Savvy budget travelers have revealed their latest tricks for circumventing sky-high airline baggage fees – by donning vests and stuffing travel pillows with clothes.
Julie Waters, who is a lawyer, took a Spirit Airlines flight to Dallas and packed entire outfits into a nifty peach jacket she bought especially for the plane.
Waters, who has never fished a day in his life, wrote on TikTok, “This fishing vest is a great packing hack!” Do not pay additional baggage fees for your flight. This fishing vest contained a week’s worth of clothing.
The only downside, she said, was that someone might have mistaken her puffy, stuffy khaki vest for an “Unabomber” type contraption.
Julie Waters, who is a lawyer, took a Spirit Airlines flight to Dallas and packed entire outfits into a nifty peach jacket she bought especially for the plane.
The only downside, she said, was that someone might have mistaken her puffy, stuffy khaki vest for an “Unabomber” type contraption.
In the clip, she placed a week’s worth of clothes on a bed – including dresses and underwear – to prove she could fit anything into her trusty jacket.
She then showed off neatly packed all the items in the large pockets, before posing for the camera with the vest on before her flight.
Waters smiled happily as she made her way through airport security with the tricky contraption. She said no one batted an eyelid, including Spirit Airline staff.
She said WSJ: ‘The clothes on your lower back made sitting difficult. You couldn’t lean all the way back – there’s this puffy thing.
‘No one batted an eyelid, but a friend made a comment that someone might have thought you were some sort of Unabomber-type crazier, so that would be the biggest downside.
“What I really want to try is the pillowcase, where instead of a pillow there’s lots of clothes.”
These days, some economy class flight packages require customers to pay extra to take carry-on baggage on the plane – with a higher charge if you want extra checked baggage.
For weekend getaways, sometimes a single carry-on bag of limited size just isn’t enough – so people have had to get creative to get around the strict rules.
Peter Barnett, another flier savvy, said he used one of his multi-pocketed jackets on a flight in a bid to boycott the fees some airlines charge for baggage.
In the clip, she placed a week’s worth of clothes on a bed – including dresses and underwear – to prove she could fit anything into her trusty jacket.
The lawyer said she got through security without a problem
She arrived on the plane with her waistcoat full of her clothes
Chelsea, 32, removed the foam from her neck pillow and stuffed it with lots of clothes
He used the fishing jacket to pack his pants, shirts, hat, tie, and shoes, as well as his charger cables and laptop.
Barnett, who said he saved hundreds of dollars from the hack, told the WSJ, “I’m just continuing.” They don’t know what’s inside. It allows me to have a really cheap vacation.
Meanwhile, travel expert Chelsea Dickenson, from north London, who runs cheapholidayexpert.com, has taken to TikTok to reveal her favorite travel tip.
In the clip, 32-year-old Chelsea removed the foam from her neck pillow and stuffed it with lots of clothes.
She captioned the video, which has racked up over 1.4 million views, “If it works, it’s gonna be a GAMECHANGER!” #travelhack #budgettravel #cheaptravel
Chelsea said her hack was more “low risk” than the one she saw on TikTok where users stuff clothes into a large pillowcase.
She said: “So I have a lower risk option to try, and that includes that.” Yeah, so the other day I noticed there was a zipper so I opened it, there’s the memory foam – goodbye sun!
‘And instead here are my pants, I probably shouldn’t put them on display, soz about that.
‘There are tights I put on, also my hat, room for leggings and my t-shirt, so much room honestly.
“Look how packed it is, I’ve tightened it up, we’re good to go.”
Chelsea also bought a fishing vest for another flight she was taking from London to Lisbon.
