How much does an extra cabin bag cost on low-cost flights?
Bringing a wheeled cabin bag on top of the free under-seat bag costs up to EUR 21 per leg on Ryanair and Volotea and up to EUR 45 on Vueling, according to Altroconsumo's June 2026 survey. Added at the gate, Volotea's published price reaches EUR 65, and a fare advertised at EUR 16 can end up at EUR 82 once cabin bag, hold bag and seat are added.
Verifiable answer
Bringing a wheeled cabin bag on top of the free under-seat bag costs up to EUR 21 per leg on Ryanair and Volotea and up to EUR 45 on Vueling, according to Altroconsumo's June 2026 survey. Added at the gate, Volotea's published price reaches EUR 65, and a fare advertised at EUR 16 can end up at EUR 82 once cabin bag, hold bag and seat are added.
- How much does an extra cabin bag cost on low-cost flights?
- €45 / flight leg
- €21 – €65
- Low-cost flights in Europe
- 28 July 2026
- Confidence: Medium
- The small under-seat bag included in every basic fare; The supplement for the overhead wheeled bag when bought with the ticket; The price difference between buying online, at check-in and at the gate; Hold baggage, treated separately from cabin baggage
- The airfare itself, which varies by route and date; Seat selection, a service separate from baggage; Priority boarding sold without an extra bag; Surcharges for special items such as skis, instruments or sports equipment; Fare bundles that group several services together
- The airline chosen, with more than twofold differences on the same service; When you buy: at booking, at check-in or at the gate; Route, date and how full the flight is; The number of legs, because the supplement is charged per flight; The size of the free bag, which differs by carrier; A fare or membership that may already include the large bag
- 6 sources
Short answer
The bag that fits under the seat is free on every low-cost airline; the wheeled bag in the overhead locker is not, and its price shifts by airline, route, date and above all by the moment you decide to add it.
Hand baggage is the charge that made low-cost fares impossible to compare. Every airline includes a small bag to go under the seat in front, with dimensions that differ from carrier to carrier: 40x30x20 cm on Ryanair and Volotea, up to 45x36x20 cm and 15 kg on easyJet. The wheeled overhead bag, which most people simply call hand luggage, is a paid service with no fixed price list: it moves with the route, the date, how full the flight is and the channel you buy it through. The result is that two passengers sitting next to each other may have paid very different amounts for the same flight. Making the subject more topical still, the European revision of air passenger rights approved in 2026 establishes that a personal item must travel free and requires far more transparency about baggage charges, applying from 2027. This guide brings together the prices recorded across the five main low-cost carriers, the official price lists where they exist and the rules on the way, to work out what a bag really costs and when to commit to it.
What is included
- The small under-seat bag included in every basic fare
- The supplement for the overhead wheeled bag when bought with the ticket
- The price difference between buying online, at check-in and at the gate
- Hold baggage, treated separately from cabin baggage
What is not included
- The airfare itself, which varies by route and date
- Seat selection, a service separate from baggage
- Priority boarding sold without an extra bag
- Surcharges for special items such as skis, instruments or sports equipment
- Fare bundles that group several services together
How the price breaks down
| Item | Type | Frequency | Minimum | Typical | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small bag under the seat, included in the fareIncluded in every basic fare: 40x30x20 cm on Ryanair and Volotea, up to 45x36x20 cm and 15 kg on easyJet. | Compulsory | one-off | — | €0 | — |
| Cabin trolley on the cheaper carriersCeiling recorded in June 2026 on Ryanair and Volotea: up to EUR 21 per leg to bring a bag into the overhead locker. | Optional | one-off | — | €21 | €21 |
| Cabin trolley on the most expensive carrierCeiling recorded on Vueling in the same survey: EUR 45 per leg, more than double the cheaper carriers. | Optional | one-off | — | €45 | €45 |
| 10 kg cabin bag added at the gateVolotea's official price list: EUR 65 to add at boarding the bag that would have cost a fraction online. | Optional | one-off | — | €65 | — |
| 10 kg hold bag, from website to gateFrom EUR 9 booked online, EUR 45 at check-in and EUR 65 at the gate: the same bag costs more than seven times as much. | Optional | one-off | €9 | €9 | €65 |
| Large hold bagUp to EUR 80 per leg in the June 2026 survey, against EUR 51 for the small hold bag. | Optional | one-off | — | €80 | €80 |
| Standard seat selectionUp to EUR 32 per leg, EUR 42 for the roomier seats: the fastest-growing item, up roughly 42% in a year. | Optional | one-off | — | €32 | €32 |
What the price depends on
- The airline chosen, with more than twofold differences on the same service
- When you buy: at booking, at check-in or at the gate
- Route, date and how full the flight is
- The number of legs, because the supplement is charged per flight
- The size of the free bag, which differs by carrier
- A fare or membership that may already include the large bag
Hidden costs
- The trolley price more than doubles between carriers on the same route: up to EUR 21 on Ryanair and Volotea, up to EUR 45 on Vueling
- Adding the bag at the last moment is the most expensive route of all: on Volotea's list a 10 kg bag costs from EUR 9 online, EUR 45 at check-in and EUR 65 at the gate
- The supplement is charged per leg, so a return trip doubles the spend without the booking screen making that obvious
- Free-bag dimensions differ by airline: a bag that passes on easyJet can be rejected and charged at the gate by another carrier
- Fare bundles are not always cheaper: in the 2026 survey some saved up to 27%, others cost up to 244% more than buying the same services separately
Three realistic scenarios
Free bag only
€0
A backpack that fits under the seat in front, within the airline's limits: no supplement, and the only case where the advertised fare is what you actually pay.
