Passenger Furiously Proving Bag Fits Cabin Requirement Has Internet Howling

A man going to extreme lengths to prove that his hand luggage meets the airline's in-flight requirements has left the internet in tears of laughter.

In a TikTok video shared on August 23, the easyJet passenger was filmed placing his luggage into a measurement tool at the airport before quickly realizing it had become stuck.

We're all used to rules about luggage sizes from airlines, but the reason for them is often unknown. Dimension limits for cabin bags are to ensure that all carry-on bags are able to be stored safely in the overhead lockers for the duration of a flight.

Meanwhile, restrictions on the weight of bags, including those placed in the hold during your flight, are to ensure that they are light enough for ground-crew staff to carry and move safely on and off the plane. Aircraft often also have a Maximum Take-Off Weight at which they can safely take off.

In the video shared by TikTok user hotasfo_o, the man struggled to remove the bag from the airline's cabin bag-space tool, pulling the item backward and forward but unable to free it.

Laughing at the video, TikTok users rushed to share their thoughts in more than 10,000 comments. One user wrote: "Rumor has it he is still trying to get it back out," while another said: "That's one way to ruin your holiday."

The popular airline easyJet, based at London's Luton airport, primarily offers European flights at low prices.

A spokesperson for easyJet told Newsweek: "easyJet cabin bags have a maximum size, and our ground crew must ensure customers' bags are within the maximum sizes for safety reasons, to make sure they will securely fit where they are meant to be stowed on board.

"Customers are clearly informed of these dimensions when booking, reminded of this via email before they travel to ensure they are clear on the maximum permitted dimensions of their bag, and it is also clearly displayed on their boarding pass."

To help with checking the size of bags, easyJet also provides an AR (augmented reality) bag-sizing tool on their app. Using Apple's ARKit 2 technology and a phone camera to measure the bag and show if it meets the airline's requirements, the feature is available only for iPhone users with the 6S model or newer.

Another TikTok user joked in the comments that he had "seen a guy booking into a hotel with a massive easyJet sign today," while another wrote: "He's going to miss his flight trying to get that out."

Last week, an air passenger was hailed a "genius" over a hack to avoid paying an excess baggage fee. The savvy traveler shared the trick on TikTok alongside the caption: "How would they know?"

Elsewhere online, another passenger took drastic action to avoid an $89 hand-luggage fee when he snapped his skateboard in half to adhere to the airline's dimension rules.

Newsweek has reached out to hotasfo_o for comment. We were unable to verify the details of this case, and it's unclear if the passenger had to pay extra for his bag.