Carry-On & Weight Baggage Limit Chart For 68 World Airlines

66 Comments

1. Wow, thanks for doing this. I thought about it, but man the work it would have taken :).

   It amazes me that the max weight differs so much from airline to airline. Do you know of any airlines that actually check the weight of a carry-on?

   David

2. KLM has updated their allowance to 12 kilos, or 26 lbs. Thanks for posting!

3. For a global traveller, it would have been more useful to have metric units – what the heck is a pound?! And as it is your copyright material, that means we can’t take it and convert it, so you’ll have to do it. 🙂

4. Gavin,

   I’ll try and convert all the info to metric. I converted some from metric to standard, however the vast majority of my information came to me, even from EMEA/Asia/Pacific airlines in inches & pounds.

   Converting the data will probably take me longer to do than actually compiling the information did in the first place :0)

   Happy Flying!

   -Fish

5. David,

   I knew you were planning to do this so I did my best to get ahead of you and steal your spot light :0)

   Happy Flying!

   -Fish

6. Did you take into consideration what is allowed for the different classes? I believe Business and First are allowed more….

7. Fish,

   The 52 pound limit you quote for El-Al is for first class only — 24 kg divided between two bags (one up to 16 kg, a second up to 8 kg). For economy the limit is just one bag of 8 kg (17 pounds). Business class and Gold/Platinum in economy fall somewhere in between.

   El-Al weigh your carry-on at check-in, which allows for the trick of taking some heavy stuff out at the counter and putting it back in as you enter security — this works if you can carry it non-conspicuously on your body.

8. Shilo,

   The information in my above list is for economy class.

   I had started to include the break down of Carry on, carry-on + personal item; airlines that allow one carry on only for economy and 1+1 bags for business and first class; some offer different sizes and weight for different classes of travel…others have different size & weight restrictions for domestic vs international.

   As I started to set up that chart it became to time consume and far to confusing to write out. Since 90% of those who fly, and those who read Flying With Fish, fly in economy, and economy is the ‘base standard’ I decided to make it simple and give size & weight information from the base number.

   It is always wise to check with whatever airline you are flying with to check the extent of your carry on baggage restrictions.

   Happy Flying!

   -Fish

9. Ron,

   According to El Al’s confirmation I received the answer is “52 pounds” however following your comment I followed up to verify the information I had received and you are correct. The maximum carry on weight is well under 52lbs. For economy class passengers the maximum carry on weight is 17lbs.

   Apparently the person who replied to my enquiry assumed everyone flies in first class.

   Thanks for catching that error!

   Happy Flying!

   -Fish

10. This is great, but what about South America, i.e. LAN, etc.?

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12. In answer to David’s question, I have not had carry on weighed by the airline, but in Fiji and New Zealand it is weighed by security. In Fiji they were only allowing 4kg (even on International flights) and NZ it was 9kg.

    Cheers
    M

13. Linda,

    I contacted two South American carriers, TAM and LAN to confirm basic baggage information and had not heard back from either.

    I chose to contact the airlines as the info I received back from some airlines varied from the information that was found on their websites. Some did not list detailed info on their web sites such as specific dimensions, only total linear dimensions.

    From the info I have, here is the carry on baggage for the two carriers as well as TACA are as follows
    TAM – Size: 21.65″x15.75″x7.85″ (45.25 linear inches) — Weight: 11lbs
    LAN – Size: 22×14 x10 (46 linear inches) — Weight: 18lbs
    TACA – Size: Size: 22x14x9″ (45 linear inches) – Weight: 22lbs

    Happy Flying!

    -Fish

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15. Really useful, thanks. As to whether your bags will be weighed, my experience is that it depends on the airport, handling agent and how full the ‘plane is as much as the airline.
    Other policies can also complicate. e.g. KLM for short-haul will allow you to carry an over-size carry-on to boarding where they take it off you and put it in the hold, it then gets picked up as carry-on at the steps as you get off.

16. Extremely useful, many thanks for taking the time to gather all of this information. I’m taking a 5-day trip to Las Vegas soon and wanted to avoid the checked baggage fee, but was concerned stuffing all my junk into a carry-on would prove to be a failure for me. Though after seeing this, 40 lbs + a personal item (US Airways) seems generous enough to me. 🙂

17. Gavin,

    You say use metric unit for everyone because you dont know what a pound is. Well ya know, I think a pound is very common knowledge, and just like you think metric units are common, well guess what, what the heck is a metric unit?? lol Guess we will just all need to convert things if we dont understand them. There are websites who convert

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20. I have just returned to NZ from Canada. Thought it strange that Air Canada weigh checked luggage in lbs, while signs for carry on luggage were in kg!