Trolley booked with the ticket
€21
An overhead trolley added at booking on one of the cheaper carriers: up to EUR 21 per leg, EUR 42 for a return trip.
Bag added at the gate
€65
A 10 kg bag produced at boarding without having paid for it beforehand: EUR 65 on Volotea's published list, for a single flight.
How to spend less
- Decide on the bag when you buy the ticket: it is the only moment the supplement sits at its lowest, and every later step raises it.
- Before booking, add the cost of the trolley for both legs to the fare: that is the only honest comparison between two airlines.
- Measure your bag against that specific airline's limits, not the one you flew last time: 40x30x20 and 45x36x20 cm are not the same thing.
- For a weekend, try to fit inside the included bag: on short routes saving EUR 42 across both legs is often worth more than the convenience of a trolley.
- If you need more space, compare the cabin trolley with the smallest hold bag booked online: on some carriers the hold costs less than the locker.
- Check whether your fare or membership already covers the large bag, as with easyJet Plus and the Inclusive Plus fare, before paying for it twice.
Frequently asked questions
Is hand luggage really becoming free in Europe?
Partly. The revision of air passenger rights approved by the European Parliament on 7 July 2026, by 646 votes in favour, provides that a personal item of 40x30x15 cm always travels free and strengthens transparency on baggage charges, which must be comparable from the moment you search for a flight. The new rules apply twelve months after publication, so from 2027. It does not mean the overhead trolley becomes free on every airline: it means the minimum piece of luggage cannot be charged for, and the price of everything else has to be visible before you pay.
Why does the bag price change every time I check?
Because it is not a tariff but a dynamic price, calculated like the fare itself. Airlines move it according to route, date, how full the aircraft is and how close departure is. That is why two people on the same plane can have paid very different amounts for a bag, and why no airline publishes a single price: the only reliable rule is the direction of travel, namely that waiting costs more.
How much does adding a bag at the gate cost?
It is the most expensive scenario. Volotea, which publishes prices by channel, charges EUR 65 for a 10 kg bag added at the gate, against EUR 9 for the same bag booked online and EUR 45 at check-in. Other carriers do not publish an equivalent table but apply the same logic: the gate fee is the punitive rate that makes deciding early worthwhile. If you discover at boarding that your bag does not fit the sizer, you have no room to negotiate.
What are the free-bag dimensions for each airline?
They differ, and that is the most common cause of trouble at boarding. Ryanair increased its free bag to 40x30x20 cm, describing it as 33% larger than the EU standard of 40x30x15 cm. Volotea states the same 40x30x20 cm. easyJet is more generous: 45x36x20 cm up to 15 kg. So a soft bag that passes on easyJet may not pass on Ryanair. Measure your bag, wheels and handles included, against the limits of the airline you are actually flying.
Is a cabin bag or a hold bag better value?
It depends on the airline and on how early you book. In the June 2026 survey the cabin trolley reached EUR 45, the small hold bag EUR 51 and the large hold bag EUR 80. On Volotea, though, a 10 kg hold bag booked online starts at EUR 9, less than many overhead-locker supplements. The practical rule is to compare both prices on the booking screen rather than assuming the cabin is always cheaper: for early bookers the opposite is often true.
How much do bags really add to the final price of a flight?
