Compression Backpack
€99.99
Color: Black
1
Free shipping across the EU
Carry-on fees · Every EU budget airline
How to Avoid Carry-On Fees on Budget Airlines — Legally
The cheapest cabin bag is the free one. Every big European budget airline still includes one small under-seat bag on every fare: 40 × 30 × 20 cm on Ryanair, Wizz Air, Vueling, Volotea and TUI fly, 45 × 36 × 20 cm on easyJet, 40 × 30 × 25 cm on Eurowings. The whole game is fitting your trip into it — with a bag built exactly to that size that compresses your clothes, an outfit carried in the jacket you wear, and a change of clothes inside your neck pillow. What you skip: a paid cabin bag on every flight, and gate fees of up to ~€140 when a bag turns out too big.
- Every big EU budget airline includes one free under-seat bag
- The trick: fit the whole trip into it — legally
- Skip paid cabin bags and gate fees of up to ~€140
- Built to the free 40 × 30 × 20 cm size
- Wear an extra outfit
- Pillow holds a change of clothes
- Pillow free with all three
Compression Backpack
€99.99
Color: Black
1
Free shipping across the EU
€240
a year in cabin-bag fees at ~€20 a flight and six return trips
€140
the top of Vueling’s gate charge for an unbooked overhead bag (July 2026)
0
what the free under-seat bag costs, on every fare
3
items that fit a week into it: backpack, jacket, pillow
Free bag sizes and carry-on fees, airline by airline
What each airline includes for free, what a bigger cabin bag costs, and what happens at the gate if your bag does not fit. “~” marks a typical figure: fees change by route, date and booking channel.
| Free bag sizes and carry-on fees, airline by airline | Free under-seat bag | Bigger cabin bag | Too big at the gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryanair | ✓ 40 × 30 × 20 cm, no weight limit | With Priority: 55 × 40 × 20 cm, 10 kg — €12.49–36 at booking | ✗ ~€70–75, charged on the spot |
| Wizz Air | ✓ 40 × 30 × 20 cm | With WIZZ Priority: 55 × 40 × 23 cm, 10 kg | ✗ Oversize fee charged on the spot |
| easyJet | ✓ 45 × 36 × 20 cm incl. wheels, up to 15 kg | Large cabin bag (56 × 45 × 25 cm), pre-book online | ✗ £60 at the gate; the bag goes in the hold |
| Vueling | ✓ 40 × 30 × 20 cm | 55 × 40 × 20 cm bag, ~€10–59 online | ✗ ~€110–140 per unbooked overhead bag |
| Volotea | ✓ 40 × 30 × 20 cm | Trolley with Priority, from ~€9 | ✗ ~€65 per item |
| Eurowings | ✓ 40 × 30 × 25 cm | BASIC cabin bag ~€18–21 at booking | ✗ ~€50; the bag goes in the hold |
| TUI fly (Belgium) | ✓ 40 × 30 × 20 cm | Trolley from ~€20 on flight-only fares (since 1 May 2026) | ✗ ~€50; the bag goes in the hold |
Sizes and fees from each airline’s own baggage pages and price lists — Ryanair and easyJet checked in October 2026, the others in July 2026. Ryanair’s gate fee and the Eurowings and TUI fly gate figures are as reported by the press and fee trackers. Fees change often: always check your airline before you fly.
Weight limits, explained
The 10 kg rule: what is checked, and where
Weight limits are real — they are in the fare rules. Ryanair Priority and WIZZ Priority allow a 10 kg cabin bag, Lufthansa Economy 8 kg. But look at how bags are actually checked on the way to the plane. At the gate, staff check size: the bag goes into the metal sizer, and the oversize fees in the table above are charged for bags that do not fit it.
And 10 kg is a lot. In our own packing tests, our compression backpack packed to the limit — plenty of clothes, toiletries, an electric shaver and a 15-inch laptop, all pressed flat — usually weighs around 9–9.5 kg. That is a massively packed, fully compressed bag, and it still stays under 10 kg.
