Airline Rulebook

Low-Cost Airline Rules Compared

The fare is only the opening figure. What separates the carriers is the rules attached to it, and they differ more than the branding suggests.

Aerial view of a coastal town with harbour and beach

Marcus Reiner · March 20, 2026 · 9 min read

Low cost carriers in Europe now carry more passengers than the legacy airlines. They are not, however, interchangeable. Booking Ryanair with an easyJet mindset costs money at the gate, and the reverse wastes money at the booking stage.

This is a working comparison of the five largest European operators, focused on the rules that generate charges rather than on marketing claims.

Cabin baggage

Airline	Free small bag	Larger cabin bag	Enforcement
Ryanair	40 x 20 x 25, under seat	Paid, priority boarding bundle	Measured at the gate routinely
easyJet	45 x 36 x 20, under seat	Paid, or free with Plus and some seats	Measured selectively
Wizz Air	40 x 30 x 20, under seat	Paid, Wizz Priority	Measured at the gate routinely
Vueling	40 x 30 x 20, under seat	Paid on Basic, included on higher fares	Selective
Norwegian	Cabin bag included on most fares	Included, weight limited	Weight checked more than size

Included cabin allowance on the cheapest fare, dimensions in cm

The important detail is that a bag which fits Wizz Air will not necessarily fit Ryanair, and a bag that clears easyJet is too large for both. If you fly several of these carriers, buy for the smallest of them, which is currently Ryanair's under seat dimension.

Checked baggage

All five sell hold baggage in weight bands, and all five price it cheapest at the time of booking.
Ryanair sells 10 kg and 20 kg options, with the 10 kg version often nearly as expensive as the 20 kg on short sectors.
easyJet prices by weight band up to 23 kg and allows adding weight rather than pieces.
Wizz Air's pricing varies sharply by route and load, so the same 20 kg bag can differ by 20 euros between two flights on the same day.
Norwegian includes checked baggage on its higher fare families, which changes the total comparison against the others.
Excess weight at the airport is charged per kilogram and is the single most expensive fee in the sector.

Rolling countryside with fields divided by hedgerows — Low cost networks are built around secondary airports. Cheap fares into Bergamo, Beauvais or Weeze come with a ground transfer that belongs in the budget.

Check in and boarding passes

Airline	Online check in opens	Airport check in fee	Mobile boarding pass
Ryanair	24 hours, or 60 days with reserved seat	Yes, substantial	App only, effectively mandatory
easyJet	30 days	Generally no	Yes
Wizz Air	48 hours, or earlier with seat	Yes	Yes
Vueling	7 days	Small fee at some airports	Yes
Norwegian	24 hours	Yes at most airports	Yes

Ryanair's model is the strictest and the most frequently misunderstood. Without a reserved seat, check in opens 24 hours before departure, and missing it means paying an airport check in fee that can exceed the fare. The app is the practical requirement, not an option.

Seating

All five assign seats free if you do not pay, and all five have been accused of splitting travel companions to encourage payment. Consumer regulators in Spain and Italy have investigated the practice, and the Spanish government issued fines in 2024 relating to cabin bag and seating charges, which remain under appeal.

Practically, if sitting together matters, pay for it. If it does not, the algorithm will usually place a party of two within a few rows anyway on a lightly loaded flight.

Narrow street of pastel buildings in a Mediterranean town — The low cost network is why weekend trips to smaller Mediterranean cities became normal. The fare model is the reason those flights exist at all.

Fees that catch people out

Name correction charges, which on Ryanair are among the highest in the industry, though the airline does at least allow a full name change.
Payment card fees, largely eliminated within the EU by regulation but still present on some non EU cards.
Boarding pass reissue at the airport, charged even when the airline's app failed.
Infant fees, charged per sector even when the child sits on a lap.
Airport transfer costs at secondary airports, which are not a fee but belong in the same mental column.
Currency conversion when paying in your home currency rather than the ticket currency, which routinely costs three to five percent.

Where low cost is genuinely the better choice

Short trips with cabin baggage only, where the fare difference against a legacy carrier is large and the included services are irrelevant.
Point to point routes that legacy carriers do not fly, which is most of the network.
Off peak midweek travel, where load factors are lower and the seat next to you is often empty.
Travelers who value schedule over service, since punctuality at Ryanair and Wizz is competitive with legacy short haul.

Where it is not the better choice: connecting itineraries, checked bags for a family, tight schedules with no alternative flight that day, and any journey where a missed connection would be expensive. Low cost carriers do not interline, so every disruption is yours to solve.

Frequently asked

Do EU passenger rights apply to low cost airlines?

Yes, in full. EU 261 makes no distinction by fare or carrier type. Compensation for cancellation and long delay applies exactly as it does on legacy airlines.

Are low cost carriers less punctual?

Not systematically. Point to point networks with quick turnarounds can be more punctual than hub carriers, though they recover from disruption more slowly because there is no spare aircraft.

Can I take a duty free bag on board in addition to my allowance?

Policy varies and has tightened. Ryanair and Wizz generally require it to fit within your existing allowance. Do not assume the airside purchase is exempt.

Is priority boarding worth buying?

On Ryanair and Wizz it is usually the only way to bring a larger cabin bag, so the real question is whether you need the bag. As a boarding position alone, rarely.