Airline Fees Drive Consumers To Strange Extremes

While no one likes paying the airline fees for extra bags and the like, some customers have taken to some rather extreme measures to get out of them.

Sure, they might have joined a frequent flier or rewards program or signed on for an airline miles credit card, as those are the sort of standard and mainstream ways to get those fees waived.

But why settle for the sane when the world of air travel offers such a rich buffet of insane options for consumers to try out? That seems to be the question that patrons of low-cost European airline Norwegian Air asked themselves before they decided to get on each and every flight — to the extent that the staff at Norwegian decided to give the world a peek into some of the “most bizarre” things its passengers have done to avoid paying fees to check a bag.

Admittedly, some of the attempts are not that nutty.

For example, giving up one’s bag on the spot and requesting it be donated to charity is a little bit odd (if generous), but not really all that odd.

Doubling and tripling up on clothes, on the other hand, does seem to be getting a little out of control. Norwegian reports customers wearing “three pairs of trousers, with a pair of shoes stuffed in the jacket pockets,” and one who “wore two winter coats and tied three (sweaters) around their waist.” There were also the creative clothing layer enthusiasts; one woman tied two pairs of jeans together, slung them around her back and declared herself the inventor of the “double denim” scarf, which certainly deserves some points for creativity.

Other interesting choices people have made included carrying the ashes of a beloved pet in their purse, attempting to convince staff they “no speak English” and therefore cannot comply with baggage rules, and crying poverty when asked to pay additional fees.

Some, on the other hand, just go with the classic, bribery — in this case with duty-free chocolate.

Why release this list? Norwegian notes that with all the air travel during the holiday season (and participation in said air travel by apparent lunatics with a fanatical devotion to saving $20), they thought they might try to lighten the mood.

Objective achieved.