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Travel

This Guy Put on Ten Layers of Clothes When He Was Unable to Pay a Bag Fee

Designer Ryan Hawaii was turned away from two flights in Iceland after putting on all the extra clothing weighing down his luggage.
Photos via @RYAN_HAWAII's Twitter

Flying is a nightmare. When you book a trip now, you have to accept the fact that you might have to face delays, loud music, bathroom disasters, or being physically pulled off your flight trying to get where you're going. But of the many air travel horrors passengers face, there's one that's as frustrating as it is common: the threat of having to pay extra for your overweight bag.

This common travel annoyance is one that British Airways passenger Ryan Carney Williams, a designer who goes by the name Ryan Hawaii, found himself up against on Wednesday. When he wasn't able to pay the extra bag fee, he decided to go a more creative route. According to the Daily Mail, the Brit put on the ten shirts and eight pairs of pants weighing his luggage down, planning to just stroll onto his flight. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, and he was denied a boarding pass and turned away at Iceland's Keflavik airport.

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Williams tweeted about the whole thing last week and said he was "arrested and maced" after trying to board the plane wearing the massive layers of clothing. According to the Iceland Monitor, airport security was called because Williams was being disruptive.

The following day, Williams booked a different flight back to London on easyJet, the Mail reports. This time he was able to get a boarding pass and through security, but when he got up to the gate, an attendant reportedly told him that he wouldn't be able to board based on the incident that happened the day before. Williams said he was then stranded at the Iceland airport, without any money, as his bags flew to the London airport without him.

According to the Monitor, Williams finally managed to make it to London Sunday on a Norwegian airline's flight. After explaining his situation on Twitter to a British Airways and easyJet rep, he was first told that there was nothing the airlines could do to refund his two tickets, but the Mail reports he was ultimately compensated for both of the missed flights.

As to why he was turned away the first time around, a British Airways spokesperson told the Telegraph, "The decision to deny boarding was absolutely not based on race. We do not tolerate threatening or abusive behavior from any customer, and will always take the appropriate action."

For his part, Williams says that he wasn't trying to avoid the fee, but rather didn't have enough money to pay for the extra luggage. In any case, wearing all your clothes onto a flight may not be the best way to dodge those exceedingly high baggage fees the next time you travel.