Thomas Cook passenger avoids £65 excess luggage fee by wearing 4kg of clothing at the airport like Joey from Friends
Natalie Wynn, from Oldam, was told her suitcase was over the 6kg limit when checking in for her flight at the airport
A THOMAS Cook passenger dodged the £65 baggage charge by wearing nearly 4kg of her own clothes - just like Joey from Friends.
Natalie Wynn, 30, 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 as the limit was 6kg.
She claims she piled on seven dresses, two pairs of shoes, two pairs of shorts, a skirt and a cardigan.
Administrative officer 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.
The mum-of-five claims 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.
Once on the plane, Natalie asked a steward if she was allowed to take the clothes off before returning them to her suitcase.
Even Thomas Cook themselves praised Natalie's ingenuity and compared her ploy to the episode of Friends in which Joey wears Chandler's whole wardrobe.
Natalie, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, 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.
"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.
"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 on to the plane.
"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.
"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.
She said: "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.
"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…"
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It isn't the first time a thrifty traveller managed to avoid paying extra baggage fees - in 2016, a passenger avoided paying £45 by wearing all of his clothes from his suitcase.
EasyJet passenger Matt Botten was travelling from London Gatwick to Reykjavik in Iceland when he decided against paying the extra fine and put on everything he was carrying.
However, last year a passenger claimed he was kicked off his flight at the Iceland Airport after he was caught wearing eight pairs of trousers and ten shirts.