Far more than it looks. In the 60-flight survey, a ticket advertised at EUR 16 reached EUR 82 once a cabin trolley, a hold bag and seat selection were added: 414% more. The average maximum mark-up recorded was 316% above the starting fare. This is exactly the effect the new European rules aim to make visible before payment, by requiring baggage costs to be shown comparably across airlines.
Sources and methodology
How we worked it out
Low-cost airlines do not publish a fixed price for cabin bags, so the main figures come from Altroconsumo's survey of 24 June 2026 covering 60 flights on Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air, Vueling and Volotea, which reports the maximum price observed for each service: up to EUR 21 for the trolley on Ryanair and Volotea, up to EUR 45 on Vueling. The EUR 65 ceiling is instead an official list price, the one Volotea publishes for a bag added at the gate. Free-bag dimensions come from the airlines' own pages. We have not built an average price: the survey reports maximums rather than minimums, and an average computed from maximums would be an invented number. Fare bundles, which change name every season, and temporary promotions are excluded.
Why this confidence level
Confidence is Medium rather than High because cabin baggage has no list price: airlines calculate it dynamically, and the same service on the same route can cost different amounts two days apart. The figures here come from a 60-flight consumer organisation survey and from official price lists where they exist, so they describe reliable orders of magnitude rather than a rate you can insist on. The monthly review exists precisely because these numbers move fast.
Survey of 24 June 2026 covering 60 flights on the five main low-cost carriers: cabin trolley up to EUR 45, capped at EUR 21 on Ryanair and Volotea and EUR 45 on Vueling; a fare advertised at EUR 16 reaches EUR 82 once standard services are added
Altroconsumo · Research · Verified on 28 July 2026
Consumer organisation survey accessed on 28 July 2026; used for the per-airline price ceilings and the overall mark-up, because no airline publishes a fixed price list for cabin bags. It reports observed maximums, not minimums: the guide says so and does not reconstruct an average.
Authority3/5
Official price list showing the difference by purchase channel: a 40x30x20 cm bag included, a 10 kg hold bag from EUR 9 online, EUR 45 at check-in and EUR 65 at the gate, and a 10 kg cabin bag added at the gate for EUR 65
Bagaglio — Volotea (opens in a new tab)
Volotea · Official tariff · Verified on 28 July 2026
Official page accessed on 28 July 2026; it is the only carrier among those checked that publishes prices per channel, so it is used to quantify what deciding at the last minute costs. Prices flagged 'from' vary by route and date.
Authority4/5
Free small bag up to 45x36x20 cm and 15 kg, large cabin bag 56x45x25 cm included only with easyJet Plus or the Inclusive Plus fare
Bagaglio a mano — easyJet (opens in a new tab)
easyJet · Official tariff · Verified on 28 July 2026
Official page accessed on 28 July 2026; used for the dimensions, the most generous among the carriers checked, and to identify which fares already include the trolley. Its starting price is quoted in pounds, which is why it does not feed the euro figures in this guide.
Authority4/5
Free personal bag increased to 40x30x20 cm, described by the airline as 33% larger than the EU standard of 40x30x15 cm, with new sizers installed at 235 airports
Ryanair installa bag sizer più grandi in tutti gli aeroporti (opens in a new tab)
Ryanair · Official tariff · Verified on 28 July 2026
Official company statement accessed on 28 July 2026; used only for the dimensions of the free bag and the reference to the EU standard, not for prices, which Ryanair does not publish on a reachable page.
Authority4/5
Agreement of 15 June 2026 revising air passenger rights, strengthening fare transparency and comparability including hand baggage charges, with the rules applying 12 months after publication
Commission welcomes landmark agreement on revised air passenger rights (opens in a new tab)
Commissione europea · Public authority · Verified on 28 July 2026
Official European Commission statement accessed on 28 July 2026; used for the date of the agreement, the fare transparency principle and the 12-month window. It does not state the dimensions in centimetres, which are cited separately.
Authority5/5
European Parliament vote of 7 July 2026, carried by 646 votes to 12 with 3 abstentions, covering a free personal item of 40x30x15 cm and rules taking effect from 2027
Euronews · Press · Verified on 28 July 2026
Journalistic source accessed on 28 July 2026, used only for the vote result and the personal item dimensions, because the Parliament and Council pages could not be opened. No price in this guide rests on it.
Authority2/5
Revision history
First published on 28 July 2026 with prices recorded in June 2026 across five low-cost airlines and the official price lists available.
- 28 July 2026
- 28 July 2026
- 28 October 2026
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