Requirements for the hand luggage have gotten tighter over the years as well: many airlines institute that you can only travel with one piece of hand luggage, posing problems for those who travel with laptops. Not only this, checks have been stepped up at some airports and the overweight fee (assessed per kg) has risen as well. Going a measly 4kg over limits can cost as much as 60 EUR.
Therefore you can turn your attention to the one thing that is not regulated at the moment: carrying goods on your person. You may have seen the YouTube video around which shows a group of ladies putting on multiple amounts of clothes from their luggage to get it back into regulation. Whilst we couldn’t recommend this on a regular basis (best to check before you leave what the limits are) there are some things you can do to make life easier if you are over the limit.
For carrying a little more than you are intended, a poachers jacket is ideal. What is a poachers jacket? It’s basically a jacket with many pockets. Originally
designed for hunters – it features loads of storage, as they would require it for keeping their pieces but crucially the back is hollowed out and is essentially one big pocket, presumably for keeping the captures of the day. This can easily take a laptop as modelled by MoneySavingExpert (left).
Of course, there are downsides but there are very little. Often there is no need to wear it like their going into security – as they are there to enforce security requirements and not to enforce any particular requirements of any individual airline (which may vary greatly). You will have to wear it to board the aircraft – and on a hot day it might be particularly uncomfortable. As well, you may look a little weird and given the high security levels at many airports, that is not a great thing.
For these reasons we would recommend the gillet version (the one without sleeves) as you can easily wear a coat over it and once in the cabin you can take it off to avoid overheating. Clearly some manufacturers are seizing on this opportunity to bring out a great range of these things – the version pictured is USD 100 which is a lot of cash considering that this kind of loophole may be closed at any time. If you’re not intending to use it for anything else, then it is not a great investment.
For the best value there are many cheap options on Ebay - try our special search which features all the relevant items for sale which you can browse to suit your price, colour and even number of pockets. Access the search here!
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