Vacation-goers are always looking for a stress-free route when packing for a trip. And they’ll stop at nothing to ensure that their vacay goes off without a hitch.
TikTok has become a hub for finding so-called “travel hacks” with users sharing tricks and tips for flying with extra baggage, traveling lighter and more.
However, according to several travel experts, some of these hacks — like shoving clothes into pillowcases and hiding extra shirts in an overcoat — may not actually be that practical.
User Anya Iakovlieva posted a clip last September in which she stuffed her pillow with extra clothes and placed it on top of her luggage.
Naveen Dittakavi, a founder of cheap-flight site Next Vacay, explained to Insider that this trick is “worth trying.” But he also warned that it may not work every time.
“Most airlines will allow you to bring a travel pillow as part of your attire, but each airline will determine if you can board carrying a standard-sized bed pillow, depending on their luggage regulations,” he said.
He also noted that travelers should ask their airline what size pillow would be right to bring on board. Some companies may consider large pillows to be the one personal item that passengers are allowed to take with them. The extra item might lead to additional fees for travelers.
In another creative compromise, TikTok user Kristen Black tried her hand at rolling her sweaters into a DIY neck pillow. “Save space, save money,” she captioned her November 2021 video in which she demonstrated the hack while waiting at the airport.
“How to pack when you have zero baggage allowance,” she wrote across the video. She also suggested that passengers put souvenirs from their trip into their hats.
However, Dittakavi told the outlet that while the idea appears to be a “brilliant packing hack,” it won’t work on all airplanes.
Bianca Montalvo, who works in the marketing department at United Airlines, also agreed that the hack was risky, as the neck pillow obviously looks like it was fashioned from clothes. She added that airport gate agents use their own judgment and “may or may not ask for all items to be packed properly,” rather than strapped on one’s neck.
Another hack involved hiding garments inside your coat when you travel. Imogen Blow, the self-dubbed “Queen of Budget Travel” on TikTok, shared a video last year in which she “shaved off 5.5 kg of excess baggage.” At her gate, she unzipped the black puffy winter coat she was carrying to reveal nine other smaller jackets hidden inside.
“It kinda looked like a body,” she joked in her clip.
Tom Church, the co-founder of the money-saving travel site latestdeals.co.uk, told Insider that the large bundle of coats could be too big to actually take on the aircraft.
He said that one would have to be confident enough to stuff the coat underneath a seat or pack it away in the overhead bin. “Carrying items of this size onto a plane doesn’t seem very practical,” he stated. “It would be better to ask yourself if you really need so many clothes when you have to lug them around like this.”