Many Jetstar passengers will know the feeling of dread when they find out they’ve exceeded their baggage limits before getting on a plane.

But one man has discovered a wild hack involving a McDonald’s takeaway bag to get around the strict weight limit rules.

Hayden Smith, who cofounded an investment app, appeared on the Get Rich Slow podcast, where he discussed how he avoided paying baggage fees.

“I once kept a McDonald’s bag, and I put some heavy stuff in there,” he said.

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“If they see a McDonald’s bag, they’re like, ‘They’ve clearly come to the airport with their seven kilos, and then they bought McDonald’s’.

“They’re not going to ask me to put my McDonald’s bag on the scale.”

He didn’t set out to cheat the system when he first received the Macca’s bag, but he wanted to see whether he could get the items through without detection.

Do you have a travel hack you want to reveal? Email claudia.poposki@yahooinc.com

Hayden also said putting on extra clothes, like jumpers, is also a good way to get around the weight limits.

He called on the airline to adopt a “volume-based” system for carry-on charges, rather than a weight-based one, as he “pretty much always” has more than 7kg when flying with the airline.

Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to Jetstar and Hayden for comment.

How much do you have to pay for baggage with Jetstar?

Going over the weight limit or not purchasing baggage with your ticket can mean you end up spending a lot more than you originally planned.

If you’re flying domestically on Jetstar and haven’t paid for baggage, you have to fork out $120 for the first 20kg of luggage at the airport.

For international flights, it’s $170

If you go over the agreed weight limit for the baggage you booked, it’s $30 per kilogram over for domestic travel and $50 per kilogram for international travel.

Passengers are also only allowed 7kg for their carry-on, and if they go over that, they have to pay at least $60.

But don’t airlines stop you from bringing food on board?

Jetstar’s website states that there is a caveat regarding what customers can take on board in terms of food and drinks.

“You’re welcome to bring your own food and some drinks on board,” the airline’s website states.

“For safety reasons, we do not allow passengers to board with hot drinks (eg. coffee or tea) or bring their own alcohol for consumption during the flight.”

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