To avoid paying unexpected luggage fees, you need to measure your luggage correctly. Otherwise, you could be paying upwards of 250$ in oversized or overweight luggage fees.
This article will cover how to measure your baggage for air travel, both for US measurements in inches and pounds and for international flights in meters and kilograms. Whatever bag you’re planning on using – a suitcase, duffel, backpack, or tote, after reading this article you’ll know how to measure it correctly.
Quick Guide: How To Measure Luggage Size For Airlines
- Find out your airline’s size restrictions. Always look for the official measurements from your airline’s website because other sources may be outdated. Depending on the airline, personal items usually need to be under 18 x 14 x 8 inches (46 x 36 x 20 cm), carry-ons under 22 x 14 x 9 inches (56 x 36 x 23 cm), and checked bags under 62 linear inches (157 cm).
- Pack your bag. Before weighing and measuring your bag, always pack it full to avoid any surprises at the airport, especially when measuring flexible softside bags.
- Measure the height, width, and depth of your bag. Using a tape measure, take measurements of your bag from three sides – height, width, and depth. Always measure at the widest point, including anything that’s sticking out.
- Weigh your luggage. Using a regular bathroom scale or luggage scale, take note of how much your bag weighs in pounds or kilograms.
- Calculate linear inches, if necessary. For checked luggage and occasionally for hand luggage as well, you’ll need to calculate the linear inches of your bag. This means the sum of the height, width, and depth of your bag. So, for example, if you measured your carry-on to be 22 x 14 x 9 inches in size, then it’s 45 linear inches (22 + 14 + 9). In the metric system, the linear measurement calculation process is identical, just in centimeters.
Wheels And Handles Need To Be Included In The Luggage Measurements
Airlines always measure luggage at the widest point, which usually is at the handles, wheels, or anything else that’s sticking out of the main frame. So when measuring your luggage, always pack it full to make sure that its real measurements aren’t larger.
If you’re shopping for a new bag, it’s also worth noting that a lot of luggage manufacturers list luggage sizes without the wheels and handles included in the measurements to make it look smaller than it is. If you read the fine print, you’ll probably find the overall size, which is the correct size that you’re looking for.
How To Get Correct Luggage Measurements At Home Using A Tape Measure
To get correct luggage measurements at home, all you need is a pencil, a book, and a tape measure. Here’s how to do it:
- Place your suitcase next to a wall facing upwards (to measure the height).
- Put a book on top of your suitcase, making sure that it touches the highest point of your bag and that it’s at a 90-degree angle from the wall.
- Mark the bottom of the book on the wall with a pencil.
- Measure the distance from the floor to the marked spot on the wall with a tape measure to get its height.
- To measure the width and depth, just rotate your luggage accordingly and repeat steps 1-4.
In Reality, Your Luggage Can Be 1-2 Inches Over The Size Limit
For carry-on luggage and personal items, airlines require passengers to fit their luggage inside measuring boxes at the airport. So if your bag is flexible, you might get away with slightly oversized bags by squeezing them inside. Unfortunately, oversized hardside luggage won’t fit inside the measuring boxes, so you might have to pay additional checked luggage fees due to it being too large to be taken on board.
However, from my own experience, airline employees very rarely use measuring boxes. They only require passengers to use them when their baggage looks extremely large. If it looks like it’s most likely within the size limits, they’ll let you pass. So even if your hardside bag is 1-2 inches over the limit, most of the time you won’t have any issues.
For checked bags, airlines use a tape measure to get measurements of the height, width, and depth and to calculate the linear inches. So when measuring checked luggage, the measurements can be less precise. If your checked bag is only a few inches over the limit, the airline employee will most likely account for a rounding error and let you pass.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Airlines Measure Checked Luggage?
Most commonly, airline employees don’t measure checked bags at the check-in counter because doing that would make the already long queues even longer. However, if your checked bag looks like it’s probably over the limit, they’ll measure it using a tape measure.
What Size Is 62 Linear Inch Luggage?
62 linear-inch checked luggage is usually 30 x 20 x 12 inches (76 x 51 x 30 cm) in size. Linear inches means the total sum of the height, width, and depth, so it could also be in other sizes, as long as the total sum is 62 linear inches or less. For example, a 28 x 21 x 13 in bag would also classify as a 62-linear-inch bag. Usually, most 27-30 inch checked bags are below 62 linear inches.
What Size Should A 23 KG Checked Suitcase Be?
Most airlines that have a 23 kg (50 lbs) weight limit for checked bags also enforce a 157 cm (62 inches) size limit in total dimensions (height + width + depth). That said, not all of them do. For example, Ryanair allows a 20 kg bag that doesn’t exceed 81 x 119 x 119 cm, and British Airways allows checked bags up to 23 kg that doesn’t exceed 90 x 75 x 43 cm. Because the rules are so different for each airline, you should look up the specific rules for the airline you’ll be flying with.
What’s The Largest Size For Checked Luggage?
Usually, the largest luggage size for checked baggage is 62 linear inches (157 cm). Most 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30-inch checked bags fall under this limit. To get the exact measurement, calculate the total sum of the height, width, and depth of your bag. Also, not all airlines enforce this limit – for some, the checked luggage size can be larger or smaller.
What Is The Maximum Weight For A Checked Bag?
The maximum weight limit for most airlines of checked baggage is usually 23 kg (50 lbs) or 32 kg (70 lbs). This weight limit is enforced because there are rules set by airline regulators to provide better working conditions for baggage handlers. That said, this weight limit is different for each airline.
What If My Luggage Is Over The Size Limit?
If your checked luggage is over the size limit set by your airline, it might be marked as overweight and allowed onboard for additional fees, or it might not be allowed on board, depending on each airline’s rules. If your luggage is over the 62 linear inches (157 cm) size limit, most airlines will allow baggage sized up to 80-126 linear inches (203-320 cm) for an additional fee of 50-300$.
What If My Luggage Is Overweight?
If your checked bag is over your airline’s weight limit, it might be marked as overweight and allowed onboard for extra fees. The most common weight limits for checked baggage are 50 lbs (23 kg) or 70 lbs (32 kg). Most airlines will allow overweight bags onboard for an additional fee of 50-300$ per bag, but they’re still limited to 70-100 lbs (32-45 kg) maximum. That said, not all airlines allow overweight bags, so you have to find out the exact rules for the airline you’ll be flying with.
How Do I Measure Duffel Bags And Backpacks?
Because duffel bags and backpacks are flexible, they’re harder to measure correctly. Airlines really care only about the “slightly squished” measurements, so that your bag fits under the airline seats or in the overhead compartments. So to measure fabric baggage, you need to pack it full of gear, and only then do the measurements. Measure the width, height, and depth of your bag on the widest end of each side, and deduct 1-2 inches in each measurement to account for the flexibility.
How Do I Weigh Luggage At Home?
You can weigh your luggage using a simple bathroom scale. First, stand on the scale and take note of how much you weigh by yourself. Then step on the scale while holding your fully packed suitcase, and simply calculate the weight difference between the two measurements.
Summing Up: Measuring Luggage For Air Travel
If you haven’t traveled with airplanes that much, then luggage size and weight restrictions can seem a bit complicated at first. But there really isn’t that much to it. You just need to measure the height, width, and depth of your bag using the good old tape measure, and make sure that it’s below the size limit for your airline.
That said, being 1-2 inches above, especially for flexible softside baggage, is totally fine most of the time and nobody will bat an eye at the airport. But then again, oversized baggage fees can be somewhat expensive, so it’s best to avoid being over the limits in the first place.
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