Luggage capacity by vehicle class: how many bags really fit

Luggage capacity, in one paragraph

Dispatch loads a thousand trunks a month and knows the trade's arithmetic by heart: the sedan that takes two large bags and the couple who arrive with four, the family of five whose eight pieces fit an ESV with the third row down and a child on a lap that is not allowed, the golf foursome whose four bags lie flat in a Navigator L and stand up in nothing else, the hockey team whose bags are a Sprinter and a trailer. This guide is the table — the bag sizes, every class with the seats up and down, the awkward items, the passenger-versus-bag trade-off, the trailer and the second vehicle, the airport-specific rules, and the dispatcher's question — with two worked loads.

The bag sizes

The carry-on (22 × 14 × 9 inches, 40 litres — the airline's cabin size). The medium (25 inches, 65 litres — the week's bag). The large (28 inches, 90 to 100 litres — the two-week checked bag; the 30- and 32-inch "extra large" at 120 litres counts as one and a half). The duffel (soft, 60 to 100 litres — squashes into a gap a hard case cannot). The garment bag (folds over a seat back or lies on the bags). The golf bag (a travel case is 50 × 15 × 15 inches — lies flat, displaces one large). The ski bag (a double bag is 190 centimetres — needs the length of an ESV or a Sprinter with the seats down, displaces one large; the boot bag is a carry-on). The hockey bag (the largest — 40 × 20 × 20 inches, 130 litres — one and a half large; the sticks in a tube). The stroller (a full-size folds to a large and a half; an umbrella stroller to a carry-on). The wheelchair (a folding manual chair to two large; a power chair does not fold — the accessible service article). The instrument case (a cello is a passenger's seat; a guitar is a large; a double bass is a Sprinter). The Pelican case (the film and TV article's — a large each). The pet carrier (a carry-on to a large). The cooler (a large). The box (the engagement party and shower article's gifts — measure it).

The sedans

Mercedes S-Class (540 litres; the S 580e plug-in 440): 2 large + 2 carry-ons, or 3 large, or 2 large + a golf bag; the garment bag on top. Mercedes E-Class (540): the same. BMW 7 Series (500; the i7 500): 2 large + 2 carry-ons, or 3 large tight. Lexus LS (480; the 500h 440): 2 large + 1 carry-on. Genesis G90 (420): 2 large. Cadillac CT6 (430): 2 large. Lincoln Continental (470): 2 large + 1 carry-on. Tesla Model S (trunk 790 + frunk 90): 3 large + 2 carry-ons — the sedan exception. Mercedes EQS sedan (610 with the hatch): 3 large. The rear seat takes nothing but a garment bag and a briefcase; a third passenger takes the middle seat and the trunk's count does not change. The sedan vs SUV article says two people with more than three large bags is an SUV.

The SUVs

With the third row up (six aboard) / folded (four aboard) / second row also folded (two aboard — rare, the funeral article's flowers or a move): Cadillac Escalade 720 / 2,050 / 3,400 litres — 2 large / 5 to 6 large / 10 large. Escalade ESV 1,150 / 2,650 / 4,050 — 4 large / 8 large / 14 large. Lincoln Navigator 580 / 1,630 / 2,900 — 2 large / 5 large / 9 large. Navigator L 970 / 2,060 / 3,400 — 4 large / 7 large / 12 large. Chevrolet Suburban / GMC Yukon XL 1,160 / 2,650 / 4,100 — 4 large / 8 large / 14 large. Mercedes GLS 470 / 1,320 / 2,400 — 2 large tight / 4 large / 8 large. BMW X7 330 / 1,300 / 2,120 — 1 large / 4 large / 7 large. Tesla Model X (six-seat) 520 / 1,050 + frunk 180 — 2 large / 4 large. Mercedes EQS SUV 640 / 2,020 — 2 large / 5 large. Cadillac Escalade IQ 680 / 1,900 + frunk 340 — 2 large + 1 in the frunk / 6 large. Carry-ons go on the floor of the third row when it is folded and at the passengers' feet when it is not; the Escalade article and the Navigator vs Escalade article have the detail and the families with luggage article the family's version.

The Sprinter

Shuttle layout (14 to 15 seats): the rear cage takes 14 large stacked two high, the carry-ons on the overhead racks or at the feet — one bag per passenger plus a carry-on. Executive layout (11 to 12): the area behind the bulkhead takes 8 to 10 large or 12 roller cases, the carry-ons at the feet. Limo layout (10 to 12): the rear takes 4 to 6 large, the small bags at the feet — a party's vehicle, not an airport's. The 4x4 Sprinter with the seats out (a cargo run): 40 large. The Sprinter guide and the group transfers article have the loading and the trailer.

