‘A master of his craft’: Man shares trick for sneaking extra luggage onboard flight

The blindingly simple packing hack has been viewed more than 57,000 times on Tiktok

One man’s sneaky trick for getting an extra cabin bag onboard a flight has gone viral, after a fellow passenger filmed him at the airport gate.

In the video, posted by @Elyukaa on Tiktok, an older man in a blue jumper and baseball cap appears to go to the gate with his ticket and a leather holdall in one hand, and board without any fuss.

However, on closer inspection, the man appears to have slung on a backpack and concealed it by pulling his jumper over the top of it.

The video is soundtracked by a woman’s voice repeating “Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious!” as the man breezes past the airline staff’s checks and strolls on to the aircraft with both holdall and backpack.

“When you don’t want to pay for that extra bag,” @Elyukaa captioned the video, adding a laughing emoji.

The video, which was posted on Thursday, has already attracted 57,100 views and 2,449 likes.

It is common for UK budget carriers and US airlines - especially for domestic flights - to charge for any additional bag over one small holdall or backpack.

The man in the video appears to be boarding a Spirit Airlines flight, with its distinctive yellow signage. Spirit allows one “personal item” of less than 45 x 35 x 20cm onboard for free, which should fit under the seat in front; but charges $37-$65 (£31-£55) to add a second bag in the cabin.

The blindingly simple trick ‒ wearing a backpack with a jacket or jumper worn over the top ‒ delighted and inspired many Tiktok followers, with one calling the man “a master of his craft”.

“Man that was clever, even I didn’t see it,” commented Greg Midtek. “He made it!” celebrated @Borikenazul.

Another user speculated that there was “20kg of something inside that bag,” while a third joked: “He’s just got some ‘Extra Baggage’ around the mid-waist area.”

It’s not the first time a social media user has showcased ways to get around an airline’s limited free luggage limit.

In January, a Tikyok user went viral with her creative tip for adapting a travel neck pillow to accommodate some extra clothes or kit.

In June, another user on the platform shared her trick for getting around the 100ml liquids limit for hand luggage.