Weight is checked with a scale, and not just any scale. In Germany, a weight you are charged for has to come from a legally verified scale, set up so that you can see the reading — the German Bundestag’s research service confirmed this for airport luggage scales in 2024. Those scales stand at the check-in and bag-drop desks. Check in online, board with the boarding pass on your phone, go straight to security, and your cabin bag usually never meets one.
“Usually” is the honest word: some airlines, Lufthansa among them, check cabin bags before security at some airports, and staff can always ask. Pack within your fare’s limit — and with the free under-seat bag the question mostly disappears, because what counts there is the size.
- Weight limits are real: 10 kg on Ryanair/WIZZ Priority, 8 kg on Lufthansa
- 10 kg is a lot: our backpack, fully packed and compressed with a 15-inch laptop, weighs ~9–9.5 kg
- At the gate, staff check size — with the sizer, not a scale
- Online check-in + a mobile boarding pass: usually no scale on the way
- ✓ A weight fee needs a verified scale with a visible reading (Germany)
- ✓ Those scales stand at the check-in and bag-drop desks
- ✓ Ryanair’s free 40 × 30 × 20 cm bag has no weight limit
- ~ Some airports check cabin bags before security
Six legal ways to stop paying for hand luggage
No stunts, no sneaking: just a smarter way to use the allowance every fare already includes.
Buy the bag to the published size
“Cabin size” on a label means nothing; the airline’s published free size is what counts. A bag built to exactly 40 × 30 × 20 cm uses every centimetre Ryanair, Wizz Air and Vueling give you for free — and fits easyJet’s bigger 45 × 36 × 20 cm with room to spare.
- Ignore “cabin size” labels.
- Buy to the airline’s published free size.
Make the free bag hold a week
A compression backpack presses your clothes between two hardshell halves and holds 40 × 30 × 20 cm while buckled shut. It is built to pack up to three times what a regular backpack of the same size holds — no pump, no battery.
- Hardshell compression, 40 × 30 × 20 cm buckled.
- Built to pack up to 3× a regular backpack.
Wear the overflow
Clothing you wear is not baggage. A packing jacket carries a full outfit rolled into its lining and still looks like a normal jacket — on the major EU carriers we checked in July 2026, a worn jacket counts as clothing.
- Clothing you wear is not baggage.
- A packing jacket carries a full outfit in its lining.
Pack your pillow
A stuffable neck pillow holds a change of clothes and is still your pillow on the flight. Airlines publish no rule against neck pillows; keep everything else inside your free bag.
- A stuffable pillow holds a change of clothes.
- Still a pillow on the flight.
Measure packed, at home
Gate sizers measure the bag as presented — wheels, handles and bulge included — and since November 2025 Ryanair pays gate staff €2.50 for every oversized bag they catch. Measure yours fully packed the night before, not empty in the shop. A bag that holds its shape slides into the frame without a fight.
- Sizers measure the bag as presented.
- Ryanair staff earn €2.50 per oversized bag caught.
If you need more, book it online
Sometimes a bigger bag is worth it — a ski week, a work trip with kit. Then add it when you book: the same bag costs a fraction online of what it costs at the gate, where the fee is highest and the decision is no longer yours.
- Need a bigger bag? Add it when you book.
- The gate is always the most expensive place.
Wear it, don’t pay for it
The outfit that never counts as a bag
This is the most comfortable way to take clothes out of the fee equation. The Packing Jacket looks like an everyday hooded jacket, but its lining is a set of zipped tube pockets — one rolled garment per tube, a full outfit in total, spread flat across the jacket.
Wear it through the airport, keep the free bag for the rest, and the outfit in your lining is simply what you are wearing.
- Looks like an everyday hooded jacket
- One rolled garment per zipped tube — a full outfit
- Worn through the airport, it is just your jacket
- ✓ A full outfit in the lining
- ✓ About 600 g, XS–XXL, two cuts
- ✓ Worn clothing on the major EU carriers (July 2026)
Carry-on fees, explained
Hand-luggage fees in 2026: what you are paying for — and how not to
How do I avoid paying for hand luggage?
