About Baggage Calc

What it does

Baggage Calc helps you estimate the total weight of a packed bag before you reach the airport. Pick your airline, choose hand baggage or checked, and search a library of around 80 common travel items with baseline weights for each. The total updates live as you build the list, with a progress bar that turns amber as you near the limit and red if you go over.

Your packing list and airline selection are saved in your browser, so you can come back to the same trip across sessions without making an account.

Why we built it

Overweight baggage fees are one of the most avoidable travel costs. They exist because most travelers don't have a luggage scale, and most airlines don't show your real allowance until check-in. The information is scattered across airline websites, fare classes, and route rules. We wanted a single tool that takes the guesswork out of packing — with the empty case weight built in from the start, since that's where most people get caught. A medium hardshell suitcase can easily weigh 3–4 kg before you've packed a single item, and that's weight the calculator accounts for automatically as soon as you select a bag type.

How it's built

Baggage Calc is a static website. There's no backend, no analytics, and no account system. Everything runs in your browser, and your packing list stays on your device. We use Astro to keep pages fast and lightweight, and we ship as little JavaScript as possible.

Who's behind it

Baggage Calc is an independent project, not affiliated with any airline. Airline allowance figures are sourced from public carrier websites and are updated when policies change, but you should always cross-reference with your specific ticket before flying.

Found a bug or want to suggest an item or airline? Get in touch.

How accurate are the weight estimates?

Item weights in Baggage Calc come from real-world measurements of common travel gear, averaged across typical variations in brand and size. A pair of jeans is listed at around 600 g; a smartphone with cable is around 300 g. These are reasonable starting points, not guarantees — your specific items will weigh slightly differently.

For a typical mid-size packing list the calculator tends to land within 5–15% of the real weighed total. The main source of error is clothing, which varies significantly by fabric, size, and season. Heavy winter coats and thick denim will run heavier than the baseline; lightweight summer gear usually comes in under.

The safest approach is to use Baggage Calc to catch obvious overweight risks and plan your packing, then confirm on a home scale if you are within 2–3 kg of your limit. For carry-on bags with tight limits (7–10 kg), a quick home scale check is worth the thirty seconds — especially on budget carriers that weigh bags at the gate.