The rules on what you can and cannot take aboard a plane seem to be increasingly complicated and incomprehensible. Many travelers will have experienced the wrong size of hand luggage, or attempted to bring on board items that are not allowed. In these cases, the penalties they can also be very salty.
Lately, many airlines, especially low cost ones, have reduced the size of free baggage allowed on board.
With such small baggage allowances, some passengers have gone out of their way to take more than allowed on board, without paying any extra fees. But be careful, as these tricks can sometimes go wrong.
This trick for bringing extra baggage on board the plane is becoming popular, but here’s what to watch out for
But what trick are we talking about? Very simple: to bring on board a travel pillow stuffed with clothes. There are travel pillows on the market with zippers, which allow you to remove the padding and replace it with clothes or other objects. In this way, the crafty passenger brings on board, in addition to the hand baggage included in the allowance, also a sort of extra handbag, that is, clothes hidden inside the pillow. But is this practice allowed or not? Does the pillow count as baggage? Let’s try to clarify.
Generally the pillow does not count as baggage
Pillows of any kind are not on the prohibited items list. They can then pass through security without any problems. But do they count as hand luggage?
A horseshoe-shaped travel pillow worn around the neck generally does not count as hand luggage. We can therefore take it on board safely without worries, in addition to the hand luggage included in the plane ticket. A travel pillow should be considered equivalent to clothing, not luggage. This trick for bringing extra baggage on board the plane is becoming popular, but here’s what to watch out for.
Beware of low cost airlines
Pillows do not appear in the list of prohibited items by low cost airlines, so we can take them on board without fear. There is no specific information on pillows in the hand baggage clauses. A tip for those who want to bring a pillow on board is to wear it around the neck when boarding.
In case of doubts, or if the pillows are too large, it is always advisable to buy a hold luggage to carry everything you need smoothly.
A tip to save: here’s how to get around the most common airline trick to raise your ticket price at the last minute.
