Bamboo Airways prices excess baggage by the kilogram, not by the bag. There is no flat 50 USD second bag fee like the big US carriers use. Instead the airline sells extra weight in bands.
Understanding the Bamboo Airways baggage allowance starts with that system. It also means knowing this is a much smaller airline than it used to be.
What Bamboo Airways actually flies today
Bamboo Airways spent 2025 and 2026 cutting most of its fleet. It walked away from the long haul ambitions that once included talk of nonstop Boeing 787 service to the United States. The carrier went through a public restructuring, and third party aviation reporting describes a period in mid 2026 when scheduled flights were suspended almost entirely.
Its own site now lists a much smaller network. Domestic Vietnam routes center on Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. International service is limited to Bangkok, Macau and a handful of Taiwan cities.
There is no US route, and no confirmed date for one to return. If your trip includes an American leg, check the ticket closely. That leg will be on a codeshare or a separate booking, not a Bamboo aircraft.
Carry-on allowance
Economy passengers get one main carry-on bag plus one small personal item. Business class gets two main pieces plus a personal item. The figures below come straight from the carrier’s own baggage pages.
| Class | Pieces | Weight | Max dimensions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | 1 bag + 1 personal item | 7 kg (15.4 lb) total | 56 x 36 x 23 cm (22 x 14 x 9 in) |
| Business | 2 bags + 1 personal item | 7 kg per bag, 14 kg total | 56 x 36 x 23 cm per bag |
The personal item is capped at 30 x 20 x 10 cm. A laptop bag can go up to 40 x 30 x 10 cm instead. Gate staff weigh and tag carry-ons before boarding.
An overweight cabin bag gets charged 50,000 VND per kilogram right at the gate.
Checked baggage allowance
Checked allowance depends on the fare, not just the class of service. This is the part of the Bamboo Airways baggage allowance that trips people up. Two economy passengers on the same flight can end up with different checked weights.
| Fare | Checked allowance |
|---|---|
| Hot Deal / Economy Flex (domestic) | 20 kg |
| Economy Saver Max / Economy Smart | None included, buy an add on |
| Business Smart / Business Flex | 40 kg |
No single checked piece may exceed 32 kg. Combined length, width and height cannot exceed 203 cm. Economy allows up to two checked pieces and Business up to three, within the fare’s total weight.
Excess baggage: sold by weight tier, not per bag
This is the detail that separates Bamboo from a US carrier. There is no fixed fee per extra suitcase. Instead Bamboo sells blocks of extra weight, and buying early is cheaper.
| Extra weight | Bought a day ahead | Bought at the airport |
|---|---|---|
| 15 to 20 kg | 300,000 VND | 450,000 to 600,000 VND |
| 30 kg | 450,000 VND | not sold in this size at the counter |
| 40 kg | 600,000 VND | not sold in this size at the counter |
Buying ahead of the airport can cost up to 70 percent less. The most extra weight you can add in one purchase is 60 kg. Prices are quoted in Vietnamese dong, so bring a currency converter if you budget in US dollars.
What travelers actually report
Travel forums have travelers comparing Bamboo directly against Vietnam Airlines. The numbers people report match the airline’s own published figures. One traveler counted 20 kg free checked economy on Bamboo against 23 kg on Vietnam Airlines for a comparable fare.
Reviewers who flew Bamboo domestically call the included 20 kg generous next to Vietnam’s low cost carriers. Most of those competitors start passengers at zero included checked weight. Nobody in the threads we found described aggressive gate enforcement or surprise baggage charges.
The complaints that do exist are about schedule reliability during the restructuring, not baggage.
How it compares to other Vietnamese carriers
Set against Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo’s 20 kg standard economy allowance runs 3 kg lower on a matching domestic fare. Against Vietjet Air, a true low cost carrier that charges for the first checked kilogram, Bamboo’s included 20 kg on its Hot Deal and Flex fares is the better deal. The same by the kilogram pricing logic shows up at Thai Vietjet Air, a separate company from Vietjet despite the shared name.
Run your bag through the site’s carry-on size checker against the 56 x 36 x 23 cm limit above. That is smaller than several US domestic carriers allow. The baggage cost tool can help you compare the advance weight bands against paying at the airport.
The bottom line
The Bamboo Airways baggage allowance runs on fare tier and weight tier, not a flat US style bag count. Economy carry-on tops out at 7 kg and 56 x 36 x 23 cm. Checked runs 20 kg on most economy fares and 40 kg in Business.
Extra weight is cheapest bought online a day ahead, and that habit alone can save real money on the Bamboo Airways baggage allowance over a round trip.
The bigger question for US travelers is whether Bamboo serves the route at all right now. The airline has shrunk to a domestic Vietnam network plus a few short international hops, with no active US service. Check the airline’s own baggage allowance page against your booking before you fly.
A restructuring carrier’s fare rules can shift with less notice than a larger airline’s. For the TSA side of the trip once you land in the US, see our airport security guide.
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