The extra baggage charge would have been more than half what she paid for the tickets
A woman avoided paying a £30 luggage charge on Ryanair thanks to a simple hack that cost her just £2.59. Laura Poole, 33, paid a tiny amount to send her clothes in the post, rather than adding £30 to the cost of her flight by checking a bag in as excess luggage.
Laura says she has “better things to spend her money on” and swerved the additional charge by squeezing her outfits into her gym bag, wrapping it in a Lidl carrier bag and dropping it off at her local Tesco Express InPost locker. She flew to Glasgow from Bristol on February 22, paying £57.48 for her return flights.
Staying in Glasgow for a month on a business trip, she shipped “at least” five outfits including suit jackets and dresses – all for just £2.59. Dropping her parcel off on the Thursday evening before her Sunday morning flight, Laura’s parcel arrived safely in Glasgow just after she arrived.
Inspired by Vinted and their parcel shipping process, Laura says she has received comments from trolls saying she us “stupid” but has also been hailed a “genius” online.
Ryanair’s baggage fees are famously dynamic—they change based on your route, travel dates, and, most importantly, when you buy them. The general rule is: the later you wait, the more it costs. If you forget to book online and show up at the airport, you can expect to pay at the highest end of those ranges (up to £60 per bag).
If your bag is already checked but weighs more than your purchased allowance (e.g., your 20kg bag actually weighs 22kg) you will pay £11 more per kilo. If you try to take a bag to the gate that is too big for your allowance (like a “cabin bag” when you only paid for a “small personal item”) you can pay £75 for the bag to be put in the hold.
Laura, a public speaker and trainer, from Cardiff, said: “I have better things to spend her money on. I actually did it before, this is the second time I’ve done it. So I knew it worked. “I got the idea from Vinted because they’re using InPost lockers for that. I was curious and thought ‘I wonder how much it is?’
“If it’s only that much for postage on Vinted it can’t be as much as Royal Mail. I’ve always been really frugal and am part of the FIRE community – financial independence and retire early. Lots of people are super frugal and I have better things to spend my money on than really expensive baggage fees.
“I’m here for a month this time as well and I thought I’m going to need more than a backpack, so I got my gym bag, stuffed it with clothes and wrapped it in a Lidl bag and taped it up. People on Vinted send stuff in anything – I thought ‘that’ll do’.”
Laura also packed enough clothes to last her two to three days in her cabin backpack. “I would not post anything that I loved,” she added. “For example I’ve got a scarf I’ve had for 10 years and my grandad’s t-shirts – who is not around anymore. That stuff goes in my backpack.
“Obviously I don’t want to lose my clothes and there are lots of clothes in there. It’s insured for up to £50. My thought process is if anything goes wrong, or it doesn’t arrive in time, I’ve got time to buy new clothes. I do public speaking so I need to look good. Suit jackets, trousers, all sorts I threw it all in, dresses as well.
“I must have at least five different outfits and then loungewear and stuff as well”.
Sharing her plans on Facebook, her post went viral. Laura said: “There are always trolls whenever anything goes that big and people are always negative, but overall I’ve never been called a genius so much in my life.”
She will use the InPost locker system when she returns from the trip next month and will save another £27.41.