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With all the baggage-handling issues facing airlines this year, it’s no surprise that more passengers are opting to fly hand luggage only.

Only, cramming all one’s round-the-worldly belongings into a single bag can too easily become a high-stakes game of suitcase Tetris. The penalty for losing: a potentially hefty “heavy-bag” charge, and/or a long wait by the luggage carousel at the other end.

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On top of that, there is no one-size-fits-all rule for airlines – each one has a different policy, and they vary hugely from carrier to carrier.

It helps to be prepared. So how much luggage are you actually allowed to carry in the cabin, and how strictly do airlines enforce their policies?

British Airways is by far the most generous of all the airlines we looked at, allowing a hernia-inducing 46kg of cabin bag per passenger. It must, however, be divided into two bags – a handbag of up to 23kg and a cabin bag of up to 23kg (the latter is subject to space in the overhead lockers and will be put in the hold if full).

And even if your two bags do combine to outweigh a well-nourished teenage boy, BA won’t kick you off the flight – you’ll just have to pay a “heavy bag charge” of £65.

Related: Deal alert: 7 nights in Orlando for less than £500pp with BA’s September sale

“British Airways’ 23kg baggage weight limit applies to each bag and can’t be split between multiple bags,” the airline says. “Bags over 32kg won’t be accepted as checked baggage.”

One reader, who is also a BA employee, said: “Both from my time at the airport and working as Cabin Crew, we quite often have times on flights where we run out of locker space — or people bring bags that are too big to fit in the locker regardless. This then causes delays. So I’d say don’t push the rules too much, but BA aren’t super strict.”

Another generous airline in the hand-luggage stakes is Virgin Atlantic, on whose planes travellers can carry one bag of up to 10kg in the Economy and Premium cabins and two bags weighing no more than 12kg for one bag, or 16kg combined. So for example, you could take a 12kg bag and another little bag of 4kg, the airline says.

And whichever cabin you’re in, the size of your bag needs to be a maximum of 23 x 36 x 56cm (or around 9 x 14 x 22 inches).

Related: 4 great hacks to make air travel easier

You are also allowed a “handbag, small backpack/rucksack, pocketbook or purse, as you would normally use it (in other words, not just being used to contain items that would otherwise be regarded as baggage)”.

“Any children aged 2+ years are entitled to the same amount of hand baggage as an adult in the cabin allowances shown above,” Virgin Atlantic adds.

For those travelling with children, only certain types foldable buggies are permitted in the cabin with you as your hand baggage. See the website for details.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told us: “Virgin Atlantic has an auditable hand baggage sizer that ensures all bags are compliant. In terms of weight, passengers checking in at the airport, will have their bags weighed at check-in.

“If passengers check-in online and head straight to the gate a Virgin Atlantic agent will review and check the customer’s bag.”

If you’re travelling on an SAS Go Smart, SAS Plus or a SAS Business ticket, you may bring a carry-on bag on board weighing no more than 8kg (55 x 40 x 23cm). That’s on top of “a small handbag or laptop or similar” that must fit under the seat in front of you.

But be warned: as one Points Guy reader warned, the Scandinavian carrier is a stickler for correctly-weighted hand luggage.

“SAS is notorious for weighing baggage at the gate at LHR T2, after scanning the boarding pass, even in SAS Plus,” said the self-described SAS regular, who asked not to be named. “I experienced this very issue last week when my wife and I travelled in SAS Plus from London to Stockholm and my bag was just overweight. Whilst I could have put a few items into my wife’s bag as it weighed a lot less, the gate personnel would not allow me to do so and insisted on gate-checking my bag.”

Ryanair doesn’t allow much. Which is to say, you can bring a backpack or small bag on board for free, so long as it fits under the seat in front of you, but that’s it. Unless you pay extra for a maximum 10kg wheelie bag (no more than 55 x 40 x 20cm) to go in the overhead locker.

Prices for carrying an extra bag begin at €6 (£5.18).

