Have you heard about the “travel hack” of wearing several layers of clothes on to avoid paying the excess baggage fees?
Well, two teens tried it – and ended getting fined $40 while also told to wear the clothes on the plane. Double ouch, huh?
Excess Baggage “Travel Hack” Goes Wrong
There are so many “life hacks” on social media, but it’s difficult to tell whether they actually work – and that is especially true with “travel hacks” that go viral.
One of these “travel hacks” was done by several people, including wise traveler Gel Rodriguez who shared her “hack” to avoiding excessive baggage fees by wearing several layers of your clothes until your luggage reaches the proper limit.
Although the “travel hack” worked for Rodriguez, she doesn’t recommend it for everyone because 1) not all airlines might be as lenient as the one she boarded and 2) it can be dangerous to wear so many clothes all at once.
It seems that Rodriguez is right.
Two Australian teenagers, Adriana Ocampo and Emily Altamura, found themselves with excess luggage of 6kg.
Photo credit: @feeling.lucki
They were traveling from Melbourne back to Adelaide, Australia, but realized that they might have overpacked.
Even back in their hotel room in Melbourne, they already guessed that they were past the 15-lb limit because Ocampo could barely close her bag.
Still, the teens didn’t think much about it because they had a plan: do the travel hack that’s so popular on social media.
At the counter, the teens were asked to pay for the excess baggage fees – and they responded by chaotically wearing their excess clothes (and making a fun-filled video of their antics).
They weighed their bags – and found that they still have a lot of excess even after wearing so many clothes. So, they had to continue piling on more clothes.
“Everyone in line was staring at us and laughing at us, it was kind of embarrassing,” Ocampo later admitted.
@feeling.lucki And to add to this they cancelled the flight we had before this one
What’s worse, they went back to the counter only to be told that despite wearing their excess luggage, they now have to pay a $40 fine.
Also, apparently, the airline reportedly refused to let them put the clothes back in their bag – so they ended up wearing all those numerous clothes throughout the flight. Uh-oh.
This should really be a lesson for everyone. Either pack light or just pay the excess baggage fees.
How to Pack Light for a Trip
- Choose a lightweight but sturdy bag. Sometimes, the bag already weighs half the airline’s weight limit!
- Wear heavy items like jackets, shoes, and denim pants instead of packing them in your bag.
- Choose items that you can mix and match so you actually bring fewer pieces but can have different OOTDs throughout the trip.
- Count the days of your trip and only bring enough clothes plus one extra set.
- If traveling for long than a week, check if you can find laundry shops near your hotel (or if you have time for that) so you don’t have to bring clothes for every day that you’re on the trip.