- Low Cost Airlines - Ian Britton
A previous article explained various methods of avoiding the extra charges which budget airlines such as Ryanair and BMIBaby make. Certainly one way of not incurring extra expense is to travel with only hand luggage. This can be difficult, as only a small bag is allowed by some airlines in the cabin, and not even an extra handbag is permitted. However, one way of avoiding the extra charges is to carry a large number of items on one’s person, i.e. in clothing.
Jackets and Vests With Many Pockets on No Frills Flights
There are now companies making special travel vests and jackets for this specific purpose. They can be found by an internet search, and most of them have a multitude of pockets, enabling heavy and/or bulky items such as books and even small laptops to be carried in them. Some of these clothing items are quite stylish, and could also be useful when traveling from a safety point of view, as the pockets are zipped. Certainly they could hold all the items a person might normally need to carry in a handbag, and probably more.
However, it is not necessary to spend a great deal of money buying a special travel vest or jacket. Many ordinary chain store items, such as anoraks or fishing vests, have a great many pockets. Travelers may even have something suitable in the wardrobe at home, but perhaps hadn’t thought of it from this point of view. But passengers are not weighed, and there is no restriction against carrying items in pockets.
Cargo Trousers or Similar Clothing
The traveler need not stop at only jackets or vests. Cargo trousers or similar items are quite cheap and fashionable, and can hold a great many items, and are also a safe way of carrying money and documents when traveling. The disadvantage of these over jackets and vests is that they cannot be taken off when going through security checks, so pocket contents will need to be removed and picked up the other side of the Xray machine. However, this is a small price to pay for a great saving on the flight.
Money Belts to Save Space on No Frills Flights
Many travelers use money belts to carry cash safely when traveling. But it is possible to obtain money belts which have quite large compartments, suitable for taking other items such as travel documents, or even makeup or jewellery. Again, these will need to be removed when going through security, but that is a minor inconvenience for what is often a huge saving on cost.
Wearing all these items could help greatly if trying to travel with only hand luggage, particularly if doing it for a whole family. The author has done this for years, and used to own a jacket where the pockets took up almost the whole jacket lining. Unfortunately it wore out with use…but not before saving her a great deal of money – and also saving much waiting around at luggage carousels. Try it!
Helen Krasner - Helen Krasner is a freelance writer who has written professionally for many years. She is also a qualified helicopter instructor.
