I have flown Ryanair six or seven times a year for the last decade — from Stansted, Luton, Manchester, and Bristol, mostly to Spain, Italy, and Poland. Ryanair is the airline UK travellers love to complain about, and yet the one most of us still book because nothing else competes on price. This page is the central guide: bags, fees, priority, seats, check-in, your rights when things go wrong, and the buyer’s guides for the gear that actually fits the gate sizers.
Quick answer for the bag question — checked April 2026
What Size Weight Cost Free personal bag (under-seat) 40 x 30 x 20 cm No limit Included on every fare Priority cabin bag (overhead) 55 x 40 x 20 cm 10 kg Priority add-on, £6–36 10 kg checked bag No published size limit 10 kg £13–20 at booking 20 kg checked bag No published size limit 20 kg £20–35 at booking Oversized at the gate — — £70–75 fee Important: the free personal bag was 40 x 20 x 25 cm before August 2025. If a guide quotes those old dimensions, it is out of date. The current size is 40 x 30 x 20 cm.
Jump to a section
- Baggage rules and bag sizes
- Fares and fees
- Booking and check-in
- At the airport
- Seats and boarding
- Cabin bags and luggage that fits Ryanair
- Your rights: cancellations, delays, refunds
- Ryanair vs other UK airlines
- Frequently asked questions
Baggage rules and bag sizes
Ryanair’s baggage rules are strict, predictable, and enforced. Once you know the dimensions, you can pack to fit them and never pay a surprise fee.
The free personal bag size changed in August 2025 from the old 40 x 20 x 25 cm to 40 x 30 x 20 cm. Most guides on the web still quote the old size — including, occasionally, Ryanair’s own search results before they update. Always go by what is on the official ryanair.com page at the time of booking.
For the full breakdown including weight enforcement, gate-check policy, infant baggage, sports gear, and the Aug 2025 changes:
- Ryanair Cabin Bag Size and Baggage Allowance 2026 — the full size guide, all fares
- Ryanair Baggage Allowance 2026: All Fares, Bags and Fees — the full pricing guide
Fares and fees
Ryanair has five fare tiers (Basic, Regular, Plus, Flexi Plus, Family Plus), and each one bundles a different combination of seat selection, priority boarding, and checked baggage. The cheapest fare is genuinely the cheapest — but only if you do not need a hold bag, a chosen seat, or speed at the gate.
Booking and check-in
Online check-in opens 24 hours before departure for passengers without paid seat selection, and earlier (60 days) for those with reserved seats. Check-in is free online. Airport check-in is paid and carries a fee — the price has been rising every year, so always check it in the booking flow rather than relying on memory.
At the airport
Ryanair flies almost exclusively from secondary airports in the UK — Stansted is by far the busiest, with Luton, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and East Midlands the next biggest hubs. If your flight is from Stansted, allow extra time: it is one of the busiest airports in Europe in summer, and the walk to the Ryanair gates can be 20 minutes from security.
Seats and boarding
Random seat allocation is the default if you do not pay for a seat. In practice this means families and groups are split unless they all pay. If you are travelling alone and do not care where you sit, the random allocation usually works out fine.
Priority Boarding gets you on the plane first and includes a 10 kg overhead cabin bag. It is capped at 95 passengers per flight, sells out on busy summer routes, and is sometimes worth it just for the overhead bag — especially on flights longer than 2 hours.
Cabin bags and luggage that fits Ryanair
The biggest single source of unexpected Ryanair fees is bags that look small enough but fail the gate sizer when they are packed. A soft bag designed specifically for the 40 x 30 x 20 cm allowance — or a 55 x 40 x 20 cm Priority bag — solves this problem permanently.
For now, see our broader guides:
Dedicated Ryanair buyer’s guides coming soon:
Your rights: cancellations, delays, refunds
UK passengers flying Ryanair are still covered by UK261 (the post-Brexit version of the EU261 regulation) on flights departing the UK, and by EU261 on flights departing the EU back to the UK. Compensation thresholds and amounts are the same — up to £520 (€600 equivalent) for a long-haul flight delayed by more than four hours, with shorter distances paying less.
