Think airport style icons and you’ll likely picture Posh and Becks in the 1990s, maybe Pedro Pascal or Jacob Elordi with their It bags as they saunter to their gates. But as luggage limits take a nose-dive, the new pin-ups emerging on travel-loving corners of the internet aren’t celebs but creators.
There’s a new tribe showing people how to squeeze every last gram out of their Easyjet and Ryanair allowance.
As well as endless packing hack videos involving decanting tiny bottles into even tinier bottles, there’s the people taking it to the extreme. Case in point: the woman who showed us how she packed for an entire weekend in that Uniqlo sling bag (clue: there were a few pairs of vacuum-packed underwear and some tops, and a microscopic amount of beauty products). And then there’s the creator who stuffed her neck pillow with clothes to sneak more belongings onto her flight.
Sure, these hacks might have virality during a cost of living crisis, but there is a middle ground to ensure you have some semblance of a wardrobe and enough spf applications.
As a travel and lifestyle editor who boards flights regularly, I am a fan of packing light — not just to save money, but also to leave the airport swiftly, bypassing reclaim. Plus it means you’re lugging around less in transit to your hotel or Airbnb.
Here’s my guide to carry-on only packing, plus the smartest hacks I’ve acquired from fellow frequent fliers.
How to pack your hand luggage or cabin bag
Know your luggage limits
Luckily, no airlines are dictating an allowance as low as that viral cross-body bag. But ensuring you check exactly how much to bring will save you any unexpected charges, as airlines can and will stop you if you look over the limit.
The most popular airlines which fly to short-haul destinations — Wizz Air, Ryanair and Easyjet — only offer passengers the option to bring a ‘small bag’ on board which fits under the seat in front of them, with slightly varying dimensions. Easyjet allows a 45 x 36 x 20 cm bag, while Wizz offers 40 x 30 x 20 cm, and Ryanair has the least generous maximum of 40 x 20 x 25 cm. Priority boarding at an extra cost will upgrade you to a carry-on size case if you have a longer trip planned.
British Airways, meanwhile, still allows a standard cabin-sized suitcase at 56 x 45 x 25cm, albeit for typically higher priced flights.
Pick a clever carry-on case or bag
In terms of a standard-sized carry-on bag, after trying and testing the best, our team rates the July and Monos cases as the best for saving space. You can cram a lot into July’s 42L volume suitcase (£195, FaceGym’s founder Inge Theron once told me that her hack is to add a luggage harness, such as Rimowa’s. If you want to risk it she says: “you can get away with murder as most airlines don’t see it as a second bag! It’s a great travel essential as it allows you to keep everything you need for your flight at close range, so you don’t have to keep getting up and taking down your large hand luggage from the rack. You can compartmentalise all of your bits for work; your beauty essentials.”
Most airlines do allow a neck pillow onboard, carried in a clear bag as part of your personal allowance. So if you want to try and stuff it as per the TikTok hack — try your luck, you could get some more clothes on board. Or you could just use it for its intended purpose and have a good snooze.
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