Airline baggage fees& allowances

Last updated August 8, 2026 · Reviewed by Editorial Team

Baggage is the part of an airline ticket most likely to cost you money you didn’t plan for, and the part hardest to check quickly. The allowance is buried in fare rules, the fees live on a different page in a different currency, and both change without announcement.

This page splits the problem the only way that stays honest. The allowance — what a standard business fare entitles you to — is published here directly, because it is an entitlement rather than a price and moves on the order of years. Anything pricedgoes to the carrier’s own fee schedule, because we would rather send you one click further than show you a number that was right last quarter.

One caveat worth stating up front rather than in a footnote: business class is now sold as a family of branded fares, and the cheapest brand often carries one checked bag where the flexible brand carries two. The cabin no longer determines the allowance — the fare brand does. Everything below is indicative of a standard fare, and the carrier’s page is the authority on the specific ticket you hold.

Most of our readers fly business or first, where the allowance is already generous and the more useful question is what transfers to a partner-operated leg. If you’re weighing cabins, the first class guide covers what else moves with the fare.