Best cabin luggage brands in 2025

Our latest cabin luggage survey reveals that the most popular brand isn’t always the best choice for a quality product at a fantastic price. 

We asked more than 1,700 cabin bag owners for their opinions on a variety of carry-on luggage brands. The most popular, Samsonite is a legacy brand that’s existed for more than a century, but members paid more for its luggage than any other.

While it garnered a high 81% score, there are cheaper alternatives that beat it, as outlined in the results table.

Best cabin luggage by brand

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Best cabin luggage brand overall

Osprey 86%

While Osprey sells wheelie cases and holdalls, it started out with backpacks, which is probably why 70% of those who told us about their Osprey cabin luggage own a backpack. 

Members are happy with the brand and, despite it being new to our survey, it was the best provider of carry-on luggage. Owners raved about clever features, such as a waterproof cover hidden in the base of the bag and rucksacks that you can attach to larger Osprey backpacks. Several commented on the mesh back panels that improve ventilation and prevent sweating when you're wearing it in high temperatures.

If you’re unsure about swapping to a backpack-style carry-on, Osprey sells hybrids with trolley handles so that you can switch between the two.

The catch? The cost. It’s the second-priciest cabin bag brand at £109, on average,  but scored four stars for value for money.

Verdict: Cleverly designed travel (and hiking) bags, but a little on the expensive side.

Shop Osprey cabin bags direct

Shop Osprey at Blacks

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Joint-second best cabin luggage brands

Cabin Max 83% (best overall on a budget)

From backpacks that will neatly slide under the seat in front of you on a Ryanair flight to cases that fit into easyJet’s overhead lockers, Cabin Max helpfully breaks down its bags by airline sizing. Cabin Max was launched when its founder couldn’t find anything that maximised the dimensions permitted by Ryanair and wanted to avoid the baggage carousel scrum. 

Best of all, it’s cheap and  the lowest price in our survey  – Cabin Max owners told us that they paid £37 per bag, on average. When we checked its website, we found some underseat bags for that price, while slightly larger cabin bags were closer to £50 – still a bargain.

Notably, it scored four stars out of five for how robust its bags are, from zips to handles, as well as value. Given that it landed the same overall score as Eastpak, which costs members triple the price, it’s a tempting alternative – especially since it offers a fun range of colours, such as orange, teal and graphite.

Verdict: An excellent, low-cost cabin bag brand.

Shop Cabin Max bags direct

Shop Cabin Max bags at Mountain Warehouse

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Eastpak 83% 

The label got the full five stars in both the suitcase and cabin bag surveys for tough and durable wheels, zips and handles. And the bags themselves are proven to last – one member said that they’d had their cabin bag for 15 years, which isn’t surprising when you learn Eastpak started out making durable gear for the US military in the 1950s.

However, a few owners commented on their cabin bags toppling over when they were full. They were mainly referring to mini-wheelie cases. Three quarters of people who responded about the brand’s cabin bags owned small carry-on suitcases rather than backpacks or duffle bags, which it also sells.

Verdict: Not cheap, but given its durability ratings, Eastpak is worth every penny

Shop Eastpak cabin bags direct

Shop Eastpak cabin bags at John Lewis

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How the best cabin bag brands were rated

Lauren Bell, Which? travel senior researcher/writer says:

Luggage can be expensive, but it’s worth every penny if it means you won’t have to wrangle wonky wheels in the terminal. That’s why we ask members who have owned each bag brand to tell us about their experiences rather than accept freebies in exchange for good reviews. We’re editorially independent, that’s why you can trust our scores.

What size luggage is best for a carry-on bag?

While a cabin bag traditionally meant a miniature wheelie suitcase, the term has evolved to accommodate stingy airline allowances. EasyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air have roughly halved the size of free cabin bag allowances since 2018. So unless you pay for a bigger carry-on, you’ll just have to cram more clothing into less space. 

Some airline’s free bag allowance dimensions are so tiny that most brands don’t make wheeled cases that small, so we’ve had to turn to backpacks and duffle bags.

The good news is that all the cabin bag brands in our survey sell mini suitcases and either backpacks or holdalls, so you have options.

If you’re hoping to maximise bag allowances, you may need to invest in a different carry-on for each airline or one that expands. While British Airways and Jet2’s bag allowances align (and are among the largest), easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air’s sizing are each unique. The latter three often have cheap flights, but if you need to add a carry-on bag bigger than a handbag or laptop bag size, you’ll pay extra, pushing up that initially attractive headline price. Factor this in when choosing carriers. 

See below for the dimensions of free bag allowances offered by short-haul airlines. And if you only want to invest in one bag, you’ll have to choose one to fit Ryanair’s free carry-on dimensions (because it's the least generous) to ensure it will fit whichever airline you next fly with – and even then, there’s no guarantee that they won’t change the requirements.

Free carry-on bag allowances