Most outrageous ways passengers have tried to avoid paying airport excess baggage charges
A man travelling from Iceland to the UK became the latest passenger to attempt to get around paying for an extra bag
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Your support makes all the difference.A man who claims he was denied boarding onto a British Airways flight for wearing too many extra layers of clothes is the latest in a long line of passengers who have tried to get around paying excess baggage fees at airports.
Ryan Carney Williams, an artist and designer who goes by the name Ryan Hawaii, wore eight pairs of trousers and 10 shirts for his flight home from Keflavik – all the clothes that wouldn’t fit in his checked luggage.
According to Icelandic news site Mbl, British Airways staff called over a security guard after Hawaii refused to leave the desk when he was denied a boarding pass.
He posted two videos to Twitter in which he is heard asking staff why he was not allowed to board. One a member of airline staff says, “Do we need to call the police?”
Hawaii was also refused boarding onto an easyJet flight the next day - suggesting staff had done so due to his previous behaviour - and eventually flew back to the UK with Norwegian.
However, he is by no means the first passenger to try this space-saving trick…
The musician who passed out
In 2015 a member of a boyband passed out on an easyJet flight from London to Glasgow after wearing all his clothes on board to avoid the £45 excess baggage fee.
James McElvar, a singer with Scottish band Rewind, collapsed from heat exhaustion having put on six t-shirts, four jumpers, three pairs of jeans, two pairs of jogging bottoms, a pair of jackets and two hats.
The 19-year-old told MailOnline: “It was impossible to walk, I could barely get on the plane. I wanted to take them all off as soon as I got to my seat – beside which was a spare seat that I could have sat one of my bags on – but was told I had to wait until we were up in the air.”
He started to feel unwell and was violently sick before passing out; a paramedic who happened to be on board put him in the recovery position.
The man who wore 60 shirts
In 2012 a man at Guanzhou Baiyun International Airport in China was told he’d have to pay an additional fee or get rid of some of his luggage before boarding his flight to Nairobi.
Instead, he donned more than 60 shirts and nine pairs of jeans to avoid the extra charges.
However, he was stopped after setting off the gate at security – he had reportedly forgotten to remove items such as electrical chargers and thumb-drives from his many pockets and had to undergo a full body search.
The passenger who carried shoes in his pockets
In 2016, 32-year-old Matt Botten emptied the contents of his bag and wore every item of clothing in a bid to shirk paying £45 to check-in an extra piece of luggage.
Botten was questioned extensively by security after layering up T-shirts, jumpers and trousers and even carrying shoes in his pockets in order to board his easyJet flight from London Gatwick to Reykjavik.
He posted a photo of himself to Facebook with the caption: “We’re going to Iceland baby! And how to do it in a financially frugal manner, without having to stump up forty five bl**dy quid for a hold bag? Simply by wearing everything I own.”
The jacket that allows passengers to carry 15kg
Inspired by these mavericks? In 2017 the Airport Jacket hit headlines.
A coat specifically designed to avoid checking another a bag, it allows passengers to wear up to 15kg of luggage.
With 14 deep pockets, the coat can fit a laptop, jumper, camera and a pair of shoes, among other things.
It was designed by Andy Benke, who said: “Essentially this coat would allow you to carry onboard everything you would need for an overnight or long weekend stay without worrying about your luggage getting lost or paying excessive baggage fees.
“It also saves time in that there is no need to collect checked-in baggage. Perfect for the business executive, mums on the go or anyone in a rush.”
A diagram shows how the Airport Jacket could potentially fit in t-shirts, flip-flops, trainers, a charger, a jumper, head phones, a smart phone and tablet, jeans, a camera, socks, a laptop, keys, a passport, a wallet and sunglasses.
The jacket can be worn three ways depending on how much carry-on space a traveller needs.
Worn at hip length, the coat features eight pockets; worn at thee-quarter length it has 11; and worn full length the jacket boasts 14 pockets.
It also has two detachable pocket panels, plus the jacket transforms into a hand luggage sized duffel bag once off the flight.
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