A Travel Jacket That Helps You Avoid Baggage Fees?
Meg Butler September 17, 2018
As the nickel-and-dime-ification of the airline industry continues, baggage fees have gotten ever more contentious.
Ryanair’s passengers nearly revolted at the gate over then-new $50 carry-on charges, at least one gentleman tried to avoid British Airways’ by wearing all of his clothes at once and three United staff members got into a heated confrontation with a customer over what does and does not fit in the personal item sizing bin.
Now one company says they’re offering a new way to avoid baggage drama and airline baggage fees: the Scottevest Tropiformer.
Says one fan she can fit all of this inside:
“I specifically carry an iPhone, iPad, wireless earphones, passport, cash, ID, extra batteries, and charging cables every time I step on the plane, in the exact same location on my Scottevest gear. Sometimes I even put my laptop in it.”
Another says it saves them time with TSA:
“Now, instead of fumbling in the line while impatient travelers watch, we remove our loaded Scottevests, blithely place them in the bin and rock our way through security — quickly, easily, unhampered – unless we’re slowed down by that unvested person in front of us who’s still fumbling.”
It does look pretty versatile if not terribly stylish:
Would you wear a jacket cum carry-on? You can check out a list of other likely candidates on Forbes.com.
I use a photographer's vest in much the same way but it's mainly to speed my way through security. With the photographer's vest, all my electronics are in one item that I can take off and dump in the tray quickly then re-don on the other side without going through a time-consuming pull from different pockets. I don't use it to avoid baggage fees, don't need to.