The stretch, the limo bus, the mini-coach and the coach

The stretch sedan: the donor car's trunk, minus the bar's plumbing — 1 to 2 large; the stretch limousine guide says a wedding's bags go in the parents' sedan. The stretch SUV: 2 to 3 large in the rear. The limo bus: a dozen small bags on some, none on most — the limo bus article says a group with luggage does not book one. The mini-coach (24 to 30 seats): 20 to 30 large in the underfloor or rear bays plus the overhead racks. The coach (50 to 56): 56 large in the bays. The wedding guest shuttles article and the conference article use them.

The awkward items

Golf: four bags in travel cases lie flat in a Navigator L or an ESV with the third row folded (four golfers aboard) or in a Sprinter; two lie in a standard SUV with the third row folded; one lies across a sedan's trunk with one large beside it (the golf article). Skis: a double ski bag needs 190 centimetres — the ESV or the Navigator L with the third row folded (the bag runs from the tailgate to the second row's console), or a Sprinter, or a roof box on the fleets that carry one; a family of four with four ski bags and four boot bags is a Sprinter (the Blue Mountain article). Hockey: a team's bags are a Sprinter and a trailer, or a mini-coach; a single player's bag and sticks fit an SUV with the third row folded. The stroller: folds behind the third row of an ESV, on the second-row floor of a standard SUV, in a sedan's trunk with one large beside it (a full-size) or two (an umbrella stroller); the child seats fleet article covers the seat that goes with it. The wheelchair: a folding manual chair behind the second row of any SUV or in a sedan's trunk with no other large bag; a power chair or a scooter is the accessible service article's vehicle with the lift. The instrument: a cello buys a seat (the concert article's orchestra members know); a double bass is a Sprinter with a row out. The Pelican cases: the film and TV article's crew books the Sprinter and the trailer. The gifts and the flowers: the engagement party and shower article's second vehicle. The bicycle: a boxed bike is two large (an SUV with the third row folded); an unboxed one is a Sprinter with a row out.

The passenger-versus-bag trade-off

Every SUV seat used costs cargo: an Escalade with six aboard takes two large; with four aboard, five to six; with two, ten — and the group transfers article's rule is that a group of six with six large bags is a Sprinter, not an ESV (four large behind the third row, and two on someone's lap is not a thing). A family of five with eight pieces (the families with luggage article) is an ESV with the third row up for the child's booster and four large behind it, and four more in the aisle and on the front floor with the chauffeur's net — a tight fit dispatch approves — or two vehicles. The dispatcher counts seats and bags on the same line and the engine asks both.

The trailer and the second vehicle

A fleet that runs airport shuttles for teams and crews tows an enclosed trailer behind a Sprinter (the hockey bags, the Pelican cases, the trade show article's booth crates); a fleet that does not sends a second vehicle — an SUV for the bags following the passengers' sedan, or a cargo van for a move — and the how much does a black car cost article works the arithmetic (a second SUV against an upgrade to an ESV against a Sprinter). A booker who names the bag count at booking never sees a second vehicle appear at the curb unannounced.

The airport-specific rules

Pearson's Door A lanes allow a five-minute load — the chauffeur has the trunk open and the bags in before the passenger's coat is off — and the Terminal 1 vs Terminal 3 article's carts stay in the terminal; Billy Bishop's Eireann Quay curb is a two-minute stop and the tunnel's elevator takes the bags; the international arrivals article's long-haul passengers have the large bags that make it an SUV; the lost luggage article covers the bag that did not arrive; and the connecting flights article's passengers keep the carry-ons only.

The dispatcher's question

"How many bags, and how big?" — asked at every booking on the engine or by phone, answered in the trade's units (large, medium, carry-on, and the awkward items by name), and matched to the class: two large is a sedan, four is an SUV, six with four people is an ESV, six with six people is a Sprinter, fourteen is a Sprinter shuttle, thirty is a mini-coach; and the dispatcher adds one bag to every count because someone always has a tote. The sedan vs SUV article turns the answer into the vehicle.

Two worked loads

A. A Yorkville couple to Terminal 3 for three weeks in Italy: two 30-inch extra-large bags, one 28-inch large, two carry-ons, a garment bag. The count is 3.5 large + 2 carry-ons — over a sedan's 3 — so dispatch sends an Escalade (standard): the third row folded, the three checked bags and the two carry-ons behind the second row, the garment bag over them, the couple in the captain's chairs. B. A Whitby family of six to Terminal 1 for Florida: six large, four carry-ons, a full-size stroller, an infant seat and a booster. The count is 7.5 large + 4 carry-ons with six aboard — over an ESV's 4 behind the third row — so dispatch sends a Sprinter shuttle: the seats installed on the child seats fleet article's protocol in the forward rows, the six large and the stroller in the cage, the carry-ons on the racks, one vehicle, one chauffeur, the families with luggage article's answer.

Luggage capacity quick reference

Booking with the bags counted

The engine asks the bag count; the Pearson page and the fleet page show the classes; dispatch matches the vehicle and says when it will be two. Count the bags, name the awkward ones, add one, and the trunk closes on the first try.

Book with your bags counted