Do Checked Bags Have a Size Limit? Weight and Size by Airline
The short answer
Do checked bags have a size limit? Yes. Most airlines cap a standard checked bag at 62 linear inches (158 cm), length plus width plus height, and 50 pounds (23 kg). Premium cabins and elite status usually raise the weight to 70 pounds (32 kg). Larger or heavier bags cost extra, and US airlines refuse anything over 100 pounds.
You are packing for a trip and wondering whether the big suitcase will pass at the counter. Checked bags feel unlimited next to a carry-on, but they are not, and the fee for a bag one pound over can cost more than the ticket did.
This covers how the size limit is measured, the weight limit by cabin, the figures for eight airlines, and what each one charges when a bag breaks a limit. Every figure was checked against the airlines’ own pages on September 29, 2026.
What to check before you pack
- Your airline and fare. Frontier allows 40 pounds, most others 50, and business class usually 70.
- Your elite status or airline card, which can raise the weight allowance even in economy.
- Every airline on the ticket. A connecting trip may follow the first airline’s rules, not the one you fly longest.
- A tape measure. The size limit includes wheels and handles.
- A luggage scale. Airline scales round against you, and a 50.5-pound bag is already overweight.
- Your destination. Some routes refuse heavy bags outright in certain seasons.
Do checked bags have a size limit?
Yes. Almost every major airline sets the standard checked bag at 62 linear inches (158 cm). You get the figure by adding the bag’s length, width and height, measured at the widest points.
Wheels, handles and side pockets count. United states it plainly: a checked bag can be 30 x 20 x 12 inches, or 62 total inches, “including handles and wheels”. A 27 x 21 x 14 inch suitcase also totals 62 and passes.
Europe measures a little differently. British Airways caps each checked piece at 90 x 75 x 43 cm (35 x 30 x 17 inches), and its oversize ceiling is 190 x 75 x 65 cm. Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Air Canada use the familiar 158 cm total.
Do checked bags have a weight limit?
Yes, and it is the limit people break more often. The standard checked bag weight limit on US airlines is 50 pounds (23 kg) in economy. Business and first class raise it to 70 pounds (32 kg) on Delta, United and American.
Status does the same thing in a cheaper seat. United Premier members get 70 pounds even in economy, and so do Delta Medallion members. Frontier is the low outlier at 40 pounds, and charges from 41 pounds up.
Checked bag limits by airline, compared
Size limits barely vary among the big US carriers. The hard ceiling, past which a bag is refused rather than charged, varies more.
Every airline in this table uses the same 62-inch size limit. What differs is the weight, and the point at which a bag is refused.
| Airline | Economy | Premium cabin |
|---|---|---|
| American | 50 lb | 70 lb |
| Delta | 50 lb | 70 lb |
| United | 50 lb | 70 lb |
| Southwest | 50 lb | None |
| JetBlue | 50 lb | 70 lb, Mint |
| Frontier | 40 lb | 50 lb, bundle |
American, Delta, United and Southwest refuse any bag over 100 pounds, and JetBlue and Frontier any bag over 99. The size ceiling differs more: American and United refuse bags over 115 inches, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue over 80, and Frontier over 110.
Alaska Airlines sets the same 50 pounds and 62 inches, and refuses bags over 100 pounds or 115 inches. Checked baggage by airline adds the fee for each bag alongside these limits.
What is the checked baggage weight limit on international flights?
Internationally, the number to remember is 23 kg in economy and 32 kg in business. Most airlines also treat 32 kg (70 pounds) as a hard cap for any single bag, in any cabin.
British Airways says no checked bag may weigh over 32 kg, and it will not let you split a 23 kg allowance across two bags. Lufthansa applies a 32 kg maximum per piece irrespective of class. Qatar Airways asks for anything heavier to be broken down into separate pieces.
US airlines follow suit on long-haul routes. Delta refuses bags over 70 pounds between the Americas and Europe or North Africa, and on its Australia, New Zealand and Middle East routes. American does not accept overweight bags over 70 pounds to Europe, Israel or Qatar.
Piece concept or weight concept
- Piece concept. You get a number of bags, each with its own weight limit. Every route to or from the US uses this.
- Weight concept. You get a total weight, split across as many bags as you like. Emirates uses it on most routes, but not to and from the Americas.
- Either way, Emirates caps any single bag at 32 kg.
Checked bags on international flights covers which of those routes include a free bag.
Checked bag weight limit on American Airlines
American allows 50 pounds (23 kg) and 62 linear inches per bag in Basic Economy, Main and Premium Economy. Business and Domestic First passengers check two bags at up to 70 pounds each, and Flagship First passengers three.
American is also the one US carrier with a small first step. Between the US, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Canada, the overweight fees are:
- Over 50 to 53 pounds: $30
- Over 53 to 70 pounds: $100
- Over 70 to 100 pounds: $200
- Over 100 pounds: not accepted on American-operated flights
The size fees follow the same pattern: $30 for 62 to 65 inches, and $200 from 65 to 115 inches. Bags over 115 inches are refused. Are carry-on bags free on American Airlines? covers the bag fees that come on top.
