Many of us now choose not to check in a bag at the airport, instead relying on flights' hand baggage allowance in order to save money when booking flights.
The only issue can be knowing what you're allowed to take on as hand baggage without paying extra.
EasyJet, one of the UK’s most popular budget airlines, only allows one piece of hand luggage per passenger.
A piece of hand baggage must be no larger than 56cm by 45cm by 25cm.
This includes wheels and handles – your entire bag must fit within the airline’s rigid frame, or you risk being charged extra at the gate.
Handbags, briefcases, laptops and laptop bags are all counted as separate items of hand luggage.
EasyJet suggests that if you have a handbag and a laptop bag, you put one inside the other.
If carry-on bags are found to exceed the specified dimensions or passengers bring more than one piece of hand luggage, the oversized or extra bag will be checked into the hold of the aircraft for an expensive extra fee.
Passengers will be charged £25 one-way at the check-in desk to put oversized or extra bags in the hold.
However, if they have already checked in online and head straight for the gate, once there they’ll be charged an extra £40 one-way.
That's a whopping £80 return, so it's worth getting a tape measure out before you go to ensure your bag meets the hand baggage criteria.
Although just taking carry-on luggage will save money, it doesn't always save time; there is limited space in the cabin of the plane, and any bags that cannot fit are put in the hold free of charge.
This means travellers may find they have to wait to pick up their luggage from the carousel when they land, regardless of whether or not they wanted to check in their bag.
EasyJet suggests passengers arrive early at the gate to avoid their bag being placed in the hold.
Fancy packing more? It's much cheaper to book a hold bag online in advance. It costs £13 to £30 one way – whereas when booked at the airport, a hold bag costs £35 to £45 one way (depending on whether you purchase at the check-in desk or the gate).
Hold luggage can weigh up to 20kg but has no restrictions on dimensions.
Luggage allowance can also be split between passengers travelling together – for example one passenger could have a bag weighing 18kg and the other a bag weighing 22kg. As long as it comes under the 40kg total allowance, EasyJet doesn’t mind how you split it.
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