WestJet Checked Baggage

A WestJet checked bag can weigh up to 50 lb, or 23 kg, and measure up to 62 linear inches, or 157 cm. Whether that first WestJet checked baggage piece is free depends entirely on your fare. UltraBasic travelers often pay for a checked bag on top of getting no free carry-on.

Premium and Business fares include it from the start. WestJet’s baggage page confirms the 50 lb and 62 inch ceiling applies to every standard checked piece. That holds from UltraBasic through Business.

What changes by fare is how many bags come included before fees start. This WestJet checked baggage guide covers the fare allowance and the overweight and oversize bands. It also covers what cannot go in the hold and which cases hold up under a 50 lb cap.

Checked allowance by fare

WestJet allows up to four checked pieces on mainline flights. WestJet Encore regional flights allow up to three, space permitting. The table below reflects WestJet’s published piece counts for WestJet checked baggage by fare.

Exact bag fee amounts change by season and route. WestJet does not print one flat number that covers every trip. Confirm the dollar figure for your route at booking.

UltraBasic is the fare readers get wrong most often. It excludes a free carry-on too, not just a free checked bag.

A traveler who packs for a checked bag and a full cabin bag can end up paying for both. That happens most often when the lowest fare gets booked by accident.

Check the WestJet carry-on size page before you assume a cabin bag rides free.

WestJet does not publish one flat fee table for every route and season. The honest move is to price your specific trip with a baggage cost calculator. Do not trust a number from someone else’s itinerary.

Prepaying online is consistently cheaper than paying at the airport counter on WestJet. Paying at the gate is the most expensive option of all.

What cannot go in a checked bag

WestJet’s own restricted items guidance goes beyond the standard FAA list of batteries and flammables. It rules out bear spray, lighter fluid, fireworks and oxygen cylinders in checked luggage. Hoverboards, fuel and recalled power packs are also barred from the hold.

Lithium battery packs and spare lithium batteries belong in the cabin on WestJet, not checked baggage. Firearms and sporting equipment like skis or golf clubs must be declared at check-in.

Connecting and codeshare baggage

WestJet states plainly that a partner airline’s baggage policy can govern instead of its own. This applies when you travel with one of WestJet’s airline partners. On a codeshare or interline itinerary, check the rules published for the operating carrier on each leg.

The US Department of Transportation also publishes guidance on which carrier’s rules apply when an itinerary mixes multiple airlines.

Overweight and oversize bags

WestJet’s published bands put overweight bags at 23 to 45 kg (51 to 100 lb) on most routes. That ceiling drops to 32 kg (70 lb) on Europe routes. Oversize bags run 158 to 203 cm (62 to 80 inches) in total linear dimensions.

A bag heavier than the top of the overweight band cannot travel as checked baggage at all. The same goes for a bag larger than the top of the oversize band. It must ship as cargo instead.

Airline counter staff typically weigh each bag on its own scale. They do not pool weight across two checked pieces. A 55 lb bag and a 45 lb bag both attract a fee this way, even though the pair averages under 50 lb each.

Weighing your bag at home before you leave is the cheapest insurance against an overweight charge. An Etekcity digital luggage scale does the job in seconds. It costs a fraction of a single overweight fee.

Read more on checked baggage weight limits before you pack, and see overweight and oversize baggage fees for how other carriers compare.

Checked cases that respect the 50 lb cap

WestJet’s 50 lb allowance rewards a light empty case. Every pound the suitcase weighs empty is a pound you cannot pack for the trip.

The Travelpro Maxlite 5 25 inch expandable spinner is one of the lighter 25 inch cases sold, per the manufacturer’s specifications. That matters on WestJet checked baggage runs, where 23 kg is the hard ceiling. Travelers who need more room without much added shell weight often look at the Travelpro Maxlite 5 29 inch.

The Samsonite Omni PC 24 inch sits well inside WestJet’s 157 cm linear limit. It suits a trip of a week or more.

The Samsonite Omni PC 28 inch is roomy enough that the weight cap, not the size limit, becomes the real constraint. The Delsey Paris Helium Aero 24 inch checked spinner adds a lock built into the case at a similar size class.

Budget shoppers often land on the Amazon Basics 30 inch hardside checked luggage. A 30 inch case can push past WestJet’s 62 inch total and into the oversize band once fully packed, so measure it loaded, not empty, before you check it. Pairing any of these with a luggage scale is the difference between a routine bag drop and an unplanned fee at the WestJet counter.

The bottom line

WestJet’s 50 lb, 62 inch checked limit stays the same across every fare, so packing to that number keeps you safe regardless of what you booked. The variable is how many bags come free, and UltraBasic and Econo travelers should assume the answer is fewer than they expect.

Weigh before you leave home. Price your route with a calculator instead of a remembered number, and check the connecting carrier’s rules separately whenever your WestJet checked baggage itinerary is not WestJet start to finish. Travelers comparing options can also see how Air Canada’s checked baggage rules and Flair Airlines stack up on the same routes.

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