A Thomas Cook passenger has made headlines after she successfully evaded $85 baggage fee by wearing almost 4kg of clothes.
Natalie Wynn, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, was stopped from boarding her flight because her baggage was too heavy to be taken into the cabin.
Her baggage weighed 9.4 kg while the maximum weight allowed in the cabin was 6 kg.
So, the 30-year-old, who’s an administrative officer, decided to put on seven dresses, two pairs of shorts, two pairs of shoes, a cardigan, and a skirt.
The mom-of-five dressed in nearly half the clothes she was carrying with herself. Consequently, she was “boiling” as she boarded the flight from Manchester to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.
Natalie said other people on board laughed when they saw her efforts to avoid extra fare and some even offered to pack her clothes in their bags.
The woman’s ingenuity was praised by everyone, even Thomas Cook Airlines.
The airlines compared Natalie’s ploy to Joey from Friends, referring to the episode in which Joey wears Chandler’s entire wardrobe.
“I was boiling, absolutely boiling. I still had plenty in my case but I put near enough half of what I’ve put on,” Natalie told The Sun.
“I put on four dresses, two pairs of shorts, I tied a dress around my neck, put a skirt on, I shoved two dresses down the dresses I had on, and two pairs of shoes as well, and a cardigan.
“It definitely worked. Normally I check the weight of the baggage but I did the online check in for me and my friend, but we got to the counter and they just stopped me.
“It was nearly 4kg over, but they wanted to charge us around $85 each just to get it on the plane.
“Because I had booked an all-inclusive holiday so was getting all my food and drink, I didn’t plan on bringing much money with me.
“I think I only had about $70 in my account just to bring with me on holiday.
“I didn’t want to be using the little amount I had just so I could get my bag on the plane. I literally said, ‘I’m not paying it’, and started putting my clothes on.
“There were people around us cheering us on because after I did it my friend decided she would do it too because her baggage was also overweight. We were definitely a sight walking on to the plane.
“A few people offered to put our clothes in their cases, but [Thomas Cook] got told they couldn’t do that.
“The only person that didn’t look happy about it was the woman at the security boarding desk. I was still allowed to get on the plane.
“I felt like I was going to pass out because it was so warm. As soon as I got on the plane, I took it all off and put it back in my case.
“That was funny as well because people were laughing because I’d just started taking off all my clothes in the middle of the plane.”
Fortunately, she didn’t receive a negative reaction from anyone.
“Saving money definitely put me in a good mood for the holiday. Everyone’s reaction to it being done put me in a good mood as well,” Natalie said.
“I was worried I would get a negative reaction to it – people saying it was my own fault but not one person said anything even at the airport. It set up a good start to the holiday anyway.”
A spokeswoman for Thomas Cook praised Natalie, saying: “Natalie’s ingenuity here is noted!
“The good news for Natalie and the rest of our customers, is that later this month we are increasing our hand baggage allowance to 8kg.
“This will hopefully help her travel a little less like Joey from Friends next time…”
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