There is nothing much more exciting than heading to the airport when going on holiday.
However, many of us sometimes get carried away and pack too many clothes in our suitcase – even if it’s a short trip.
But one travel writer shared five hacks to avoid extra baggage fees when you have a flight with Ryanair if you have gone a little overboard.
Ellen Grace, from Dublin, Ireland documents her travel experiences on social media and gives advice for those planning a trip abroad. She has also worked in different countries, including Greece and Spain, so has gathered some expert knowledge.
Ryanair allows passengers to bring one small personal bag on board, which must fit under the seat in front of you, and a 10kg bag to be stored in the overhead locker. However, Ellen posted a video on TikTok to share some sneaky ways you could get away with bringing more baggage on board without having to pay extra fees.
1. Two liquid bags in two different trays
The 27-year-old travel writer said: “So you have your two liquid bags, you take them out of your bag, you put them in two separate trays – two different owners, they’re not yours.” There are restrictions on the amount of liquids you can take in your hand luggage.
At UK airports passengers must put their liquid products, like cosmetics and toiletries, in a single, transparent, resealable bag and you’re limited to one bag per person, which you must show at the security checkpoint, as per the Government website. Each passenger puts their hand luggage and liquids into a tray so they can be checked by security but you could be able to sneak more than one bag of liquids onto the plane by using more than one tray.
2. Pick up toiletries from Boots Click & Collect at the airport
Ellen moved on to her next hack: “Click and Collect and Boots – order all of your toiletries (from) Click and Collect (at) Boots, pick them up once you pass security. You have them in a Boots bag, can’t say anything, that’s not extra baggage.”
You can click and collect at selected airports in the UK, including Heathrow Airport and East Midlands Airport. On its website Boots asks customers to remember that “items purchased after security checkpoints may be subject to restrictions on return flights.”
3. Get a duty free bag
Once you go through security in an airport and before you arrive at your gate, you will see a range of duty free shops where you can buy various goods. Ellen advises to buy something like a pack of sweets or a drink so you can have a duty free bag. She says to “shove” a tote bag into the duty free bag.
4. Wear a cross body bag
The Dublin travel pro noted: “Crossbody bag – they never notice this. You can put it under your jacket, you can put it under a jumper. The amount of stuff you can get in a crossbody bag is actually really surprising.
5. Bring a neck pillow
Ellen’s final tip is to bring a neck pillow to stuff small clothing items inside it, including socks and bikinis instead of having to pack these in a carry-on luggage bag. Travel pillows are wrapped around your neck, making it easy to hide some things.
Her TikTok video has garnered 218,800 views, 9,462 likes and almost 200 comments, at the time of writing. Users shared which one of Ellen’s Ryanair travel hacks they have used and how well they worked for them.
One said: “I got charged €46 (£38) for having things in a WHSmith bag that I didn’t have the receipt for.” Someone else suggested what to do in this scenario: “Say you binned receipt, printer wasn’t working or you paid with cash.”
Another user asked: “Does the liquid thing work?” Ellen replied: “It works every time in Dublin, I’ve been caught in London once so it’s a risk coming back but 95% works.”
A third commented: “I go with a cross body bag every time and I don’t cover it with a jumper or a jacket I just walk on and never got told anything.” Others praised Ellen’s hacks by calling them “genius” and “great tips.”
