Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on the best luggage for Ryanair flights

Have a travel question that needs answering? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Q I am going on a Ryanair trip soon. Do you still recommend the Decathlon 40L bag?

David Powell

A Despite the fashion for roll-along cases, I prefer to use a bag I can carry rather than one with little wheels. Not only are they awkward on anything other than a level surface, and also make a terrible racket when in contact with cobbles and other uneven surfaces. I can see the point of them for cabin crew, but since I don’t currently anticipate becoming a flight attendant I shall carry on carrying on my carry-on.

The exact backpack I use as cabin baggage is no longer available, but Decathlon’s Quechua Arpenaz 40 litre pack looks a reasonable successor - and, like the one I use, has the benefit of costing only £14.99. The maximum dimensions are 62x28x27cm, which eager ground-handling enforcement staff will note breaches two of the limits in the 55x40x20cm size allowed by Ryanair. Just don't over-pack it; so long there is some room to breathe, you can squidge the bag into the frame if gate staff insist. Also, bear in mind Ryanair’s 10kg limit; British Airways (23kg) and easyJet (no limit) are much more generous. They also have a slightly bigger allowance, 56x45x25cm. But Ryanair and BA allow a small second piece of cabin baggage.

It's been a good couple of years since I felt the full force of the cabin-baggage assessment squad, checking dimensions, and Ryanair seems positively relaxed. And bizarrely the only place I've ever been approached in a queue by a man with portable scales to weigh my backpack was Gatwick North Terminal, when someone claiming to represent BA was checking dodgy types like me.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder