Jacket helps airline passengers dodge luggage fees

Bulgaria's Jaktogo is a lightweight jacket that can help passengers 'smuggle' 10kg of extra luggage into airplanes.

Baggage can be a contentious issue at airports, with passengers often facing extra fees if they go over the limit for any checked-in luggage. Last year, Samoa Air even became the first airline to introduce a pay-by-weight system for its customers. Offering a cheeky solution for consumers hoping to avoid these fees, Bulgaria’s Jaktogo is a lightweight jacket that can help passengers ‘smuggle’ 10kg of extra luggage into airplanes.

Designed by engineer John Power, the giant-pocketed coat was developed after numerous business trips where overweight bags would lead to both extra costs and wasted time having to deal with the situation. The innovation functions as a standard bag, but can be folded out into a jacket for those heading to the airport. The idea is that passengers load the coat with any items that won’t fit into their hand luggage and then easily fold it up into a bag. Once they get to the airport they can turn it back into a coat while their baggage is checked, enabling them to circumvent rules around checked-in luggage. Before they head onto the plane, the coat can be transformed back into a bag for easy stowage. The video below shows the Jaktogo in action:

It’s possible that the coat could be worn to simply carry things without the need for a bag, even if it might make wearers look a little ridiculous in the process. The Jaktogo comes in polyester, leather or denim and costs EUR 59.69 for the basic coat. Are there other ways consumer fashion can be adapted for more practical reasons while wearers are on the move?