Luggage Weight Planner

What this generator does

Sorts everything heaviest first and puts each thing into whichever bag has the most room left; if that leaves something out, tries every other split. Then checks that nothing is over and everything is somewhere.

How to use this tool

1. List what you are taking, weight first, one thing a line.
2. Add each bag with its allowance in kilograms.
3. Read which bag each thing goes in, and how much spare is left.
4. Anything that cannot fit anywhere is listed separately, with the reason.

Understanding the controls

What you are packing

One thing a line with its weight, written either way round — “12 kg suitcase contents” or “Books, 3.1”. A decimal comma is read as a point, so “1,5 kg boots” is 1.5 kg. Lines without a weight are ignored, so notes can stay in the list.

Bags and allowances

Each bag with what it is allowed to weigh. Add one for every allowance you have, including other people's, up to twelve.

Common use cases

• Splitting a family's luggage across several allowances
• Deciding what has to come out before you get to the airport
• Balancing a hold bag against a cabin bag
• Checking whether an extra bag would actually solve it
• Distributing kit across a group going to the same place

How this generator works

Items are placed heaviest first into whichever bag has the most room left, which is the standard approach and gets the awkward items in while there is still room for them. If that strands an item although the totals allow it, every other way of sharing the items out is tried, up to 200,000 placements: three 6 kg items will not go into two 10 kg bags however they are split, and the page says “it does not fit”; if the search is stopped first it says “no arrangement found” instead, because one may exist. The result is checked rather than assumed: every item must appear exactly once across the bags and the leftovers, each bag's weight must be the sum of what is in it, and no bag may exceed its allowance. Two facts can rule a load out before any arranging — the total weight against the total allowance, and the heaviest single item against the largest bag — and both are reported; passing both does not mean it fits. Weights are compared exactly, so items that add up to precisely the allowance go in.

Randomness and fairness

Nothing is random. The same list and the same bags always pack the same way.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• Weight is the only constraint here; size, shape and what is allowed in a cabin bag are not modelled.
• The first arrangement that works is the one shown; it is not the most even split, and a long list on tight allowances can stop the search before it has tried everything, which the page says when it happens.
• Airlines weigh the bag, not the contents, so allow for the bag itself.
• Allowances differ between airlines on the same trip; put each leg's allowance in separately.

Privacy and your data

The packing list is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted or stored.