Holidaymaker slams smug EasyJet staff at Manchester Airport for £48 luggage charge when his bag fitted box

Jake Hughes was about to board his flight from Manchester Airport to Lisbon last month when an EasyJet worker insisted his duffel bag didn't fit the measuring box. The 27-year-old's footage appears to show the luggage sitting within the guidelines but when he asks the member of staff “you saw it fits though, right?” The man replies “no”.

Jake claims he then took a pair of jeans and a jumper from the black bag and wore them over his clothes so it could fit more easily. But he says he was still charged £48 because he had to 'push' the bag into the compartment instead of letting it slip in. The content creator insists his bag fitted inside the compartment 'like a dream' and that it was 'ridiculous' to get charged for it.

Before passing through the airport gate he was reportedly forced to delete footage of his bag being measured and told his boarding pass would be terminated if he didn't. He found undeleted footage once he landed in Lisbon and posted it to TikTok where it's been viewed more than 5m times. