I wonder if she did this on purpose just to get her 15 minutes. In the video she has 3 bags including her handbag. She could have checked 1 and paid the $25 and then she would have her 1+1 carry-on.

Also, how did she survive on $30 for 8 days at an airport? Not exactly the cheapest place to shop for food.

And how hard would it have been to get rid of the other bag if she really wanted to? I can understand that the airport/airline employees cannot condone that it just be left behind but just throw it in the trash or ask someone leaving the airport to dispose of it for you. Take the free train to the rental car facility and walk outside and throw the bag away. There are so many ways that she could have avoided this situation even if she truly didn't know about the bag fees before she got to the airport.

This was just too easily avoidable for even an inexperienced and infrequent traveler for it to be real.