A woman went to extreme lengths to avoid paying a baggage fee at the airport by wearing all the clothes from her suitcase. Carla Brunella squeezed herself into six outfits after being told her bag was too large to qualify as a free personal item.
The 27-year-old was flying with Ryanair from Verona, Italy, to Manchester when a member of staff said she’d need to pay a fee to take her bag on board. Rather than paying the £70 charge for oversized hand luggage, Carla decided to put on as many clothes as possible before heading through security.
“When I realised the bag was too big for the sizer, I started laughing,” said Carla, from Spain. “I had a feeling this would happen as I shopped a bit too much in Verona.
View 2 ImagesCarla put on six outfits
“When I went to check in and get my boarding pass, the lady let me know that my personal bag was too big and I needed to pay or get it to be smaller and fit in the required measurements. The idea came naturally.
“I just knew I didn’t want to pay an extra penny. My only option was to wear everything so I didn’t have to pay.”
The mental health worker paid £43 for the flight in May. She was wearing six complete outfits by the time she approached the gate.
Carla said: “It was hot and heavy. I felt funny and people were staring at me. I took the clothes off as soon as I passed gate control outside of the plane.
View 2 ImagesCarla was flying to Manchester
“I was super happy I didn’t have to pay the fine. I don’t think I’d ever pay the extra fee to check in a bag.”
Carla shared a clip of herself wearing layers of clothing in the airport and it racked up more than 455,000 views. One person said: “So you saved like €10? What a flex.”
Another person said: “Just pay for it.”
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Someone else added: “I know you were burning up, though still smart.”
A fourth person said: “I feel for person next to you at the end of the flight.”
Someone else added: “This bag is nowhere near the personal bag size requirements.”