Baggage fees and excess weight costs can add up when travelling, so some holidaymakers are ‘flying naked’ to save money.
The trend, mostly featuring Gen Z and Millennials, involves a passenger boarding a flight with absolutely no luggage except for their phone and wallet.
In some cases, travellers might choose to fill their pockets with clothing and other items, or have their luggage delivered via post at a cheaper cost.
The ‘flying naked’ phenomenon comes as 48 per cent of adults, in a survey of 1,000 participants by Send My Bag, think airlines purposely profit off baffling luggage policies, Escape reports.
Meanwhile, 37 per cent have coughed up AU$200 (£96) for excess baggage fees in the last year.
Another tactic – wearing multiple layers of clothes – has been used by almost one in three.
Rachel Kelly, 28, admitted she took the ‘naked flying’ approach when she moved from Ireland to Australia earlier this year.
She wanted to avoid the AU$1,000 (£480) bill for bringing an additional bag and instead paid for it to be posted to her.
Baggage fees and excess weight costs can add up when travelling, so some holidaymakers are ‘flying naked’ to save money (stock)
The trend, mostly featuring Gen Z and Millennials, involves a passenger boarding a flight with absolutely no luggage except for their phone and wallet (stock)
The teacher managed to save $600 (£289) and told Escape: ‘I don’t think it’s fair to slap people with huge fines for baggage such as carry-on, when they are already at the airport.
‘I understand it’s fair to charge for a checked-in bag, but the prices are absolutely extortionate, it’s really not worth it.’
Rachel shares she often uses the ‘flying naked’ technique for other flights and hides her bag under her coat.
However, she admits she feels ‘nervous’ when doing so and is scared of getting caught.
‘If I’m travelling with an airline like Jetstar with the 7kg limit, I’ll hide my handbag under my coat or wear seven jumpers if needed so I don’t get stung with excess baggage fees,’ she says.
The traveller says she then usually takes her bag out after she has boarded the plane.
Last year, another bizarre travel trend was taking the internet by storm – ‘rawdogging’ flights.
The practice known as ‘rawdogging’ or sometimes ‘barebacking,’ means consuming no music, movies, or any other form of entertainment except for the basic flight maps or flight data screens on your seatback.
In some cases, travellers might choose to fill their pockets with clothing and other items, or have their luggage delivered via post at a cheaper cost (stock)
Taking it to greater extremes, some will also claim to forgo food and drink for the duration of the journey.
Dozens of clips surfaced on TikTok, showing passengers jumping on the trend and many videos show travellers with blank expressions as they stare into space.
Creator @westwashere uploaded several TikToks showing himself ‘barebacking’ and in one clip, he challenges his followers to follow suit.
He wrote in the overlaid caption: ‘Is someone gonna match my freak? (go the whole 10 hours flight, not moving from my chair, only watching the maps and airspeed.’
