Carry-on packing list

Airline carry-on limits: what actually varies

The surprise for most travelers is that “standard carry-on size” is not a universal standard. The rules differ meaningfully by carrier, route, and fare class.

• US major carriers (Delta, United, American, Southwest): typically 22×14×9 in (56×36×23cm) with no stated weight limit on most fare classes. Southwest enforces this less strictly than the others.
• Ryanair: free personal item 40×20×25cm. Paid cabin bag 55×40×20cm at 10kg. They enforce with a gate gauge. Being 1cm over is a real fine.
• Wizz Air: similar to Ryanair. Free personal item, paid cabin bag. Enforcement varies by route and crew.
• easyJet: 56×45×25cm cabin bag, typically 15kg. Slightly more generous than Ryanair.
• Lufthansa, Air France, KLM: 55×40×23cm at around 8kg. Weight limit is more consistently enforced on these carriers than on US majors.
• Budget Asian carriers (AirAsia, Cebu Pacific, IndiGo): some of the strictest carry-on weight limits — 7kg is common. Check before flying in or between Southeast Asian countries.

For European travel specifically, see the Europe trip packing list for how to manage mixed-carrier itineraries where limits change between flights.

Clothing: the capsule approach

The number that matters isn't how many items you pack — it's how many outfits they produce. Three tops that go with two bottoms gives you six combinations. Four tops that each need a different bottom gives you four.

For two- or three-night trips where a 40L carry-on is the default, see the weekend trip packing list — same carry-on philosophy with a tighter edit before you zip up.

• One base palette: black, navy, or grey as the foundation. Every item you add should work with the others already in the bag. This constraint eliminates most of the “but what if I need this” decisions.
• One light mid-layer: a merino sweater or packable puffer handles cold planes, cooler evenings, and temperature-inconsistent restaurants. Merino specifically resists odor — two wears before washing is realistic.
• One pair of walking shoes you can wear all day: the single biggest weight item in most carry-ons. One versatile pair worn onto the plane, one compact pair (sandals, flats) only if your specific itinerary requires it.
• Roll, don't fold: rolling reduces volume and wrinkles for most fabrics. Packing cubes compress and separate — a light compression cube for the clothing block saves 20–30% of bag volume versus loose packing.

Toiletries: solving the liquids problem

The 3.4oz (100ml) per container, one quart-size bag limit applies at TSA and most international equivalents. The practical constraint isn't the size limit — it's that a full-size shampoo bottle takes up the entire quart bag on its own.

The most effective solution is switching to solid or bar formats, which are entirely exempt from the liquids rule:

• Shampoo and conditioner bars: a solid shampoo bar lasts 50–80 washes, weighs roughly 50g, takes zero bag space, and never leaks. Brands like Ethique, HiBAR, and Lush are widely available.
• Toothpaste tablets: a tin of 60 tablets weighs about 30g. Bite, Huppy, and similar brands are available at most pharmacies or online.
• Solid deodorant: standard stick deodorant is technically a solid and passes through fine. No liquid rulebook workaround needed.
• Keep the quart bag for what you can't avoid: prescription liquids, eye drops, contact solution, a travel-size moisturizer. Once the solid substitutes are in place, the quart bag is usually more than sufficient.

For trips over five days where hotel toiletries are reliable, check ahead — many business hotels provide shampoo and conditioner, which eliminates the category entirely. See the business travel packing list for how to use hotel amenity availability to strip your kit further.

A real-trip weight breakdown

Here's how a 5-day trip to a mild-weather city typically weighs out in a carry-on — this is the kind of weight accounting Stow does automatically when you build your list:

• Clothing block (4 tops, 2 bottoms, 1 merino mid-layer, 4 pairs underwear, 3 socks): ~1.2–1.6kg depending on fabric weight
• Walking shoes (worn on plane): 0kg from bag
• Compact sandals (in bag): ~0.3kg
• Toiletries kit (solids + small quart bag): ~0.3kg
• Phone charger and small adapter: ~0.2kg
• Misc (pen, earbuds, sleep mask): ~0.1kg
• Carry-on bag itself (soft-sided, medium): ~0.8–1.0kg

Total: ~3.0–3.5kg — well under even the strictest 7kg budget carrier limit, with 3.5–4kg of headroom for adding a laptop to the personal item, a book, and a packable rain jacket without stress.

The items that break carry-on weight budgets are almost always: a second pair of full-size shoes (400–600g), a full-size rain jacket instead of a packable shell (400–800g difference), and “just in case” clothing items that never get worn.

Tech & documents

The personal item is where tech and documents live — not the carry-on. Airlines can and do force carry-ons into the hold on full flights; your personal item under the seat in front of you is untouchable.

• Phone, laptop, chargers, and earbuds in the personal item.
• Passports and IDs in the personal item — never in a checked or gate-checked bag.
• Medications in original packaging in the personal item; a copy of the prescription for controlled medications.
• A pen for customs forms — still required in paper on many international arrivals, and gate agents don't have extras.
• One short USB-C cable, a compact multi-port charger, and a universal adapter if traveling internationally.

The single most underused technique: wear weight on the plane

Airlines weigh your bag. They don't weigh what you're wearing. Wearing your heaviest shoes, your thickest layer, and your bulkiest jacket onto the plane can remove 2–4kg from your bag — legitimately, not as a trick. This is standard practice for carry-on-committed travelers.

It's slightly uncomfortable for 3 hours. It's considerably less uncomfortable than checking a bag for the rest of your life. The heavy jacket comes off and goes in the overhead bin once you board; the shoes come off once you're seated.

For long-haul backpacking trips where carry-on strategy is the entire point, see the backpacking packing list for how to extend this logic across a weeks-long trip with minimal access to laundry.