A Ryanair passenger has gone viral on TikTok after finding a ‘wild’ hack to get 20kg worth of luggage on board without having to pay for an extra bag – but not everyone’s a fan
Ryanair’s cabin bag fees are infamous; passengers are allowed one small bag in the cabin for free, but if you want a second bag you’ll need to pay extra.
However, one passenger has gone viral after using a ‘wild’ hack to get around the rules and bring 20kg of luggage on board without needing to pay extra.
Rob Adcock, a presenter from Stoke-on-Trent, is known for his budget-friendly travel tips and advice. In a recent video, which has since been viewed 2.4million times, he revealed that he paid £15 for his Ryanair flight, and then got his bag in for free.
The trick? Using a vacuum pack machine to compress his clothes. In the video he can be seen lifting the bag of compressed garments, and chuckling before exclaiming, “Look at it!”. He then places several of these parcels into his backpack, the free one that’s included in his ticket, and then boards the flight.
READ MORE: Ryanair rule change lets you bring 50% more luggage with special bag
He quipped in the caption: “POV: You’ve vacuum packed all your suitcase to fit into a free Ryanair bag so you don’t have to pay to hold luggage.”
In the comments section, people seemed a little divided. The majority praised the hack and joked around the fact that it was swerving those pesky fees, but others pointed out that the backpack would be fairly uncomfortable.
“Vacuum packed stuff is HEAVY,” one person commented with two laughing emojis. Another remarked: “But then all my clothes are creased.” Meanwhile others warned they’d seen similar behaviours on their flight, but that those travellers “got caught” and “it didn’t end well”. (We suspect they would have been hit with some hefty extra charges).
One holidaymaker asked a fair question: “How are you supposed to vacuum it back up before going back on the plane when going home?”.
READ MORE: Little-known airport rule could see Brits get phones and laptops confiscatedREAD MORE: Brits warned ‘check passports’ blank pages or risk being turned away at airport’
It’s not the first time that a holidaymaker has tried to find a way around Ryanair’s hand luggage rules. In recent years, plenty of travellers have tried tricks such as wearing all of their clothes in one go (a move that Joey Tribbiani would approve of no doubt), or even attempting to put their belongings in a pillowcase, to pass it off as a pillow and therefore not include it as a piece of hand luggage.
However, proceed with caution; airline staff are wise to all of these tricks and while you may get lucky and face a member of staff who’s happy to turn a blind eye, if you get caught out you could end up having to pay on-the-spot charges for bags which could cost more than what it would have cost to add a bag onto your booking originally.
There is a silver lining for families though, as a Ryanair rule change lets you bring 50% more luggage with one special bag, although it’s worth noting that this won’t count as free hand luggage if you’ve already got a bag with you, as per the usual rules.
In the meantime, Brits heading to the airport with laptops and phones should also make sure they’re checking their gadgets, as one simple mistake could mean you get turned away at airport security, ending your holiday before it’s even started!
Have you got a clever trick to get around hand luggage rules? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com.