Travel with the bag your fare already includes, and make it carry the whole trip. On Ryanair, Wizz Air, Vueling, Volotea and TUI fly that free bag is 40 × 30 × 20 cm; easyJet allows 45 × 36 × 20 cm and Eurowings 40 × 30 × 25 cm. Pick a bag built to that published size, compress your clothes inside it, wear your bulkiest outfit, and put a change of clothes in your neck pillow.
Two small extras: check in online (Ryanair charges €55 to check in at the airport), and if you do need a bigger bag, buy it with the ticket. That is the entire legal playbook. Everything else you see online — stuffed pillowcases, ten layers, a second bag hidden under a coat — is a gamble on the gate agent’s mood, and the stakes are a gate fee that is usually higher than buying the bag in the first place.
- Use the free under-seat bag your fare includes
- Bag built to the published size + compression inside
- Wear the bulky outfit, pack the pillow — skip the stunts
Is a paid cabin bag ever worth it?
Sometimes, and it is better to be honest about it. If you are travelling for two weeks in winter, carrying work kit or sports gear, or simply prefer a wheeled trolley, a paid cabin bag can be the right call. The rule then is simple: add it when you book. On every airline in the table above the gate is the most expensive place to discover you need more room.
For city breaks, long weekends and a week in the sun, the free bag plus a packing jacket and a stuffable pillow is enough for most travellers — which is exactly why the kit is built to those sizes.
- Two weeks in winter or work kit? A paid bag can be right
- If so, add it when you book — never at the gate
- For most short trips the free bag + jacket + pillow is enough
How much can you save in a year?
Do the arithmetic for your own trips. When the consumer group Which? checked paid cabin bags in December 2025, the average one-way price was £20.50 on Ryanair, £28.93 on Wizz Air and £30 on easyJet. At around €20 per flight, six return trips a year add up to about €240 — before a single gate fee. One mistake at a Vueling gate can cost up to ~€140 on its own, and Ryanair’s oversize fee is around €70–75.
A one-off kit that fits those trips into the free allowance pays for itself in a year of regular flying — and it keeps paying, because the free bag is included in every fare you book.
- Which? (Dec 2025): £20.50 Ryanair, £28.93 Wizz Air, £30 easyJet one way
- ~€20 per flight × six return trips ≈ €240 a year
- One gate mistake: ~€70–75 at Ryanair, up to ~€140 at Vueling
Will the EU make cabin bags free?
The EU adopted its new air-passenger-rights law in July 2026 — the European Parliament voted on 7 July, the Council gave final clearance on 13 July — and it was published as Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 on 2 October 2026. It applies from 23 October 2027. For hand luggage, the key line is that airlines must let you carry a personal item into the cabin at no extra cost, defined as a bag of up to 40 × 30 × 15 cm or one that fits under the seat in front of you.
What it does not do is make the bigger overhead trolley free. Airlines have to allow one subject to cabin space, but the law expressly lets them keep selling cheaper fares without it — so the “free 7 kg cabin bag” headlines describe an earlier proposal, not the final text. In practice the free under-seat bag stays the thing to pack well, and every airline in the table above already includes one at least that big.
- Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 applies from 23 October 2027
- Free personal item: up to 40 × 30 × 15 cm or fits under the seat in front
- The bigger trolley is not guaranteed free — cheaper fares without it stay legal
The fee-free kit
Three pieces, one free allowance
Each piece moves clothes out of a paid bag: one compresses, one is worn, one is your pillow.
1. Compress: the backpack
Overfill the base, press the lid, buckle it — the bag keeps to the free 40 × 30 × 20 cm size.
2. Wear: the Packing Jacket
A full outfit rolled into the zipped tubes of the lining — clothing you wear, not a bag.
3. Rest: the neck pillow
A change of clothes inside a compact U that still works as your travel pillow.
Check your airline before you pack
The full free-bag table for EU and US carriers, in cm and inches, checked against each airline’s own baggage page.
