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‘Use a travel pillow for additional storage’: TikToker shares hack to avoid paying for budget airline carry-ons

‘Everything fit! Except for this shirt.’

Photo of Clara Wang

Clara Wang

travel pillow budget airline hack

A TikToker has gone viral for sneaking clothes into a travel pillow to avoid paying for budget airline carry-on fees.

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“My flight is in 3 hours let’s see how this goes!,” Ayo (@anayotothe) wrote in the caption of the video. Her TikTok received over 730,000 views since posting four days ago.

@anayotothe My flight is in 3 hours let’s see how this goes! #travelhacks #budgettravel #travelpillow #blackgirltravel #blacktravelfeed ♬ original sound – Ayo!

Several budget airlines such as Spirit Airlines have strict rules that require passengers to pay for carry-on luggage. Although each budget airline has its own individual luggage restrictions, several only allow passengers to bring a free personal item that fits under their seat.

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Passengers are typically allowed to bring travel pillows in addition to their personal items if they intend on wearing them around their necks, but the rules vary depending on the airline and pillow size.

In her video, Ayo took the stuffing out of a $9 Walgreens neck pillow and stuffs it with clothing. A text overlay said, “Trying the Spirit and Frontier pillow hack cuz I ain’t tryna pay $60 for a carry on.”

In a follow-up, Ayo informed viewers that she made it on the flight with no problems.

“I did make it on the flight and did not have to pay extra,” she said. “On the way to Vegas and the way back I did not have to pay with my travel pillow and my backpack.”

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@anayotothe Reply to @boricua.geek update on if I made it onto the flight w/o paying extra! #budgettravel #travelhacks #travelpillow #blackgirltravel #blacktravel ♬ Aesthetic Girl – Yusei

She also clarified why she went to the extra trouble of stuffing a pillow instead of buying a better plane ticket.

“One, it took me five minutes to do that,” she said. “Two, I live in the Bay Area, I was going to Vegas, it was an hour flight. There was no reason to pay $300 for a flight.”

The Daily Dot reached out to Ayo via TikTok message. We’ve also reached out to Spirit and Frontier airlines by email for comment.

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Editor’s note: Due to a technical error, our original message to this TikToker may not have been delivered. We have since reached out.


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