What is the best budget carry-on bag overall?

The American Tourister Soundbox Spinner (55 × 40 × 20 cm) is the best budget overall pick — widely available, well-made, and sized to pass most European airline sizers under £80.

Is the Cabin Max Metz compatible with Ryanair?

Yes. The Cabin Max Metz is explicitly sized at 55 × 40 × 20 cm to match Ryanair's priority cabin bag allowance and is one of the most popular budget Ryanair bags.

What is the best budget carry-on backpack?

The Osprey Farpoint 40 is the best budget backpack option. It often sells for under £100 on sale and fits within most airline cabin bag allowances at 56 × 36 × 23 cm when packed.

What should I avoid when buying a cheap carry-on bag?

Avoid bags with cheap spinner wheels and flimsy zippers. These are the two most common failure points on budget luggage — a broken wheel on your first trip makes the bag unusable.

Can I get a Ryanair-approved personal item very cheaply?

Yes. Primark sells a carry-on bag approved for Ryanair's under-seat personal item allowance (40 × 20 × 25 cm) for around £10.

Best Budget Carry-On Bags Under £100 (Airline Size Approved)

You do not need to spend £200 on a carry-on bag. The under-£100 market has matured significantly, and several options pass airline sizers reliably while holding up to regular use. These picks are sorted by travel type and tested against the 55 × 40 × 23 cm standard that covers most European full-service airlines and the paid cabin bag tier on budget carriers.

What to Look For Before You Buy

Before getting to the picks, these are the four factors that distinguish good budget carry-on from waste-of-money budget carry-on:

Wheel quality — cheap spinner wheels crack on their first encounter with cobblestones. Look for wheels with a recessed design or rubber surrounds
Zipper gauge — YKK or equivalent branded zippers are the single best indicator of longevity on a soft-sided bag
Internal compression straps — these hold your contents in place and prevent the bag from bulging past the sizer limits when full
Expansion zips — useful at home, dangerous at the airport. An expanded bag that passes your home bathroom measurement may fail an airline sizer

Best Overall: American Tourister Soundbox Spinner

Dimensions: 55 × 40 × 20 cm | Weight: 2.4 kg | Price: under £80

The American Tourister Soundbox is the most reliably sized budget carry-on currently available. It measures exactly 55 × 40 × 20 cm external — comfortably within the Ryanair priority cabin allowance and all European full-service allowances. The four-wheel spinner is better than price suggests, the interior has two compartments with a divider, and compression straps keep contents flat. Widely available from Argos, Amazon, and luggage shops with consistent stock.

The only weakness is weight: at 2.4 kg empty, it uses up a chunk of a 7 kg or 8 kg weight allowance before you pack a single item.

Best Budget Hard-Shell: Samsonite StackD Spinner 55

Dimensions: 55 × 40 × 20 cm | Weight: 2.2 kg | Price: £100–£120, frequently on sale under £100

Samsonite's entry-level hard-shell is a step above the Soundbox in build quality while sharing the same compliant dimensions. The polypropylene shell is more durable than ABS plastic used on cheaper hard-shells, and the integrated TSA lock is a useful inclusion. Worth buying on sale — check Samsonite's own sale page, which runs regular 25–30% discount events.

Best Budget Backpack: Osprey Farpoint 40

Dimensions: approximately 56 × 36 × 23 cm when packed | Weight: 1.8 kg | Price: £115, often on sale under £100

The Osprey Farpoint 40 is the benchmark budget travel backpack. At 40 litres, it fits within the overhead bin allowances of virtually all airlines when not overfilled. The harness folds away for airport and overhead storage so it does not snag. Internal organisation is excellent — the laptop sleeve, quick-access pocket, and main compartment with dividers make it genuinely useful on the road.

The caveat: as a soft backpack, its dimensions vary with packing. If you fill it to maximum capacity, it may exceed depth limits. Pack to around 35 litres and it passes every sizer reliably.

Best Budget Personal Item: Cabin Max Metz 55×40×20 cm

Dimensions: 55 × 40 × 20 cm | Weight: 1.6 kg | Price: under £55

The Cabin Max Metz is explicitly marketed as a Ryanair cabin bag and sized accordingly. It is lighter than the Soundbox, slightly smaller in build quality, but excellent value. The single-compartment design with internal pockets keeps things simple. For travellers who buy Ryanair priority boarding and need a guaranteed overhead-compatible bag at minimum cost, this is the pick.

Cheapest Option: Primark Cabin Bag

Dimensions: 40 × 20 × 25 cm | Price: approximately £10

Primark sells a soft carry-on bag explicitly sized to Ryanair's standard (non-priority) under-seat allowance. It is not suitable as a main travel bag for longer trips, but as a personal item on a weekend Ryanair flight or as a secondary bag, it does what it needs to do. Build quality reflects the price — expect 10–20 uses before the zipper shows wear.

Comparison Table

Pick	Type	Dimensions	Weight	Price
American Tourister Soundbox	Spinner	55 × 40 × 20 cm	2.4 kg	under £80
Samsonite StackD Spinner 55	Hard-shell	55 × 40 × 20 cm	2.2 kg	~£100
Osprey Farpoint 40	Backpack	~56 × 36 × 23 cm	1.8 kg	~£115
Cabin Max Metz	Soft-sided	55 × 40 × 20 cm	1.6 kg	under £55
Primark Cabin Bag	Soft-sided	40 × 20 × 25 cm	0.5 kg	~£10

What to Avoid

Cheap spinner wheels are the biggest failure mode in budget luggage. If the wheels are not recessed into the body of the bag and are made entirely of thin plastic, they will crack. A bag with one broken wheel is effectively unusable in any airport.

Flimsy zippers are the second most common failure. A zipper that splits on a full bag is not fixable mid-trip. If the zipper pull feels light and flimsy in the shop, it will fail on the road.

Expansion zips that add 3–5 cm of depth are useful when packing at home but will push a compliant bag outside sizer limits. Either never use the expansion, or do not buy a bag with one.