Europe
| Airline | Free item · max | Fits | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| easyJet | 45× | 36× | 20 | Your backpack fits this airline's free item |
| Eurowings | 40× | 30× | 25 | Your backpack fits this airline's free item |
| Ryanair | 40× | 30× | 20 | Your backpack fits this airline's free item |
| TUI fly | 40× | 30× | 20 | Your backpack fits this airline's free item |
| Volotea | 40× | 30× | 20 | Your backpack fits this airline's free item |
| Vueling | 40× | 30× | 20 | Your backpack fits this airline's free item |
| Wizz Air | 40× | 30× | 20 | Your backpack fits this airline's free item |
Not responsible for airline changes. Verify before you fly.
The fee-free kit
A backpack built to the free 40 × 30 × 20 cm size, a jacket that carries an outfit and a pillow that carries a change of clothes. Add all three and the pillow is free.
Flying Ryanair?
The deep dive: Ryanair’s free bag, the gate sizer, Priority and what the oversize fee really costs in 2026.
Avoid Ryanair baggage feesAvoiding carry-on fees: FAQ
Short, sourced answers — airline figures verified July 2026.
How can I avoid carry-on fees?
Travel with the free under-seat bag your fare includes and fit the trip into it: a bag built to the airline’s published size (40 × 30 × 20 cm on Ryanair, Wizz Air and Vueling), compression inside it, your bulkiest outfit worn — ideally in a packing jacket that carries one more — and a change of clothes in a stuffable neck pillow.
Do budget airlines charge for hand luggage in 2026?
For the bigger overhead bag, usually yes; the small under-seat bag stays free on every fare. Ryanair, Wizz Air, Vueling, Volotea and TUI fly include 40 × 30 × 20 cm, easyJet 45 × 36 × 20 cm and Eurowings 40 × 30 × 25 cm. Which? found paid cabin bags averaged £20.50–30 one way in December 2025.
Is it allowed to wear extra clothes to avoid baggage fees?
Clothing you wear is not baggage, and on the major EU carriers we checked in July 2026 a worn jacket counts as clothing. Gate staff can refuse anything that is plainly a bag in disguise, so keep it normal-looking: one jacket with an outfit packed flat in the lining, not ten layers.
Can I take a backpack on Ryanair for free?
Yes, if it fits Ryanair’s free bag size of 40 × 30 × 20 cm as you present it at the gate; there is no weight limit. Anything bigger needs Priority — €12.49–36 when bought with the ticket (Ryanair, October 2026) — or costs around €70–75 at the gate.
What is the cheapest way to take a bigger cabin bag?
Add it when you book. Every airline charges far more at the gate than online — on Vueling an unbooked overhead bag costs ~€110–140 at the gate against ~€10–59 online (July 2026).
Will the EU make cabin bags free?
Not the big ones. Regulation (EU) 2026/2202, which applies from 23 October 2027, guarantees a free personal item — up to 40 × 30 × 15 cm or one that fits under the seat in front. Airlines must allow a bigger hand bag subject to cabin space, but they may keep selling cheaper fares without it.
What happens if my bag is too big at the gate?
It is charged on the spot and usually sent to the hold: around €70–75 on Ryanair, £60 on easyJet, ~€65 on Volotea and up to ~€140 on Vueling (2026). Measure your bag packed at home before you fly.
Do airlines weigh hand luggage at the gate?
Rarely. At the gate, bags are checked for size with the sizer. A fee based on weight needs a scale whose reading counts — in Germany a legally verified scale, with the reading visible to you — and those stand at the check-in and bag-drop desks. Check in online with a mobile boarding pass and your cabin bag usually never meets one. Some airlines, such as Lufthansa at some airports, do check cabin bags before security, so pack within your fare’s limit. That is easier than it sounds, because 10 kg is a lot: in our own packing tests, our compression backpack packed to the limit — plenty of clothes, toiletries, an electric shaver and a 15-inch laptop — weighs around 9–9.5 kg.
Pay for the flight. Not for the bag.
A backpack built to the free under-seat size, a jacket that carries an outfit and a pillow that carries a change of clothes — the fee-free kit, with the pillow free when you take all three.
- Pillow free with all three
- Free shipping across the EU
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