Having just been stung by Flybe when travelling from Southampton 
, I thought it worth flagging up an issue lest others fall into the same trap, as it appears that Flybe may have now resorted to underhand tactics that even Ryanair would struggle to match. (A quick trawl of the 'net would suggest that their customer service ratings are even worse than Ryanair's, which must have taken some doing!). Flybe appear to have deliberately designed their cabin-luggage-allowance policy to squeeze money from passengers at a moment when you least need it (i.e. at the departure gate and/or check-in when its hard enough with the kids in tow). Most airlines permit luggage measuring up to 55cm into the cabin (in the UK, the legal maximum is 56cm). As a result, luggage manufacturers such as Samsonite have been making cabin-luggage to dimensions that comply with these stats (with most cases measuring between 52-54cm max)... and the odds are that most people's 'cabin-luggage' bags are about that size. However Flybe have deliberately reduced their allowance to 50cm (and employed 'muggers' at departure gates in many airports to enforce this policy) so that many passengers with 'standard-sized' cabin luggage (that would fit into the cabin-luggage cages of most airlines, including Ryanair) will fail to pass their size test and therefore be forced to pay £30 per item, per leg: that's £60 to take a piece of (under-weight - i.e. less than 10kg) cabin-luggage into the cabin that fits their overhead lockers perfectly well and that would fit into the pre-check-in size-check cages of most other airlines (including Ryanair). Moreover, their staff then try to get you to pay for the £30 return 'excess' charge there and then, even when they know that if you paid for this online before the return leg (ie while you're away) it would cost significantly less. A nasty underhand tactic. I wouldn't be at all surprised if - as at another infamous 'budget' airline, their ground staff are financially incentivised to trap you like this. Having just been stung in this way by some (extraordinarily rude and obstinate) Flybe staff at Southampton, I felt it worth posting in case this saves anyone else the aggravation. I've worked out that, once I added on all their extras, it would have been cheaper to go with a 'mainstream' airline, so that's what I'll be doing in future. Beware!