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I know that this question could sound a little bit dumb since Ryanair always sends lot of emails specifying the dimensions of the allowed hand luggage but I am not interested in the "formal" answer but in the "informal" one.

In every airport where Ryanair flies there is a blue box (baggage sizer) where you and the airport staff can put your hand luggage to test if it can be accepted on board. What I would like to know is the dimension of that box (which is of course bigger than the allowed size).

I've been a pretty frequent Ryanair flyer (one flight per month) and I always used the same luggage which was ok for the old box even if bigger than the allowed size.

Few weeks ago Ryanair introduced the possibility to bring a second hand luggage on board. In doing so they also changed the dimensions of the blue box which now has two compartments (one for the main hand luggage, still bigger than the allowed size, and one for the small one). My old luggage doesn't fit anymore in the new boxes so I guess I'll have to buy a new one, hence the need to know how far can I go with the size of the luggage.

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  • Just to understand you better... Your carry on luggage fitted before and now it does not? How is this possible if the new blue box is bigger than the allowed size? In any case... Is this a backpack or something else?
    – Pixie
    Feb 18, 2014 at 16:36
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    The blue box has always been bigger than the allowed size (I guess 90% of the carry on luggages I've seen wouldn't pass a strict control). Now it is just "less bigger" than before.
    – shard
    Feb 18, 2014 at 16:42
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    Frying in 2 days, if I see the box anywhere, I can try to measure it.
    – yo'
    Mar 2, 2014 at 1:57
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    why not use it the way it's meant to be used? check out the maximum allowed size of the bag, then buy one that is just a little smaller than maximum allowed. Then, in case you overstuff it, it will still fit the sizer, as they've allowed a little extra space for people like you. Why push it to the limit?
    – Peter Perháč
    Mar 11, 2014 at 9:13
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    @PeterPerháč I get your point but the size allowed by Ryanair is really small. Expecially during winter/autumn, when you really need to bring with you clothes that occupy more space having such a small luggage means you will surely have to board an extra luggage.
    – shard
    Mar 11, 2014 at 10:25

3 Answers 3

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I measured the box in BSL and it was 21,2 x 41,2 x 58 cm (8.3" x 16.22" x 22.8"). However, the 58 cm are not exact because firstly the box has two rounded rods at the bottom, which makes it slightly smaller at these points, but it's open to the top so this dimension won't matter to much I guess.

Ryanair baggage sizer

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    I change the accepted answer from mine to yours since you provided the exact measures while I didn't have a meter with me.
    – shard
    Jun 9, 2014 at 11:55
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    I took a meter with me only due to this question ;-)
    – traindriver
    Jun 9, 2014 at 12:12
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    And I put a bounty on this answer because we value when someone actually goes and does something to answer a question.
    – user4188
    Mar 28, 2017 at 13:08
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    Thanks! Probably the most useful thing I have ever done while waiting for the boarding call...
    – traindriver
    Mar 28, 2017 at 14:10
  • +1 (and more, if it were possible) for doing this to provide the answer.
    – Mikey
    Mar 31, 2017 at 3:50
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I had the opportunity to check the measures of the Ryanair "baggage sizer" yesterday even though I hadn't a meter with me. My hand luggage fitted almost perfectly so I can say that the size of the baggage sizer is roughly 23 x 43 x 50 (the last measure is probably the least important one since it is open on top).

In the end, you have something like 3 or 4 centimeters more than the allowed size for each measure.

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    wow, considering their official dimensions are 20x40x55, that's definitely different enough to matter to some people.
    – Mark Mayo
    Mar 24, 2014 at 9:03
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    Height definitly matters. I had to pay excess once for that. They first used the box, where it fited and than they actualy used a meter. It was really bad because it exceeded for 1cm in height and it was an handle. Back then they were beeing very strict.
    – nsn
    Jun 9, 2014 at 12:48
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Update (November 2018):

All passengers get one free small carry-on bag (sometimes described as a "personal bag", laptop bag, or handbag) to be placed under the seat in front. Officially, this small carry-on bag must be 40x25x20cm. According to this article on the Ryanair website (s.v. Q5), the sizer is 42x30x20cm.

If you have priority boarding, you can, in addition to the aforementioned small carry-on bag, take a wheeled bag of 55x40x20cm (I cannot find any up-to-date information on the sizer for this).

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  • Flew out of London Stansted a week ago with Ryanair, with a small carry-on bag that was, I suspect (too scared to actually try it in the sizer, since I did not want to draw attention to myself), slightly over the sizer dimensions (42x30x20cm), but I was not stopped. It fitted easily under the seat in front (middle seats are best, owing to the positioning of the cross-bars). Then again, it was not a very crowded flight, and it departed late, so perhaps the staff could not be bothered to challenge anybody (I did not see anybody asked to put their carry-on bag in the sizer).
    – anon
    Nov 28, 2018 at 20:49

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