Ryanair baggage on the basic fare comes down to one small bag of up to 40×30×20 cm that must fit under the seat in front of you. Everything else costs money, and the low-cost carrier's core rule is blunt: anything added online in advance costs a fraction of the same thing bought at the airport. A gate bag fee can exceed the price of the ticket itself, which is precisely how Ryanair earns its billions. Here are the allowances, the fare tiers and the legal tricks that let you fly for 30 euros instead of 130.
What the free allowance actually includes
Every passenger, no exceptions, may bring one small personal bag up to 40×30×20 cm. The old limit was 40×20×25; in 2025 the airline enlarged it in line with the common European standard, so older internet guides are now wrong. Weight is formally unlimited, but the bag must slide into the metal sizer at the gate and under the seat. A 20-litre backpack fits perfectly, as long as you do not stuff it drum-tight. Check the exact dimensions for your flight on ryanair.com, because low-cost rules have a habit of changing quietly.
Priority: is it worth the money
Priority & 2 Cabin Bags buys you an extra 10 kg cabin case of 55×40×20 cm plus priority boarding. It usually costs 6 to 36 euros per segment depending on route and season, cheapest when added at booking. Priority slots are capped at roughly a third of the cabin, so on popular routes they sell out weeks before departure. For a 4-7 day trip it is the best value on offer: the case stays with you, there is no bag drop, and you are first off the plane.
Checked baggage: when there is no way around it
Ryanair sells two options, 10 kg and 20 kg, both dropped at the check-in desk. Prices float with route and date: roughly 12-30 euros for 10 kg and 19-60 for 20 kg bought online. At the airport the same kilograms cost 40-75 euros. Excess weight is charged per kilo at the desk, around 9-12 euros each, so a 23 kg case against a 20 kg allowance adds another 30 euros to the bill. Weigh your luggage at home with a hand scale; it costs as much as two airport sandwiches and pays for itself on the first flight.
Fare comparison: what the price really includes
| Feature | Basic | Regular | Flexi Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small bag 40×30×20 | yes | yes | yes |
| 10 kg cabin bag | paid extra | yes | yes |
| Priority boarding | paid extra | yes | yes |
| Seat selection | paid extra | standard seat | any seat, front row included |
| 20 kg checked bag | paid extra | paid extra | yes |
| Free date change | no | no | yes |
| Fast track security | no | no | yes |
The maths is simple: if you need both a cabin case and a chosen seat, Regular usually works out cheaper than Basic with two add-ons. Flexi Plus only makes sense for business trips with shifting dates.
Tricks that genuinely work
- Wear the heavy stuff. A jacket with big pockets is an unofficial cargo hold: a laptop, a power bank, a book and a sweater on your shoulders weigh nothing as far as the rules are concerned. Ryanair measures the bag, not the passenger.
- Buy baggage together with the ticket. Every later stage costs more: booking is cheaper than adding it in your account, the account is cheaper than check-in, and the gate is the most expensive square metre in Europe.
- Compression bags and a capsule wardrobe. A 10 kg case with compression sacks holds ten days of clothes. Verified by thousands of travellers.
- The duty-free bag does not count. Airport shop purchases are normally allowed on top of the allowance, and small items can ride in there too.
- Check in online early. Without Priority, check-in opens 24 hours before the flight; with Priority, 60 days. Desk check-in for Basic passengers is a separate fee of several dozen euros, the most avoidable expense on this entire list.
Gate mistakes that cost the most
The classic boarding scene: an agent pulls passengers with bulging backpacks out of the queue and asks them to fit the bag into the sizer. If it does not fit, you pay on the spot, roughly 35-75 euros depending on the route, and the bag goes into the hold. The second classic blunder: a Basic passenger carries a 55×40×20 case "hoping for the best". They will not wave it through; Ryanair gate agents are incentivised for vigilance. The third: soft bags stuffed until the side pockets bulge, exactly what catches a controller's eye. If your bag is borderline, put some layers on while still in the queue. It looks silly and costs nothing.
What to budget for baggage overall
A weekend city break needs zero extra spend: the small bag covers it. A week for two usually means one Priority for the couple plus one shared 20 kg case, around 40-80 euros round trip in total. A two-week family holiday pushes you to 20 kg per adult. And the final rule: all Ryanair prices are dynamic, just like the fares, so check the exact baggage cost for your flight in the calculator on ryanair.com at the moment of booking, not in articles, including this one.
