Flight attendants and frequent flyers reveal how to take extra luggage on a plane without paying more

High baggage fees are often an unexpected expense when it comes to air travel.

You may be lured by sale airline tickets, only to shell out a fortune on carry-on and checked luggage.

Fortunately, there are a few tricks that will increase the amount you can take on a flight without leaving a big dent in your bank balance. Here, flight attendants, frequent fliers, and seasoned travelers reveal their top tips…

No.1 – Fly with traditional airlines

Use legacy airlines like British Airways and American Airlines, recommends Rob Burgess, editor of the frequent flyer website. www.headforpoints.com.

He tells MailOnline Travel: ‘If you need to carry a lot of luggage, you’ll usually find the traditional airlines to be the most generous in terms of your allowance. Unfortunately, there are no search engines that will allow you to say in advance how much luggage you want to bring and adjust the price accordingly, so it’s important to do your research.

“This is especially true on short-haul flights, where a tempting £9.99 fare can often prove more expensive than a ticket on a traditional airline once checked baggage fees and sometimes even fees are included.” hand luggage”.

No.2 – Get airline status

Having status with an airline can increase your baggage allowance, Rob notes.

He says: “If you have status with a particular airline, remember that this will often give you extra baggage on all airlines associated with it, for example all Oneworld alliance members for British Airways status card holders.” .

“This would give an elite member of British Airways a bigger assignment at American Airlines, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, etc.”

No.3 – The TikTok Travel Pillow Trick

TikTok user Kristen Black set the social media platform on fire when she shared a clever hack video showing her creating a DIY neck pillow by wrapping a sweater around several other pieces of clothing and then wrapping it around her neck. neck before a Ryanair flight.

Calling it “the perfect packing trick”, the Atlanta native told MailOnline Travel that she tried the trick to make her flight more bearable and leave room in her bag for souvenirs and avoid paying for excess baggage.

To date, the video, titled ‘save space, save money’, has amassed nearly a million likes on TikTok. Other influencers have shared videos showing them stuffing empty pillowcases with their clothes in a similar travel hack.

No.4 – Redistribute the weight

Check-in luggage is always weighed, but airline staff are much less likely to put your carry-on on the scale.

Hand luggage is most often simply ‘checked for size’ in terms of its length and width, sky scanner notes

If you’re concerned that your check-in baggage is too heavy, redistribute the weight by placing heavier items like books, chargers, and boots inside your carry-on bag.

#5 – Online Billing

If you’re traveling with a slightly overweight carry-on, Emirates Flight Attendant Caroline Kneitz recommends checking in online to ensure your carry-on isn’t weighed at check-in.

She told MailOnline: ‘My best advice when it comes to luggage is to always check in online or via an app before heading to the airport. If you go to a counter at the airport, they will probably check the size of your hand luggage and weigh it. If you’re traveling with only carry-on luggage, this is particularly annoying as you’re likely to be a bit overweight.

“If you check-in before the airport, you can go through security and arrive at the gate, where it is highly unlikely that a member of staff will weigh your bag. That is unless you’re flying a super budget airline.

No.6 – Use a duty free bag

Miguel Muñoz, who has worked as a flight attendant for more than a decade, revealed a nifty hack to sneak extra carry-on bags onto a plane without being charged for having an extra carry-on.

The trick, he said, is to disguise the surplus bag as a duty-free purchase by hiding it in a shopping bag.

Talking with him daily expressMiguel explained that many passengers are unaware that duty-free bags are not counted in their carry-on baggage allowance, a fact that travelers can take advantage of when they find themselves with more baggage than allowed.

No.7 – Custom cabin bags under the seat

When TikTok user Lily Thompson posted a video of his £9.99 underseat holdall fitting perfectly into Ryanair’s baggage meter, the video went viral.

It shows Lily’s partner easily placing the pink holdall under the seat inside the baggage checker before a three-night trip to Prague. “I can’t believe these bags work,” she wrote in the video’s caption.

The bag is manufactured by the brand narwey and is advertised as a Ryanair underseat cabin suitcase that adheres to the airline’s exact roof dimensions: 40 cm (16 inches) by 20 cm (8 inches) by 25 cm (10 inches).

Ryanair says that all passengers are entitled to bring a small personal bag on board free of charge, although it must fit under the seat in front of you and not exceed those measurements. Narwey also makes an underseat bag that fits within easyJet’s dimensional parameters, which are slightly larger at 18 inches (45 cm) by 14 inches (36 cm) by 8 inches (20 cm).

No.8 – Vacuum packing bags

A video by blogger ‘Jess’, who has a TikTok account called ‘sequin side’He went viral when he shared his hack for packing more into your carry-on without paying too much.

In the video, which has amassed 99,000 likes to date, the blogger can be seen squeezing nine days worth of clothing into vacuum-seal bags before carefully placing the compressed bags in her carry-on luggage.

She notes that she packs a small travel steamer to iron out any wrinkles in tight clothing once she arrives at her destination.

No.9 – Fly business class on short-haul trips

While not strictly a money-saving tip, Rob Burgess recommends flying business class on a short-haul flight to take advantage of the increased baggage allowance.

He says: “Occasionally you may find that business class tickets, which give you two bags included, are not much more expensive than an economy ticket plus extra baggage charge, with short-haul flights on traditional airlines like British Airways. it is always worth checking the price of the premium rate.’

Backing up his point, British Airways flight attendant Taraneh told MailOnline Travel: ‘On a business class ticket, each passenger is entitled to two 23kg checked bags. In the interest of spending as little money as possible, may I suggest collecting and using Avios for the business class ticket? For example, you can get a business class flight from £1 and 31,250 Avios to Europe such as Paris and Amsterdam which would include two 23kg checked bags.

He continued: “Alternatively, those who have already booked an economy ticket can upgrade to business class from 7500 Avios and £31 on a return flight, so they’d add an extra bag that way.”