Holidaymaker warns against using popular viral packing ‘hack’ after it goes wrong & ends up costing her money
A WOMAN has warned other travellers about using a viral packing hack to avoid having to pay for extra luggage when flying.
Traveller and Tiktoker Faith Gould (@gouldstandard) thought she had found the perfect method to cut back costs on her flight, with a fee of $150 (£122) quoted for her luggage.
Instead, she tried posting her luggage to her hotel room rather than forking out for a checked bag.
In a video on Tiktok, she said: “Let’s see how much it is to ship my luggage to Florida versus paying $150 [£121] to Spirit Airlines.”
The footage showed Faith putting various items into a large cardboard box, including dresses, swimsuits, sun cream and other toiletries.
At the end of the video, she explained that it cost $34.33 [£27.70] to post the box, which was $115 [£92.78] cheaper than adding a checked bag onto her flight.
However, things didn’t quite go according to plan for Faith, who is now warning other passengers about using the same “hack”.
In a follow up video, shared a couple of weeks after her original, she revealed that her luggage never actually arrived at its destination, and was instead returned to sender.
The problem arose from the fact that Faith thought it would be simpler and quicker for her to send her luggage with FedEx to the FedEx office at her destination, where she could collect it.
However, when the delivery company attempted to drop the parcel off, the office was closed, so no one could sign for it.
It was then declared “undeliverable” and sent back from where it had came.
Faith said: “Basically, I shipped it through FedEx and that’s what cost the $34.
“I decided it would be easier to actually have it sent to a FedEx location nearby that I could pick it up from.
“I basically just thought that in case it arrived late or something happened, it wouldn’t be sitting out on someone’s front porch.
“It would be safer at a FedEx facility nearby where I could come and pick it up.
“Delivery was attempted at 11:26, and at 11:28 a.m, it was reported as undeliverable – business closed.
“FedEx didn’t open until noon that day. So the package couldn’t be delivered because FedEx wasn’t open.
“So in the end, FedEx couldn’t deliver it to FedEx. So the package got sent back and I have yet to open it since I literally took that video and taped it up.”
Not only did Faith spend money on having her items posted, but she ended up spending even more having to buy replacements for the things that were sent back to her home.
She continued: “You might be wondering, what did I do without all my stuff I packed?
“Well, I packed as much as I could anyways, into my personal item that I could bring. But I did end up buying a lot of new stuff.”
There are some packing tricks that can help you save space in your bags when flying.
Travel company EF (@efultimatebreak) got one of their travellers to try out three of the most popular packing hacks on Tiktok to see whose advice was worth listening to.
Of the ones they tried, they worked out that rolling clothes instead of folding was the best way to fit more in your hand luggage.
Meanwhile, this easyJet passenger left people in stitches as he was filmed trying to beat the hand luggage rules.
And here are all the rules around phones and chargers in carry-on luggage.