s perfectly sized to avoid EasyJet’s new hand luggage charges for hand luggage bags – so you can save money on travel!
It’s a stylish black bag with rose gold zips that switches effortlessly between a Trolley bag and backpack for a seamless travel experience.
Despite its compact appearance, the hybrid has an impressive 30-litre capacity and a suitcase-style opening for easy packing.
The main compartment is where you can fit a selection of outfits and utilise the netted pockets to organise your essentials.
The Portable Porter
Dimensions: 56cm x 45cm x 25com
Best for: Style
Coming in various colours, these retro cabin bags are a fun choice for adventure seekers who are happy to travel light and breezy. Opt for the mustard yellow if you want recognisable luggage in the arrival hall.
This bold case features a Makrolon exterior shell and Hinimoto 360 spinner wheels for effortless movement. It also has some notable eco-credentials, including an interior lined with 15 recycled plastic bottles.
You’ll find a few unique features on the exterior – a compression mat with straps on one side and a zippered compartment on the other.
Extra thoughtful touches like a leather luggage tag and a water-resistant laundry bag make this case stand out.
Gomatic Travel Pack 20L
Dimensions: 43 H x 30 W x 15-24
Best for: Durability
This sturdy, showerproof backpack is made from long-lasting, face-coated nylon and polyester and is perfect for the adventurous explorer.
It’s expertly designed to carry clothes and tech neatly and is cabin-friendly for most Airlines, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Easy Jet, and Jet2.
The functional design includes a 50% expander to carry more on your weekend break, which is handy if you tend to overpack!
Multiple compartments and hidden pockets are strategically placed throughout the bag, allowing easy organisation of your travel essentials. The magnetic water bottle holder is a particularly nifty feature.
Straps are thick and adjustable but could do with more padding for comfort while travelling around.
Narwey Duffel bag
Dimensions: 40 x 19 x 25 cm
Best for: Budget travellers
Budget travellers will love this low-price, compact travel duffel, which fits snugly under airline seats.
The Narwey bag went viral on TikTok in a video that racked up 6 million views, demonstrating how it fits perfectly into the Ryanair bag strict sizer and avoids bag charges.
These budget bags have surprisingly thick lining and durable zips and come in a range of greys and soft pastels.
A full-length inner zip pocket and two mesh pockets provide separate storage space to keep you organised in the airport and on the road.
Briggs & Riley Carry-on Expandable Spinner
Dimensions: 56 x 35.5 x 23 cm
Best for: Weekend city breaks
One of the main sells of the incredibly sleek Briggs & Riley Carry-on is the lifetime guarantee that ensures any damage to your case is fixed – perfect if you’re a travel klutz like me.
With innovative CX™ compression-expansion technology that minimises wrinkles and keeps clothing flat, this luxurious case is perfect for a swanky weekend city break or a swift business trip travelling with hand luggage.
Double-spinner wheels and an ergonomic telescoping handle make travelling long distances and narrow spaces effortless as you glide around the city looking fabulous.
Be warned: the outer shell scuffs easily, so you must carry it carefully to keep your posh bag looking pristine.
Safety-wise, the built-in TSA-friendly combination lock also secures your bag’s contents and allows agents to safely access your bag, with no more cut cable locks and tears in arrivals!
Antler Clifton cabin with pocket
Dimensions: 23 x 35 x 56 cm
Best for: Work trips
Pack smarter for your work trips with this chic and practical cabin bag from the British brand Antler. Innovative design features include a twist-grip handle, double TSA-combination lock, and double-spinner wheels.
Antler’s generous 10-year warranty offers peace of mind for frequent travellers who require a stylish case that lasts.
Inside, you’ll find an organised interior with a D-zip pocket and handy mesh pockets to keep valuables and essentials organised.
Despite its small dimensions, you can roughly fit 38 litres of stuff inside and approximately another seven litres in the exterior pocket.
The interior works best for neatly folded clothes, rather than bulky items, so wear any think jumpers or boots to the airports.
Working on the road? The spacious and lockable front pocket is where you can store a 15.6-inch laptop, tablet, and passport to keep them secure and within easy reach for security.
Manhattan 20L Backpack by Cabin Max
Dimensions: 40x 20x 25cm
Best for: Short trips
Are you travelling on a basic airfare ticket this half term? Cabin Max’s compact carry-on can help you beat cabin bag charges and be used as a personal item on most budget European airlines.
The Manhattan 20L is a no-fill backpack for lightweight travellers who need the essentials on a short break. It features a squishy UV-coated Twill, which you can store under an airline seat. It’s also Flight Approved to avoid hand luggage charges on Ryanair.
Despite its small size, you can use packing cubes to fit a decent amount of clothes inside the main compartment. Other handy features include a padded rear device pocket, lockable zips & front quick-stash ticket pocket.
The Siena II Smart Backpack by Nordace
Dimensions: 42.5 cm x 30 cm x 16.5 cm
Best for: Versatility and tech-savvy travellers
The Nordace Siena II Smart Backpack is a stylish and tech-friendly backpack for travel and everyday use. With a capacity of 22L, it offers ample storage without being bulky. One of the standout features is the built-in USB charging port, allowing you to easily charge your devices when travelling.
The bag’s minimalist design emphasises smart organisation, featuring multiple compartments, including a padded laptop sleeve that fits up to a 15.6-inch laptop, hidden anti-theft pockets, and a luggage strap for easy pairing with a suitcase.
The backpack is also compatible with Nordace’s compression packing cubes, designed to fit seamlessly inside the main compartment. These cute cubes help maximise space, keeping your items well-organised and wrinkle-free during travel.
The Getaway by Farino
Dimensions: 35x 23x 54 cm
Best for: International trips
As seen on BBC’s investment show, Dragon’s Den, this stylish bag impressed the hard-to-please dragons, who proclaimed it “brilliant” and “a great product.”
Made by British-based company Farino, it’s built from stylish, weatherproof neoprene and features four 360° rollerblade spinner wheels – engineered to take the weight of a human.
Suitable as hand luggage on most international airlines, the Getaway has a large interior compartment for making the most out of your luggage allowance.
It also features a secure laptop pocket, outside pockets, and a TSA-approved combination lock to keep your valuables safe. Organisation-wise, it could be better, but the sheer volume of clothes it can carry more than makes up for that.
Memphis 30L Backpack by Cabin Max
Dimensions: 40 x 30 x 20 cm
Best for: Clothes compression and tech pockets
Carefully designed to comply with the new ‘free’ under-seat cabin bag rules of airlines like EasyJet and Wizz Air, the Memphis is stylish and saves you money by avoiding cabin bag charges.
Compact yet surprisingly roomy, this swish backpack has a large 24L internal capacity with a built-in packing compression zone system for smartly squashing clothes down without getting too many wrinkles.
Packing pros will love the selection of pockets for storing tech, travel essentials, water bottles, and chargers. There’s even a discrete rear ‘secret’ pocket to stash passports and documents to reduce travel stress safely.
Initially, it can feel a little bulky, but the comfortable straps allow easy movement when racing around the airport.