A mother dodged Thomas Cook’s baggage charges on a flight by wearing 3kg worth of clothing – which included seven dresses and two pairs of shoes.
Natalie Wynn, 30, from Oldham, Manchester, piled on the seven dresses, two pairs of shoes, two pairs of shorts, a skirt and a cardigan to avoid forking out the £65 fee when her case was 3.4kg over the 6kg limit.
She was stopped while boarding the Thomas Cook flight when a security officer weighed her 9.4kg case and told her it was too heavy to be taken into the cabin.
Natalie claims she was ‘boiling’ as she boarded the Manchester flight to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands dressed in nearly half of the clothes she had packed.
A mother dodged Thomas Cook’s baggage charges on a flight by wearing half of her suitcase – which included seven dresses and two pairs of shoes
Natalie Wynn, 30, from Oldham, Manchester, claims she piled on the seven dresses, two pairs of shoes, two pairs of shorts, a skirt and a cardigan to avoid forking out the £65 fee when her case was 3.4kg over the 6kg limit
The mother-of-five claims that other passengers laughed and even offered to pack some of her clothes in their cases when they saw how she was planning to avoid the extra fare.
But she was left to put the clothes on, wrapping dresses round her neck and waist and even tucking a apir of ballet pumps and kitten heels into her jeans.
Once on the plane, Natalie asked a steward if she was allowed to take the clothes off before returning them to her suitcase.
Natalie said: ‘I was boiling, absolutely boiling. I still had plenty in my case but I put near enough half of what I’ve put on.
Natalie was stopped while boarding the Thomas Cook flight when a security officer weighed her 9.4kg case and told her it was too heavy to be taken into the cabin
‘I put on four dresses, two pairs of shorts, I tied a dress around my neck, put a skirt on, I shoved two dresses down the dresses I had on, and two pairs of shoes as well, and a cardigan.
‘It definitely worked. Normally I check the weight of the baggage but I did the online check in for me and my friend, but we got to the counter and they just stopped me.
‘It was nearly 4kg over, but they wanted to charge us £65 each just to get it on the plane.
Natalie claims was on her way to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands for an all-inclusive holiday with friend Leeanne Doherty (left)
‘Because I had booked an all-inclusive holiday so was getting all my food and drink, I didn’t plan on bringing much money with me. I think I only had about £60 in my account just to bring with me on holiday.
‘I didn’t want to be using the little amount I had just so I could get my bag on the plane. I literally said, ‘I’m not paying it’, and started putting my clothes on.
‘There were people around us cheering us on because after I did it my friend decided she would do it too because her baggage was also overweight. We were definitely a sight walking onto the plane.
As she was going on an all inclusive holiday Natalie didn’t have enough cash to pay for the baggage charge
‘A few people offered to put our clothes in their cases, but [Thomas Cook] got told they couldn’t do that.
‘The only person that didn’t look happy about it was the woman at the security boarding desk. I was still allowed to get on the plane.
‘I felt like I was going to pass out because it was so warm. As soon as I got on the plane, I took it all off and put it back in my case.
Friend Leeanne Doherty (Pictured) helped Natalie take clothes out of her case at the airport and put the clothes on
Natalie said that other passengers offered to help her and out clothes in their luggage but the airline wouldn’t allow it
‘That was funny as well because people were laughing because I’d just started taking off all my clothes in the middle of the plane.’
Thomas Cook guidelines state that adults are allowed to bring one piece of hand baggage weighing up to 6kg onto the flight free of charge. Luckily Natalie didn’t face the same on the way back.
‘Saving £65 definitely put me in a good mood for the holiday. Everyone’s reaction to it being done put me in a good mood as well.’
Natalie managed to save £65 when she put on nearly half of her wardrobe as she boarded a flight
‘I was worried I would get a negative reaction to it – people saying it was my own fault but not one person said anything even at the airport. It set up a good start to the holiday anyway.’
A Thomas Cook Airlines spokeswoman said: ‘Natalie’s ingenuity here is noted! The good news for Natalie and the rest of our customers, is that later this month we are increasing our hand baggage allowance to 8kg.
‘This will hopefully help her travel a little less like Joey from Friends next time…’