Shopping writer Harriet Morphy-Morris has used a bag from Cabin Max for several trips abroad, helping to avoid luggage fees on Ryanair flights. One of the brand’s bags has now been heavily discounted on Amazon – read her thoughts on the bags below.

Airlines including Ryanair, easyJet, WizzAir and many more charge passengers to sit together, board early, and even bring luggage onboard, so paying for a flight ticket nowadays often feels like the bare minimum. My trusted under-the-seat bag from Cabin Max has helped me ditch the dreaded airport bag fees.

Since buying it in March 2023,  it’s become my absolute travel necessity and I’ve avoided fees – yes, the hefty £70 Ryanair fee – on flights across Europe. Ditching the Ryanair sizer in Milan, Dublin, Copenhagen, and easyJet’s checker on a recent trip to Gibraltar…I don’t have to pay for a cabin bag or hold suitcase.

The Cabin Max backpack can fit four days’ worth of clothes and is a godsend for long-weekend travellers, it fits plenty of outfits, and because it fits under the seat in front it’s considered a £0 ‘personal item’ with each boarding pass. And the same very brand has been cut in price during Amazon’s flashy Prime sale.

When I bought my Manhattan Cabin Max bag I paid close to £40, and considering how much I’ve shoved it under the already tightly squeezed foot space it’s safe to say I’ve got my money’s worth. Now, travellers on the hunt for a way to take on a free carry-on can get the Metz 20L backpack for only £18.95 – 53% less than usual.

That is, in fact, cheaper than two onboard meals would cost on Ryanair…£23 for two meal deals to be exact. To add a wheely-sized cabin hand luggage bag (with the perk of priority boarding) according to their site you’ll pay between £6 and £36 depending on the route and demand of your flight not forgetting the £70 fee if it’s too big at the gate.

Ryanair’s site says: “Customers who bring an oversized bag (over 55x40x20cm) to the gate may check it in upon payment of a fee of £/€ 70.00 – £/€ 75.00. The price at the airport/call centre/kiosk is €/£12 per extra kilo.”

At 40 x 25 x 20, it’s the exact measurements to fit in Ryanair’s free bag sizer, and well within easyJet and WizzAir’s sizes. Slightly smaller than my trusted Manhattan style, 40 x 20 x 25 (yes I’ve always sneakily got through for free, even with being checked) it’d fit straight in the dreaded metal checkers at the boarding gates.

As the bag is a soft material I do find when packed to the brim it bulks over the required size which isn’t ideal, if this happens open the zip for some air when squeezing into the checker and it’ll squeeze in. That’s always worked for me.

With 18 different colourways of the Metz bag, plenty of options to pick from, however, it is only the atlantic blue one that’s cut to the much cheaper £18.95. Made from recycled fabric the nifty bag is also ‘environmentally conscious’ as the brand states.

More than 100 have been bought from Amazon in the past month with the majority of shoppers raving about it.

I’ve flown to more than seven countries with the bag so I’m always going to rave about the brand, and I’ve never had an issue with my zip breaking or being fined. However, some shoppers did as one person said: “So I would give this bag the full 5 stars, the size is perfect, the bag is comfortable and it does what it says on the tin.”

“However, the zip on the front of the bag broke halfway through my first trip away, leaving the pocket unusable. Annoyingly too, this bag wasn’t used throughout the day, only from my house, through the airport and back again – we didn’t take it out for daily use and it stayed in the hotel. So really, this bag made it through the airport once and broke.”

As well as Amazon and Cabin Max sites, there are plenty of other retailers offering under-the-seat bags.

Antler is one, and although its collection is generally a higher price point, there’s currently a sale on to rival Amazon Prime Big Deal days. In the sale, bargain-hunting travellers can save £48 on the Chelsea Weekender bag, or £49.50 off the Cabin suitcase.

Dunelm offers a much more affordable take, with bags like the Elements Olive Suitcase starting at just £28.