Related: Deal alert: Ryanair adds one million extra seats this winter from £9.99 one-way

And according to the experience of a number of TPG readers, these rules are not for bending. “Ryanair are so strict at making sure your hand luggage fits in their box checker thing [that] I’ve been on flights where they have checked the size of bags for a second time at the gate,” said one reader.

They added: “I’ve literally seen a woman have to dump some of her clothes in the bin as they told her her bag was too big just as she was about to board.”

Another said he bought a Barcelona football in Alicante as a souvenir for his son, only to be told by “over-zealous” staff that it would have to go inside his backpack. If it didn’t fit, he claims he was offered the option of paying a fee or leave it behind. “We left it behind and were far from happy with the total lack of empathy and the attitude,” he added.

A little more generous than Ryanair, easyJet allows carry-on bags of up to 15kg, no more than 45 x 36 x 20cm.

You can also bring on a “large cabin bag” weighing no more than 15kg in addition (max. 56 x 45 x 25cm), but for that, you must book an Up Front or Extra Legroom seat or pay extra to add a large cabin bag to your booking.

Easyjet says prices start from £5.99 to book a large cabin bag. If you’d prefer to select an Up Front or Extra Legroom seat which includes a large cabin bag, prices start from £7.99. Both options also include Speedy Boarding.

One reader, Craig Pollard, told us the reality is that paying for extra bags can in fact cost significantly more than that when he realised his carry-on bag exceeded the maximum size allowance. “My usual carry-on would have attracted a cost of £31.99 each way to go in the overhead storage compartment,” he said.

He added: “With hold bags now £47.99 per case each way I opted not to spend close to an extra £200 just in luggage fees for the return trip.”

He says it worked out cheaper to buy his family new bags that all fit easyJet’s accepted size allocation. “This meant we had three bags in the cabin with us instead of one,” he added. “I’m not sure that was the intention of easyJet’s new policy.”

An easyJet spokesperson said: “easyJet allows customers’ cabin bags to weigh up to 15kgs which is one of the most generous in the industry. This means that customers can bring everything they need for their trip and is sufficient for the vast majority of customers.  We don’t routinely weigh customers’ cabin bags but do require them to be able to lift their luggage into the overhead lockers without assistance.”

Eurowings allows one small cabin bag in all classes as well as one large cabin bag weighing up to 8kg in SMART class, and two items of hand baggage (also up to 8kg). If you want an extra 8kg bag on the Basic economy tariff, you’ll need to pay €15 (£13).

The German-owned Lufthansa subsidiary, though, is strict on these rules.

“They force you to check your hand luggage otherwise you have to pay €50 per piece,” claimed one TPG reader. It is worth highlighting that Eurowings says prices to upgrade your baggage allowance start at €15, so how much depends on a range of factors, including when and where you fly.

A Eurowings spokesperson said: “In order to avoid any delays due to baggage Eurowings set up clear baggage regulations. Eurowings regularly checks the hand baggage by size with a baggage sizer which is located at every gate as the size is more important to us than the weight.

“The weight is checked at the check-in counter and at the gate – so it’s more about which bag seems to be really heavy. As is also the case with other airlines if the bag is too big or the customer did not have the hand baggage included in his fare or did not purchase it in advance the customer has to pay the €50.”

You can bring a 10kg carry-on bag no larger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm on all Jet2 flights. You can also bring “a small, personal item on board (such as a handbag, laptop bag or airport purchase), as long as it is placed underneath the seat in front of you.”

Related: EasyJet ‘refused’ to let this passenger board a flight because of her smart bag. Do other airlines allow it?

However, Jet2 appends the following caveat: “All hand luggage is carried in the cabin at our discretion, and we reserve the right to check it into the aircraft hold for operational or capacity reasons.”

You can take one piece of hand luggage per person (excluding infants) weighing up to 10kg and with maximum dimensions of 55 x 40 x 20cm on a TUI Airways flight, the airline says. Plus, you can bring a personal item, like a small bag, that must fit under the seat in front of you.

It adds: “You must be able to lift your hand luggage into the overhead storage compartments yourself.”

