I’ve always believed that the best products come from personal frustrations. Size My Bag is one of those. A simple tool to ensure your carry on and check in luggage size meets airline rules with Size My Bag.
If you’ve ever stood at an airport check-in counter, hoping your carry-on won’t be flagged for being oversized, you’ll understand why I built this. It’s a simple web app that lets travellers quickly check carry-on luggage sizes, and checked luggage sizes, against airline policies before they fly.
This isn’t some grand startup play or a VC-backed moonshot. It’s part of my personal challenge to build 12 products in 12 months. Each one has to be useful, make sense as a standalone tool, and ideally, be something I’d actually use. I don’t want to create throwaway projects that look good on a portfolio but have no real-world utility. Size My Bag is my latest launch, and I want to share how it came together.
The Problem
Airlines Are Inconsistent, and Travellers Get Caught Out
Airline baggage rules are a nightmare. If you’re flying Ryanair, you get a tiny personal item unless you pay extra. British Airways lets you take a bigger cabin bag, but not all fare types include checked luggage. Some airlines measure in centimetres, some in inches. Some include wheels and handles, others don’t. And none of them agree on what counts as a “standard” carry-on.
As someone who’s done a lot of budget travel, I’ve had my fair share of last-minute gate-checking, arguments with staff over luggage allowances, and emergency repacking on the floor of an airport. I figured there had to be an easier way to check carry-on luggage size and check in luggage sizes, across different airlines without digging through multiple websites or relying on outdated blog posts.
How I Built It
I started with the simplest version of the idea: a web-based tool where users could enter their bag’s dimensions and see if it complied with airline policies. I wanted it to be fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to use without unnecessary distractions.
For this, I used Lovable.dev, which is a low-code tool that made it easy to put together a functional app quickly. I’ve experimented with Softr and Unicorn Platform in the past, but Lovable was the best fit for this project because it integrates well with Supabase, which I used for the database.
Supabase stores the airline baggage policies, including carry-on and checked baggage limits. I originally considered manually inputting all the airline data, but that wasn’t scalable. Instead, I pulled airline information dynamically through an API and then manually checked the baggage policies for accuracy.
The front end is simple and focused – users select an airline, enter their luggage size, and get an instant response on whether it meets the airline’s limits. No ads, no pop-ups, no unnecessary features. Just a tool that does what it’s supposed to do -check carry-on luggage sizes and check in luggage sizes fast and accurately.
What’s Next?
Right now, Size My Bag is in it’s first version. There’s plenty of room to expand. Some ideas I’m considering include:
– Automatically updating baggage policies as airlines change their rules
– Adding more airlines, including regional carriers
– Adding a metric/imperial toggle feature
– Adding a login feature so travellers can save their favourite airlines for next time
– Partnering with luggage brands to recommend airline-approved suitcases
I also want to refine the mobile experience. Most people will use this while travelling, not sitting at a desk, so the UI needs to be even more mobile-friendly than it already is.
Why Post About This
I know this isn’t a hyper-technical product. It’s not an AI tool, it’s not blockchain, and it’s not a deep SaaS play. But I think it’s something useful, and that’s the kind of thing I like to see on sites such as Hacker News – small, practical tools that solve real problems.
I’d love to hear what you think. If you have ideas for improving Size My Bag or if you’ve built something similar and have insights to share, drop a comment. And if you want to check carry-on luggage sizes and check in luggage sizes, before your next flight, you can try the tool here: Size My Bag.
