Baggage Fees Almost Cause Scottish Boy-Band Fatality

by Elizabeth Nelson

Kids, don't worry, with age comes wisdom, if you actually live to survive your youth and the stupid things you do.  We did stupid crap too, we just learned from our mistakes.  That's the key, learning from them and that makes you smarter as you go through life.


The truly wise will learn from other's mistakes.  Take this Scottish singer, of a boy band, who didn't want to pay the $70 baggage fees and decided he would wear all his clothes onto the plane.  Yes, you know this isn't going to end well.

@HannahAlOthman pic.twitter.com/MJAhVZHiFJ

— REWIND (@rewind_music) July 10, 2015

A TEENAGE singer collapsed from heat exhaustion on an Easyjet flight — after wearing 12 layers of clothes when he was ordered by staff to ditch his extra luggage.  James McElvar hoped to beat the budget airline’s check-in rules dressed in the contents of a rucksack.

The Scot had on two jackets, four jumpers, six T-shirts, three pairs of jeans, two pairs of jogging bottoms and two hats when he boarded.  But he was violently sick before taking a fit in the aisle as the cabin sweltered.

He was convinced he would die as he returned to Glasgow from London where his band Rewind had played a gig. As he recovered at home last night, James, 19, of Cumbernauld, said: “I thought I was a goner.

“It felt just like I was having a heart attack. I was so hot I felt I would pass out as soon as I boarded.”

He peeled off the extra gear after take-off. But he went on: “I was soaked with sweat and within minutes I was sick.

“I got moved to another seat but I collapsed moments later. I was shaking and convulsing. I couldn’t breathe. I heard someone shouting, ‘Man down — is there a doctor on board?’

“An off-duty paramedic rushed to my aid and an oxygen tank was brought to me.

“Other passengers held my legs and arms to stop them shaking.”

When the plane touched down, James was checked over by medical staff but he declined hospital treatment. He added:

“I just wanted to go home. It was a nightmare — I feel lucky to be alive.”

His ordeal began at Stansted where he tried to check in with a case and the small rucksack.

James said “I was told I’d have to pay $70 for one bag, get another flight the next day, bin my clothes — or wear them.

“The rest of the band had checked in, so they couldn’t help me so I emptied the rucksack.” Read more Sun

We all understand money, and even a lack of it, is a motivator for many and I will admit I've done some stupid stuff, but I've never considered doing this.   I've always packed light with the intent of having to find a washing machine if I had to.  Even that is cheaper than having to pay the airlines ever increasing baggage fees.  


Heck, planning ahead and shipping your luggage to your vacation location would be cheaper than paying some of the inflated airline's baggage fees and would probably give you a sense of mental ease, knowing that it will get there and not get lost during the lay-over flight transition.