If you’re on a budget and travelling with a low-cost airline, you may be only travelling with hand luggage to save paying for a suitcase.
But this means that you need to be extra mindful of the measurements of your bag when on certain airlines, which may mean ditching your small suitcase and opting for something a little more flexible.
Now TikTok expert @cheapholidayexpert has recommended that if you’re flying with RyanAir, easyJet, or W!zz Air, “the staff will see the wheels and think straightaway that that bag is too big.
“And the truth is, it probably is”, she added.
The measurements you “have to fit to get your bag on for free” are a lot smaller than you think – and may be much smaller than your ‘small’ suitcase.
The travel enthusiast then demonstrated how the bags you may assume are fine when you take your carry on actually do not fit into the designated compartment.
This means you’re leaving yourself open to paying more money at the airport when you get to your gate.
The measurements are quite strict too. RyanAir’s are 40x20x25, W!zz Air’s are 40x30x20 and easyJet’s are 45x36x20.
She said there are “some suitcases on the market that will just about fit”, but “most of them are a total no go”, so it’s not worth it.
Instead, she recommended fitting your stuff into a “soft backpack”, which “you can squeeze your stuff in, even if it’s slightly over the measurements”.
In the comments, people were not impressed with airline limits, with one writing: “We need to stop allowing airlines to restrict carry-on bags to ridiculously small sizes.”
Another added: “I don’t know why people love using the wheeled bags, back packs are way handier.”
Someone else wrote: “I bought a Samsonite backpack/suitcase that transforms into what you need. I always have it in backpack mode. They don’t question it.”
One TikToker said they’d flown with RyanAir a few times and “never had any problems” with their suitcase.
Another said: “I bought a soft bag specifically for hand luggage. Fits perfectly and you can get a lot into it.”