The Best Luggage Scale to Help You Avoid Airline Fees

I tested six luggage scales, picking models that had good ratings or were widely recommended online. After all of my tests, the Travel Inspira scale stood out.

Aesthetically, the Travel Inspira scale is exactly what I picture the platonic ideal of a luggage scale to be: a rectangular-ish shape that can be held with two hands, a simple interface, and a user-friendly strap.

Most importantly, of the six scales I tested, the Travel Inspira scale had the smallest margin of error and was frequently as accurate as using the bathroom scale. The biggest margin of error I recorded was a 0.3-pound difference, putting the Travel Inspira scale ahead of the nearly identical Etekcity Luggage Scale, which had a 0.5-pound margin of error in testing.

In fact, the Travel Inspira scale was so accurate, I sometimes found it was more accurate than when I weighed the luggage using the bathroom scale. The reading on the Wyze scale for a weighted suitcase occasionally deviated from the sum of the Wyze reading for the weight and empty suitcase alone; the Travel Inspira scale reading, on the other hand, was closer to the expected sum.

Checked luggage readings (in pounds)

Carry-on luggage readings (in pounds)

The Travel Inspira scale is also notably easy to use. Two buttons on the scale’s handle make the controls convenient to access. One turns on and tares the scale, while the other allows you to switch between pounds and kilograms.

The weight is clearly displayed on a backlit digital screen, and the device logs and locks in your number, so even after you put it down, you can still read the weight; that lingering display ended up being a key feature. Two of the scales I tested, the Kingon Digital Scale and the Kingon Rechargeable Scale, delivered good enough results in accuracy and consistency but failed to regularly lock in the weight as promised, which made the displays frustrating to read.

The wide handle of the Travel Inspira scale makes it possible to lift with both hands — something I especially appreciated when weighing heavy luggage — but you can also lift it with one hand. One reason I dismissed the Ozeri scale is because its spherical shape and smaller surface area was difficult to hold, especially when attached to checked-size luggage. Additionally, I found tying the strap around the suitcase handle challenging, because the strap was too short to do so easily.

The Travel Inspira’s biggest downside is that it’s powered by a non-rechargeable lithium battery. Because of rare instances where lithium batteries explode, TSA does not allow most lithium batteries in checked baggage, so you need to pack it in your carry-on. But the manual and rechargeable models weren’t nearly as accurate as the Travel Inspira scale. I wanted to love the Samsonite Manual Luggage Scale, as it was the only fully manual model we tested, eliminating the worry that the scale might lose battery power right when you need it. But it was inconsistent when I weighed the same bag more than once.

If the Travel Inspira scale is sold out, the Etekcity Luggage Scale is similar in design and accuracy, but it lacks the backlit screen. It’s a decent alternative if our recommendation ever goes out of stock.