21. I have encountered Air Canada weighing my bags in pounds rather than kilos at least twice I can think of in Toronto. I have always found it a bit unusual. While I ‘think in pounds’ not kilos, Canada is clearly on the metric system.

    I don’t think there is an actual reason for this occurrence.

    Happy Flying!

    -Fish

22. My carry-on was weighed by Emirates in Jan. and the agent was very strict. I had to EMPTY my carry-on bag as empty it weighted 10 lbs and the limit was 15. My laptop weighed 6 lbs, plus a book, purse, etc. So ANYTHING but the bar min. he made me put in my checked bag, which included my jewelry. In retrospect, I should have just put all my jewelry on my body and worn it as they didn’t weigh ME! But not having had this happen before, and since it was a non stop, I just crammed it in my checked bad. Bad idea. I had only one luggage lock and didn’t think to put it on this bag (it all happened so fast, and I hadn’t ever had a problem in 30 years of flying). You can guess the outcome — I arrived in Dubai and didn’t discover my pearls were gone until i was in my hotel room. Jewelry isn’t covered by their insurance and it was worth less than my deductible, so I was SOL.

    Bottom line: If going in coach on Emirates weigh your bags ahead of time, and LOCK your checked bags.

23. Rebecca,

    Unfortunately locking bags is of little help. All bags departing certain countries must be Sentry compliant, getting a set of Sentry keys should be limited to proper authorities and/or some people who are easy to contact who have no authority.

    Weight can be a real issue. Where was the bag checked for weight? At check-in or at the gate? There are some tricks & tips for certain airlines/departure airports. EK however is known to be quite strict which is problematic.

    I have boarded flights with a photo vest loaded with 4-to-6 lenses, two cameras, 8 batteries and a 12″ laptop in the rear pocket. Why would I do this? Simple, a photo vest is clothing and clothing does not count as a carry on bag, thus it is exempt. Its extreme, but it has been effective.

    Happy Flying!

    -Fish

24. This is extremely useful information. I have to travel on TAM tomorrow and was planning to carry on, but thank goodness I read this because there’s no way I can limit all of my stuff for the business trip to 11 pounds.

    Loved the tip on the photo vest.

    And a note to Gavin…if I have any upcoming work I need performed, I’ll just contact you. I’m assuming that since you expect others to work for you for free that you will provide the same service.

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27. Does anyone know if SAS usually weighs carry-on’s?

28. My son is traveling from the US to Easter Island. He will be bringing two sonyex3 cameras for filming a documentary. (like two carry on’s) He would most def. like to have them on the plane close to him. would be very expensive to replace. Is this possible.

29. What airline is your son flying?

    Happy Flying!

    – Fish

30. British Airways states on their website that the only weight requirement is to be able to lift it into the overhead. The 26lb is old info.

31. As I’ll be fighing with AA soon, I checked for updated carry on policy, it says there is no limit for the weight of the carry on luggages. They clarify the dimensions of the “personal item” as well as being under 36 linear inches.

    Apparently it’s their new policy for all 4 groups of destinations they are offering (Europe to US, Europe to Latin America, US to Latin America and Domestic US).

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33. I plan on flying tomorrow on Delta with just a bookbag…how heavy can that bookbag be? – 40 lbs?!

34. Norris,

    A 40lbs backpack should not be of any concern on a Delta Air Lines, especially if you wear it like it weighs 10lbs. If you look like you are struggling then you may catch a second glance … otherwise you’re fine.

    Happy Flying!

    -Fish

35. I just have one simple question, I want to take a bottle of BBQ sauce(18oz) with me on the bird. Will I have a hard time at the airport trying to transport this to the cook-out.

    Thanks,
    SouthTexasCowboy

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38. Definitely, what a great site and enlightening posts, I surely will bookmark your blog.Have an awsome day!

39. An good article, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!

40. With regard to Icelandair, I note that the carry-on limit (before April 1, 2012, after which it will increase) is 6 kg (just over 13 lb). What about additional “personal items”? Does anyone know?

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46. Hi to every , since I am genuinely keen of reading this weblog’s post to be updated regularly. It carries nice data.

47. Thank you so much, a great resource

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49. for PAL (International Flight) Is a womans purse the same as her hand carry baggage? Also can I carry a laptop seperately?

50. Ivy,

    As far as I know Philippine Airlines allows for a woman’s purse or laptop sleeve as a personal item in addition to a passenger’s carry on. I’d always suggest having your laptop within your backpack or carry on bag.

    Happy Flying!

    -Fish