Carry-on only is overrated

Travel writing has a favourite piece of advice, and I’ve repeated it myself: never check a bag. Pack light, walk past the carousel, beat everyone to the taxi rank. There are good reasons for it, and I’ll come to them. But after years of following it, I think carry-on only has become a habit people keep up without checking whether it suits each trip. On a lot of trips, it doesn’t.

The case for carry-on only, stated fairly

Credit where it’s due. Carry-on only has real benefits:

• Your bag can’t be lost. SITA counted 33.4 million mishandled bags in 2024, a rate of 6.3 per 1,000 passengers (SITA). That still adds up to a lot of ruined first days.
• You can change plans quickly. If you’re rebooked onto another flight or airline, your bag is already with you.
• You avoid the carousel. On a short trip, 30 minutes saved at baggage reclaim is a meaningful share of your time on the ground.
• You save the bag fee on fares that charge for checked luggage.

All true. Here’s what that argument leaves out.

Six costs nobody puts in the reel

1. The liquids rules now depend on the airport

This is the big one, and it changed recently. For nearly two decades the rule was simple: containers of 100 ml or less, in one small clear bag. Now it depends on which airport you’re at and what scanner its security lane uses:

• United States: the TSA’s 3-1-1 rule still applies, with containers of 3.4 oz (100 ml) or less, all in one quart-sized bag. Newer CT scanners at some checkpoints let you leave the bag in your case, but the size limit hasn’t changed.
• United Kingdom: some airports have government approval for next-generation scanners that allow containers of up to 2 litres. As of January 2026, Which? listed Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol and both Belfast airports among them, while Manchester and Luton were still at 100 ml (Which?). Manchester was still enforcing 100 ml in summer 2026. The UK government’s own advice is to check with your airport before you travel.
• European Union: in July 2025 the European Commission approved containers of up to 2 litres through security lanes that use certified C3 scanners (ERR News). Some airports have adopted it and many haven’t, so the rule varies from airport to airport.

On a round trip, you’re limited by the stricter airport. Fly out of Heathrow with a big bottle of sunscreen, come home through an EU airport without C3 lanes, and it’s binned at security on the return. Which? makes the same point: what’s allowed outbound may not be allowed on the way home. For anyone carrying proper sunscreen, contact lens solution, a good bottle of olive oil or duty-free bought at a connection, the checked bag solves all of this. It has none of these limits.

2. “Carry-on” often means 7 kg

On many long-haul and Asian airlines, the cabin allowance is small. Emirates, for example, allows economy passengers one bag of 7 kg, up to 55 × 38 × 22 cm (Emirates). A wheeled case eats a good share of that before you’ve packed anything, which can leave little more than a long weekend’s worth of clothes. People manage it by wearing their heaviest jacket and boots onto a 13-hour flight. I don’t think that’s a sensible way to travel.

3. The free cabin bag is shrinking

On European low-cost airlines, the “carry-on” in the price is often just a personal item. Ryanair’s free bag is 40 × 30 × 20 cm and must fit under the seat. The overhead-locker 10 kg bag comes with a paid priority bundle (Ryanair). Once you’re paying for a cabin bag anyway, the price difference to checking one can be small, so compare the two before assuming carry-on is cheaper.

4. Gate-checking means you lose the benefit anyway

On a full flight, locker space runs out. The last passengers to board, which is usually the ones on the cheapest fares, get their bags taken at the door and put in the hold. You end up checking the bag anyway, without having packed for it. Your valuables, medication and chargers are in the wrong place, and you still wait at the carousel.

5. You carry it through every minute of the travel day

Carry-on only sells itself as freedom, but the bag is with you at every moment of a travel day: through the terminal, into the lounge queue, along the jet bridge, wrestled into a locker over someone’s head. On a multi-city trip, packing that tightly means repacking a puzzle every morning. A checked bag disappears at the desk and reappears at the other end, and you walk through the airport with a small bag and both hands free.

6. The real risk of loss is lower than people think, and falling

That SITA figure is the worst-case argument for carry-on only, and it’s getting smaller. In 2025 the mishandled-bag rate fell 23%, with about 24 million bags mishandled worldwide out of roughly 5 billion passengers (Runway Girl Network, reporting SITA’s 2026 report). Transfers remain the weak point, accounting for 39% of cases. On a nonstop flight, your chances are better still. And “mishandled” mostly means delayed, not lost for good.

When carry-on only does make sense

I’m not arguing for checking a bag on every trip. Carry-on only is the right call when:

• The trip is three nights or fewer, with no special equipment.
• You have a tight connection, especially on separate tickets, where a missed connection and a checked bag can be a costly combination.
• You’re on a multi-stop, multi-airline itinerary with transfers that are known for mishandling bags.
• You’re flying a low-cost airline where the checked bag costs more than the fare.
• You’re travelling to a place you’ll arrive at and leave quickly, like a business meeting, a wedding, or a day you’ll spend mostly on trains.

My compromise

On trips of a week or more, I check one decent-sized bag and carry a small one with the things I can’t afford to lose: medication, a change of clothes, chargers, documents and anything valuable. If the checked bag goes missing, I can manage for two days. If it arrives, I’ve got proper sunscreen, my own toiletries and room to bring something home.

The details that make this work:

• Use a sturdy hard-shell for the checked bag so it survives handling. Brands such as Away Partner make checked and carry-on sizes in the same range, which makes it easier to pack across two bags.
• Put an AirTag-style tracker inside. It won’t make the airline find your bag faster, but it tells you, and them, where it is.
• Photograph the bag and its contents before you leave. It speeds up any claim.
• Know your insurance terms on delayed bags. Many travel policies pay for essentials after a set delay; check yours before you go.

Pick the method that suits the trip, not the habit. A couple of carry-on-only purists will hate this. I’ll see them at the security bin, decanting their sunscreen.