The desperate measures passengers are being forced into as greedy airlines continue to raise price of checked bags

Air travelers are taking bizarre measures to make sure they are adhering to diminishing baggage allowances - as checked luggage prices increase. 

The attention to detail comes months after most major airlines quietly increased their checked baggage fees in the opening months of 2024.

The industry-wide price hike started when Alaska Airlines raised the cost of checking a first bag from $30 to $35 and a second from $40 to $45. Over the next month, JetBlue, American, and United did the same, each raising their fees either $5 or $10.

The moves have caused some passengers to get creative, stuffing whatever they can under their seat - which varies from airline to airline. Moreover, planes are getting smaller and smaller each year, at the cost of space for carry-ons.

Each carriers has its own limit, and some people are more willing than others to sacrifice certain luxuries in order to save a buck.

Self-professed 'travel troubleshooter' Christopher Elliott described some of the strangest things he's seen as a result, in a piece penned for The Seattle Times.

The first involved wheeled luggage, which, in days' past, typically would be checked.

But on a recent flight from Los Angeles to Spokane, he said he saw a passenger try to stuff an entire rollaboard - a type of two-wheeled suitcase - under her seat.

He said it was because the plane had run out of overhead bin space - something that's become increasingly commonplace amid rising baggage costs.

Moreover, some airlines have significantly reduced the size of the bag passengers travelling on their flights can take onboard for free, if not willingly, then by design.

That's because aircraft seats have been shrinking for decades, experts have pointed out - as planes become increasingly small and efficient.

Elliot wrote of the woman struggling with her unwieldy wheeled carry-on: 'Her plan might have worked, except that - you guessed it - there was no place for her legs.

'A flight attendant intervened and forced her to gate-check the bag,' he revealed.

Other objects being stuffed under seats with only so much space, according to Elliot, include coolers - usually typical for beachgoers, not frequent flyers. 

But on a flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid, he said a woman by the name of Maya Frost saw the unthinkable - a cooler being jammed under the seat next to her by a man on board.

The box was so big, the Seattle author told Elliot, 'that it had to be wedged' in the confined space.

Once stuffed underneath, the plastic contained nearly 'caused the seat to bulge upward,' she said - spurring the somewhat spread-thin traveler to come to a realization.

Seeing that there would be no room for his feet on the 13-hour flight, the man eventually found room for it in the overhead bin, Elliot wrote.

Frost told him how he went on to make the most of his situation by accessing the cooler several times during the long flight, potato chips and egg salad sandwiches and all. 

'By the time we landed, I was covered with crumbs,' Frost joked.

Another uncommon item being shoved into the crevices of plane cabins are CPAC machines - the hefty devices used to help treat sleep apnea.

Complete with a console, control system, hose, and mask to go over a user's nose and mouth, the machines are extremely expensive, and large as well.

Uneaka Daniels brought one on a flight from Saint Kitts in the Caribbean to Florida recently, according to Elliot. She decided to bring it aboard due to the machine's outsized cost, and fears it would get damaged if checked.

'The machine cost $1,600, and my insurance was not going to replace it if it got damaged on the plane,' Daniels told The Times.

She instead placed the item under her seat, but like the man who had been next to Frost, found herself with no room for her legs. 

However, the reading specialist from Hamilton, Bermuda, elected for a different approach - flying the whole way with her legs atop the machine. 

She went on to admit that this method is likely not very safe, before calling attention to some of the problems that may arise as flyers like her try to forgo checking bags whenever possible.

'How could they evacuate a plane?' she wondered aloud, insisting to onlookers that carry-on bags stuffed under - and in front - of a seat could prove fatal.

Elliot, however, cleverly pointed out that medical devices are exempt from the carry-on restrictions, so you can ask a flight attendant to help you store the device somewhere safe, instead of using it as an ottoman.

He also stated that electronics like laptops and fragile items like glassware are a big no-no when it comes to under-seat storage - before offering an embarrassing anecdote of the strangest thing he himself stored there.

'I once tried to store a large Starbucks Americano under my seat — temporarily — while I was boarding,' the travel writer admitted.

'Then I forgot about it. Let’s just say it was a memorable takeoff. My shoes still smell like espresso.'