Woman fakes pregnancy to take extra bag onto flight

A woman faked being pregnant in order to take an extra piece of luggage onboard a flight.

Ashlin, whose Tiktok username is Miniadvantures, shared a video of the stunt on the social media platform.

It shows her wearing a drawstring bag on her front before pulling on a jumper; the bulge looks like a pregnancy bump.

“When you get a $44 flight but can only bring a backpack,” reads the video caption, alongside a post that says, “My parents raised me better than this.”

A second video shows Ashlin boarding the plane and lifting up her jumper in the aircraft toilet to show that her extra bag is still in place.

“It worked,” reads the caption.

The clip quickly went viral and has had, to date, 15.8 million views and 3.4 million likes.

It is unclear which airline Ashlin was flying with when she used the controversial travel hack.

It’s not the first time a passenger has attempted a creative technique to try to circumnavigate airlines’ strict rules when it comes to carry-on luggage.

Many budget carriers now only let travellers take on one small bag for free.

In 2019, a passenger whose luggage exceeded the weight limit at the airport took an innovative approach to avoid paying the hefty excess baggage charges.

Gel Rodriguez from Davao City in the Philippines decided to wear as many of her clothes as possible, claiming that the multi-layered outfit saved her 2.5kg in precious weight.

She posted a picture of herself, dressed in at least three visible pairs of trousers and seven tops, to Facebook. It went viral, garnering 20,000 shares and 32,000 reactions.

“When the airline staff at the check in counter said: ‘EXCESS NA PO KAYO, 7kg lang po allowed na hand carry.’

“Me: NO PROBLEM! *from 9kg to 6.5kg baggage #ExcessBaggageChallengeAccepted.”

However, when asked if she would do it again, Rodriguez told Vice, “Maybe not. It was really hot. I don’t recommend other people do it.”