Icelandair Carry-On Size: Dimensions and Baggage Fees

Icelandair allows one carry-on bag up to 21.6 x 15.7 x 7.8 inches (55 x 40 x 20 cm), including handles and wheels, on every fare. That 7.8-inch depth is the number to watch: it's about an inch and a quarter shallower than the 9-inch depth on a typical American Airlines or Delta carry-on, so a U.S.-market roller bag that's already right at the limit elsewhere can be too deep for Icelandair's sizer even if the length and width both check out.

The personal item allowance is up to 15.7 x 11.8 x 5.9 inches (40 x 30 x 15 cm) and has to fit under the seat in front of you, alongside the carry-on in the overhead bin. Both bags are included free regardless of fare type, from Economy Light up through Saga Premium and Business.

Unlike several U.S. carriers that skip a carry-on weight limit entirely, Icelandair does enforce one, and it's a combined limit covering both your carry-on and your personal item together, not two separate weight allowances. On international flights, that combined weight limit is 10 kg (22 lb). On flights within Iceland and to Greenland, the limit drops to just 6 kg (13 lb), which is easy to miss if you're connecting from a long-haul international segment onto a short domestic hop and assume the same allowance carries over.

That domestic 6 kg limit is tight, tighter than almost any allowance in this guide, and worth planning around specifically if your trip includes an internal Iceland flight to somewhere like Akureyri or Egilsstaðir after arriving in Reykjavik. Bulky winter or hiking gear that easily clears a 10 kg international limit can tip over 6 kg fast, so weigh your cabin bags before that connecting flight rather than assuming international rules apply.

Checked baggage is where Icelandair's fare types genuinely diverge, unlike the carry-on and personal item, which stay constant across the board. Economy Light, Icelandair's cheapest fare, includes no free checked bag at all; you're flying with only the carry-on and personal item unless you pay for one.

Economy Standard and Economy Flex step up to one included checked bag at up to 23 kg (50 lb). Saga Premium and Saga Premium Flex, Icelandair's premium cabin, include two checked bags at up to 32 kg (70 lb) each, roughly double the weight allowance of the standard Economy checked bag.

If you're on Economy Light and need to check a bag, or you want to add a bag beyond your fare's included allowance on any fare, Icelandair prices additional checked bags by route rather than with one flat fee. Reported pricing for an extra bag purchased online runs roughly $60 to $95 (about £47 to £75 or €55 to €85) depending on the route, with flights between Iceland and continental Europe at the cheaper end and transatlantic flights between Europe and North America at the more expensive end. Buying the extra bag at the airport instead of online typically costs more than the online rate.

Because that pricing varies by route and can change, treat the range above as a planning estimate rather than a quote, and check Icelandair's own fee calculator for your specific itinerary before you fly, especially if you're deciding between paying for a bag on Economy Light versus simply booking Economy Standard, which already includes one.

This is the real decision Icelandair pricing forces on budget travelers. Economy Standard already includes one 23 kg checked bag, so if you know you're checking a bag, it's worth comparing the price difference between Economy Light plus an added bag against booking Economy Standard outright before you commit to the cheaper-looking fare. On many routes the math favors Standard once a checked bag is added to Light, since Light's per-route bag fee can approach or exceed the fare difference.

If you're traveling carry-on only, Economy Light's slimmer 7.8-inch-deep carry-on and personal item are both included free regardless of fare, so the fare choice mostly comes down to whether you need a checked bag, not whether you get a cabin bag at all.

Because Icelandair's 7.8-inch depth is shallower than the U.S. standard, a bag marketed as a generic "international carry-on" isn't automatically Icelandair-legal just because it clears TSA's checkpoint or fits a domestic U.S. airline's sizer. Check the depth specifically, not just the overall linear-inch total, since a bag can be under the combined linear-inch sum most U.S. carriers use and still be too deep for Icelandair's individual depth cap.

If you're flying Icelandair with a connection to a domestic Iceland or Greenland flight, pack with the 6 kg combined cabin weight limit in mind from the start, rather than packing to the more generous 10 kg international limit and hoping it evens out. A kitchen scale at home before you leave is a more reliable check than guessing, especially with bulky cold-weather gear that adds weight fast.

If you're not sure whether a specific suitcase or backpack clears Icelandair's dimensions, run it through the free fit checker on this site rather than eyeballing a tape measure against a foreign sizing chart; it checks the exact depth, width, and length against Icelandair's published limit rather than the U.S. standard you might be used to.