Ryanair vs other UK airlines
How Ryanair stacks up against the four other airlines UK travellers fly most. For the full breakdown, see the UK airline baggage allowance comparison.
| Airline | Free cabin bag (every fare) | Priority / overhead bag option | Hold bag from | Free seat selection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryanair | 40 x 30 x 20 cm under-seat | Priority add-on £6–36 | £13 (10 kg) | No |
| easyJet | 45 x 36 x 20 cm under-seat | Plus / FLEXI fare or paid | Paid add-on | No |
| Jet2 | 56 x 45 x 25 cm cabin bag + personal item | Included | Paid (or free with package) | Some fares |
| British Airways | 56 x 45 x 25 cm cabin bag + personal item, 23 kg combined | Included | Fare-dependent | Most fares |
| TUI | 55 x 40 x 20 cm cabin bag + personal item | Included | Free with packages | Yes |
Jet2 and British Airways are the most generous. Ryanair and easyJet are the strictest. The trade-off is price: a Ryanair return at £40 with a checked bag added is still cheaper than most equivalents on Jet2 or BA.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Ryanair cabin bag size for 2026?
The free personal bag is 40 x 30 x 20 cm (changed from 40 x 20 x 25 cm in August 2025) with no weight limit, and goes under the seat in front of you. The Priority cabin bag is 55 x 40 x 20 cm at 10 kg, goes in the overhead locker, and requires the Priority & 2 Cabin Bags add-on.
Can I take a handbag and a cabin bag on Ryanair?
On a Standard fare, no — you get one bag, the 40 x 30 x 20 cm under-seat personal bag. A handbag counts as your personal bag. With Priority & 2 Cabin Bags you get both: the under-seat personal bag and the 55 x 40 x 20 cm overhead cabin bag.
Do I need Priority Boarding to take a 10 kg bag?
Yes. The 10 kg cabin bag (55 x 40 x 20 cm) is only included with the Priority & 2 Cabin Bags add-on or with Plus, Flexi Plus, or Family Plus fares. Without it, you only get the smaller under-seat bag.
What happens if my Ryanair bag is too big at the gate?
Ryanair charges a gate fee of £70–75 for any bag that fails the sizer, and the bag is checked into the hold. Since November 2025, gate staff have a per-bag financial incentive to check borderline bags, so enforcement is stricter than it used to be. Soft bags compress; rigid cases at exactly 40 x 30 x 20 cm often do not.
How strict is Ryanair with cabin bag size?
Very strict. The bag sizers are exact, and there is no grace margin. A 41 cm-wide bag fails. Pack a tape measure if you are uncertain about a bag, or use a soft-sided bag that will compress to fit.
Can I share a Ryanair bag with someone else?
Officially, no — each passenger is assessed individually. In practice, two people on the same booking sharing one large checked bag is sometimes fine if the total weight is within their combined allowance and no single bag exceeds 32 kg. Do not rely on it.
Is Ryanair Priority Boarding worth it?
Yes if your trip is longer than three days, you need more than a small backpack, or you want to skip the queue. No if you can pack into the free 40 x 30 x 20 cm bag and the flight is under two hours. Priority is capped at 95 passengers per flight and sells out on busy summer routes — buy it at booking, not at the airport.
Does Ryanair fly from Stansted?
Yes — Stansted is Ryanair’s largest UK base, with hundreds of weekly departures across Europe. Ryanair also operates from Luton, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, and several other UK airports.
What is Ryanair’s cancellation refund policy?
If Ryanair cancels your flight, you are entitled to a full refund or a re-route at no extra cost under UK261/EU261, plus compensation if the cancellation was within 14 days of departure and not due to “extraordinary circumstances” like extreme weather or air traffic control strikes. If you cancel, you usually only get back government taxes, not the fare itself.
Can I get compensation for a Ryanair delay?
Yes, under UK261 (UK departures) and EU261 (EU departures back to the UK) if the delay is more than three hours at arrival and Ryanair is at fault. Compensation ranges from £220 for short flights to £520 for long-haul delays. File the claim through Ryanair directly first; if they refuse, escalate to the CAA (UK) or relevant national authority.
Do duty-free purchases count toward my Ryanair cabin bag allowance?
No. Ryanair explicitly allows duty-free bags in the original shop carrier on top of any fare allowance, with no limit on the number of bags. Buy what you need after security.
Tested on the routes I actually fly
I have flown Ryanair from Stansted, Luton, Manchester, and Bristol on Standard, Priority & 2 Cabin Bags, and Plus fares. The pricing here is what I have actually paid in 2025 and 2026. Where Ryanair has changed a rule mid-year (the August 2025 personal bag size; the November 2025 staff bonus increase), this guide and the underlying cluster posts have been updated accordingly. The dates at the top of each linked article show when it was last verified.
— Clint Edgar, Travellon
Last updated: April 2026
`
