A Personal Item Bag That Fits Airline Limits

Short answer: a personal item has to fit under the seat in front of you. Ryanair allows 40 × 30 × 20 cm, Wizz Air 40 × 30 × 20 cm, easyJet 45 × 36 × 20 cm, and Lufthansa measures only 40 × 30 × 10 cm — a soft 25 × 17 × 14 cm bag fits inside every one of those limits, with room to spare. The published limits vary by airline and are not always enforced precisely, but the under-seat test is the one that actually gets applied at the gate.

The useful thing about a small soft bag here is that it qualifies easily and still holds what you want during the flight. A bag that is technically within limits but rigid will not compress into the space; a soft one will.

Personal item size by airline (2026)

These are the free under-seat allowances, the ones that decide whether you pay a gate fee or walk straight through. Budget carriers are strict about them; full-service carriers are usually relaxed but still publish a number.

Airline	Free personal item	A 25 × 17 × 14 cm bag
Ryanair	40 × 30 × 20 cm	Fits — 15 cm of spare width, 6 cm of spare depth
Wizz Air	40 × 30 × 20 cm	Fits, same margin as Ryanair
easyJet	45 × 36 × 20 cm	Fits — the most generous of the budget four
Lufthansa	40 × 30 × 10 cm	Fits — but note the 10 cm depth limit is the tightest here
KLM / Air France	40 × 30 × 15 cm	Fits — 1 cm of spare depth
British Airways	40 × 30 × 15 cm	Fits

Airline allowances change. Check your carrier's own page before you fly — the numbers above are the published under-seat limits as of 2026.

The reason a soft bag wins here is not the width. It is the depth and the give: a rigid 25 cm bag with a hard base can be 1 cm too tall once you stuff it, while a padded shell compresses into the sizer. That is the difference between boarding and paying a gate fee.

What do airlines actually mean by a personal item?

One carry-on bag plus one smaller personal item. The personal item is the one that goes under the seat, and the practical constraint is the space there — not the number printed on the website.

Published dimensions are typically in the region of 40 × 30 × 15 cm, and they differ between carriers and sometimes between fare types on the same carrier. The honest summary: a bag comfortably smaller than those numbers is never a problem, and a bag at the edge of them depends on the gate agent and how full the flight is.

How to measure a handbag explains what the three numbers on a product page refer to, which matters here because height is often quoted without the handle.

Why a soft bag has an advantage

Two reasons. It compresses, so a bag measured at the top of the range still fits into an under-seat space that is not a perfect rectangle. And it weighs almost nothing empty, which matters because some carriers enforce a weight limit on the combined allowance and every kilogram of bag is a kilogram you cannot spend on contents.

A rigid structured bag of the same nominal size is worse on both counts: it does not give, and it is heavier.

What should you pack in the personal item?

The rule is that this bag holds what you need during the flight, and the overhead bag holds what you need after:

• Passport and boarding pass — in an outer or easily reached pocket.
• Phone, earbuds, charging cable.
• Medication and anything you cannot afford to lose.
• A book, a tablet, or both if small.
• Lip balm, hand cream, and a small snack.
• A light layer if the cabin runs cold.

Everything else goes in the overhead bag. If you are packing "just in case" items into the personal item, you are making the bag bigger for no reason.

Travelling light with a 25 cm day bag covers the same principle on the ground.

Does a 25 cm bag work as a personal item?

Easily — it sits well inside every published limit with room to spare, which means you never have to think about it at the gate. And it doubles as the bag you use at the destination, which is the real argument: you are not carrying a travel-specific bag that gets left in the hotel.

A day bag that survives travel looks at the same question from the other side.

What should you avoid?

• Rigid bags at the top of the size range. They do not compress.
• Bags with rigid frames or hard feet. Same problem, plus they catch on the seat frame.
• Anything with no closure. Under-seat bags get knocked around; you want a zip or a secure top.
• Packing the personal item to its limit. Leave room so it slides under the seat without a fight.

Where to start

Pick the colour you will use at the destination rather than the one that looks most travel-appropriate. Grey is the most practical for travel — it hides marks and works with everything — while black is the safest for a bag that will be handled by other people. If you want to spot it easily in an overhead photo, the soft yellow stands out.

Frequently asked questions

What size personal item do airlines allow?

Typically around 40 × 30 × 15 cm, though it varies by carrier and fare type. The test that actually gets applied is whether it fits under the seat in front of you, so a bag comfortably smaller than the published numbers is never a problem.

Is a 25 cm bag big enough as a personal item?

Yes, with room to spare. It sits inside every published limit and doubles as your bag at the destination, which is the real advantage over a travel-specific bag that gets left in the hotel.

Why is a soft bag better than a structured one for flying?

It compresses into the under-seat space, which is not a perfect rectangle, and it weighs almost nothing empty — leaving more of any weight allowance for contents rather than for the bag itself.

What should go in the personal item rather than the overhead bag?

What you need during the flight: passport, boarding pass, phone, earbuds, medication, a book or tablet, lip balm and a layer. Everything you need after landing goes in the overhead bag.

What should I avoid in a personal item bag?

Rigid bags at the top of the size range, hard frames or feet that catch on the seat, bags with no closure, and packing to the limit — leave room so it slides under the seat without a fight.

Keep reading

• A day bag that survives travel
• Travelling light with a 25 cm day bag
• How to measure a handbag correctly
• How to pack a small bag: 12 habits
• What really fits in a 25 cm bag

Check it against the others: the airline personal item size checker puts this allowance next to 18 other carriers and tells you whether a 25 × 17 × 14 cm bag passes.

Same region, different rule

• Lufthansa personal item size
• Swiss personal item size
• Eurowings personal item size

Not sure how these allowances are written in the first place? The rules explained covers why the same bag is free on one carrier and a paid extra on another. The bag measured throughout this page is the Jelkin 25, 25 × 17 × 14 cm on the outside.