Sonja Tutty
TikTok users are using pillow cases to sneak more clothes through the airport and avoiding hefty overweight charges.
Since airlines have long scrapped free check-in or 10kg carry-ons, people have taken up dozens of packing hacks to find a way around overweight and extra luggage charges.
Ryanair currently charges a fee of £11 per kg overweight on check-in luggage, while Aerlingus charges excess baggage at £10 per kg. A heavy bag charge from British Airways is an eye-watering £65 per overweight bag.
TikTok's recent hack has blown minds and is helping people get away with sneaking extra luggage onto planes.
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The idea seems to have come from TikToker Anya Iakovlieva (@nolimitua) where she records herself stuffing clothes into a pillowcase and bringing it onto a flight. "The best travel hack ever!!! 'Pillow' flies for free," she said in the clip that has racked up over 1.3m likes and over 25m views.
People have taken the hack one step further by packing clothes into neck pillows. Chelsea Dickenson (@cheapholidayexpert) said in her video that using a travel neck pillow is "lower risk option" rather than carrying around a pillow.
The hacks have been approved by flight attendants on the app with Kat Kamalani (@katkamalani) saying shew always carries a pillow case with her on trips incase her baggage in overweight. "This is seriously a game changer to avoid those fees for overweight bags."
One user who tried out the hack, @anayotothe, filled her travel neck pillow with clothes she could not fit into her bag. "I'm going to Vegas so ya girl needs options!" she said in the video.
In a follow up video she told viewer that she made it onto the flight without having to pay extra. "On my way to Vegas and on the way back I did not have to pay with my travel pillow and my backpack.