A nifty traveller from Texas, US, said she managed to beat Ryanair’s baggage fees by pretending to be pregnant – Grace Hale shoved a bunch of extra items under her top

Grace Hale

Sneaky Grace Hale, 20(Image: Jam Press)
A sneaky traveller managed to beat Ryanair’s baggage fees by creating a fake pregnancy bump.

Grace Hale managed to sneak a bag full of makeup and two jackets inside her top after realising it would not fit in her carry-on bag. After walking through security, canny Grace donned a trench coat and even memorised a cover story if she was questioned by airline staff on her flight to Edinburgh.

“It’s ridiculously expensive if you want to take a bag on a Ryanair flight so I just get the carry on option and shove everything inside,” Grace, from Dallas, Texas, US. “I like to take ten options for a three day trip. We werea running late and the flight was so early.”

Grace Hale

‘I thought I’d act like I was pregnant'(Image: Jam Press)
Speaking to What’s the Jam, Grace added: “I was scrambling and packing on the train to the airport then I realised that the jackets and make-up bag weren’t going to fit.

“I thought I’d act like I was pregnant. What would they say? “I practised in the train station by putting the make up bag under my top and I wrapped the jackets around it so nothing could fall out because that would be embarrassing.”

Grace even said staff asked her how far along she was. She had a clever answer for that too.

Grace Hale

Staff asked Grace how far along she was, she claims(Image: Jam Press)

The 20-year-old, who studies business in London, said: “It was so funny. I googled what pregnancy bumps looked like at different months and how far along I’d be.

“I decided on 26 weeks which is so lucky because at 28 weeks you need a doctor’s note.

“They asked how far along I was and if I had said any more then I’d need a fit to fly.”

Grace said she will be using the hack again and reckons it might even catch on.

Grace Hale

‘There are going to be a lot of pregnant Ryanair passengers'(Image: Jam Press)
“There are going to be a lot of pregnant Ryanair passengers because it’s so expensive to take a bag with you,” she said.

Last week, Ryanair said it is organising eight “rescue flights” between London Stansted and Ireland for passengers affected by the closure of Heathrow.