What does it cost to break a limit?
On most airlines the fee is charged on top of the normal checked bag fee, each way. The figures below are for domestic US flights in 2026.
| Airline | Overweight | Over both limits |
|---|---|---|
| American | $30 to $200 | Higher fee only |
| Delta | $100 to $200 | Both fees |
| United | $100 to $200 | Both fees |
| Southwest | $100 to $200 | One $200 fee |
| JetBlue | $150 | Both fees |
The oversize fee is $200 on Delta, United and Southwest, $150 on JetBlue, and $30 to $200 on American, depending on the size.
On Delta, United and Southwest the overweight fee is $100 from 51 to 70 pounds and $200 from 71 to 100. American adds a $30 step just over 50 pounds.
The last column is where the real difference lies. A bag that is 75 pounds and 70 inches costs $400 extra on Delta, but $200 on American or Southwest. JetBlue charges $150 for each broken limit, so a bag breaking both pays $300.
Frontier charges $75 for a bag of 41 to 50 pounds, and $75 for 63 to 110 inches. Is carry-on free on Frontier? covers the rest of its fee table.
Which airline’s limits apply on a connecting trip?
When your trip starts or ends in the US, federal rules settle it. Under 14 CFR 399.87, the bag allowance and fees that apply at the start of the itinerary apply throughout. On a codeshare, the airline that sold the flight number sets them, not the one flying the plane.
Outside that rule, airlines decide. British Airways says the allowance on a single booking is generally set by the airline flying the longest flight. On separate bookings, each airline applies its own limits, and you may have to recheck the bag.
Items the size limit does not treat the same way
Some large or heavy items have their own rules, so a bag that looks oversized may cost only the normal fee.
- Sports equipment. Southwest waives the oversize fee for sports equipment up to 115 inches, though the weight fees still apply.
- Musical instruments. United accepts checked instruments up to 165 pounds, well above its 100-pound ceiling.
- Assistive devices. US airlines may not charge for checking a wheelchair or other assistive device, whatever its size.
- Baby gear. Frontier checks car seats and strollers free, outside the allowance.
How to keep a checked bag inside the limits
- Measure the bag once, empty, with wheels and handles, and write the total inside the lid.
- Weigh it after packing with a hand scale, and aim for 48 pounds to leave room for a rounding error.
- Move shoes and books into the carry-on, which most US airlines rarely weigh.
- Split the load across two bags when you are traveling with someone. A second bag usually costs less than a $100 overweight fee.
- Check the route, since a 70-pound bag that is fine within the US can be refused on a flight to Europe.
Delta carry-on weight limit lists the few airlines that do weigh the cabin bag, before you move weight into it.
Your bag was weighed over the limit at the counter
- Ask to see the scale reading, and which bracket it puts you in. A bag at 51 pounds and one at 70 often pay the same.
- Repack at the counter or at a nearby bench. Moving a few pounds into your carry-on is usually allowed.
- Ask whether a second bag costs less than the overweight fee on your fare.
- Check that you were not charged twice on American or Southwest, where a bag breaking both limits pays one fee.
- Contact the airline’s customer relations team after the trip if the charge does not match its published fee table, with your receipt and bag tag.
Frequently asked questions
In short
Checked bags do have a size limit, and it is nearly always 62 linear inches. The weight limit is 50 pounds in economy on most airlines, 70 in premium cabins, 40 on Frontier, and the refusal point is 100 pounds in the US and 32 kg abroad.
The airlines differ most in what they charge for a bag that breaks both limits, one fee or two.
Rules change without much notice. If something here no longer matches what you were told at the counter, tell us and we will correct it.
Sources
- American Airlines: Oversize and overweight bags, checked 2026-09-29
- American Airlines: Checked bag policy, checked 2026-09-29
- Delta Air Lines: Excess and overweight baggage, checked 2026-09-29
- Delta Air Lines: Baggage policy and fees, checked 2026-09-29
- United Airlines: Checked bags, checked 2026-09-29
- NerdWallet: United luggage weight limits, for United’s fee amounts
- Southwest Airlines: Optional travel charges, checked 2026-09-29
- Southwest Airlines: Checked bag policy, checked 2026-09-29
- Alaska Airlines: Checked baggage fees and policies
- JetBlue: Checked bags, checked 2026-09-28
- Frontier Airlines: Bag size and weight limits, checked 2026-09-29
- British Airways: Baggage essentials, checked 2026-09-29
- Lufthansa: Baggage conditions
- Qatar Airways: Baggage allowance
- Emirates: Checked baggage
- Air Canada: Checked baggage
- eCFR: 14 CFR 399.87, Baggage allowances and fees
- JetBlue checked bag weight limit and fees
- Is a checked bag free on Delta?
- Are carry-on bags free on United?
- Featured photo: Photo by Hey Beauti Magazine on Unsplash