According to the operator’s website, there appear to be no add-ons, no exceptions.

A spokesperson for the airline told us: “The vast majority of our customers are travelling on package holidays so are travelling with hold baggage and therefore go to the check-in desks. We have relatively few customers that go straight to the gate. Therefore, hand baggage is controlled during the check-in processes.

“Any bags that appear too large or too heavy are checked or weighed. We also have a very flexible approach to hold allowance, allowing customers to pool their allowance with all members on the booking, as well as allowing customers to spread their hold allowance over multiple items.”

Aer Lingus allows one 10kg carry-on bag so long as you’ve pre-booked it with your ticket for an extra £5.99.

To do that, go to your booking section on Aer Lingus’ website and select “Carry-on bag with priority boarding”.

Related: The best (and worst) airlines for delays in the UK last year

It adds, without further details: “A small personal item (handbag or laptop bag) is still included for all customers.”

A spokesperson told us: “Cabin bags may be inspected at the boarding gate to ensure they comply with the specified allowance.”

The spokesperson pointed out that the following customers have the option of a 10kg carry-on bag, in addition to one small on-board bag, included for free in their fare type:

Wizz Air allows one 10kg carry-on bag for free (max. 40 x 30 x 20 cm), plus another “trolley bag” (55 x 40 x 23 cm) if you book Wizz Priority.

How much Wizz Priority costs, however, is unclear. The airline, rather opaquely, says it costs anywhere between ‎€5.00 (£4.30) and ‎€40.00 (£34.50) if you buy online or through the Wizz Air Call Centre, and ‎€25.00 if you buy the service at the airport.

The price is calculated depending on your destination and which season (low or peak) you fly.

Air France keeps things simple. You’re allowed a personal item (handbag etc) and one piece of carry-on luggage. It’s weight depends on your cabin.

“If you are travelling in the Economy cabin, your hand baggage and personal item cannot exceed 12 kg/26.4 lbs. If you’re travelling in the Premium Economy, Business or La Première cabins, the combined weight of your hand baggage items and accessory must not exceed 18 kg/40 lb. Your travel cabin is shown on your ticket.”

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You must place your personal item in the seat in front of you unless you are seated in an exit row, in which case your personal item must be stored in the overhead compartment.

Jackets, coats, umbrellas, duty-free items and children’s accessories (acceptably sized strollers, car seats, nappy bags etc) are not considered personal items or hand luggage and can be brought on board.

Lufthansa has a handy baggage calculator on its website, where you input your destination and it tells you what you can bring on board.

A trip from London to Frankfurt, for example, allows:

Economy: One carry-on bag up to 8kg (max. 55 x 40 x 23cm) and one personal item (40 x 30 x 10cm)

Business: two carry-on bags, each up to 8kg (max. 55 x 40 x 23cm) and one personal item (40 x 30 x 10cm)

Note: A trolley, foldable clothes bag or a foldable pushchair (max. 57 x 54 x 15 cm) counts as carry-on baggage. Foldable pushchairs must be collapsed and no longer look like a pushchair.

A spokesperson said: “Of course, our staff at the gate do check these allowances, either by sight or even with a balance and a metal frame to check the size of the baggage. In addition, they make announcements at the gate before boarding to ask passengers with heavier bags to check them in. On our website, we also inform to reduce carry-on baggage to the maximum in order to speed up the security check, where all these items need to be checked and x-rayed.”

The Points Guy has contacted all the airlines mentioned in this article for comment.

While it can be frustrating to arrive at the airport and be told by your airline that you must either pay extra to carry your bag on board or stow it in the hold, it’s always best to stick to the rules.

Be sure to check the exact baggage allowance on the airline you’re travelling with, and if you’re unsure whether your bag will exceed the maximum weight, you can buy luggage scales online for as little as £10.

As always with air travel, never take an airline’s rules for granted – the consequences can be expensive and unavoidable, no matter how arbitrary they may sometimes seem.

Featured image by nikkimeel for Getty Images

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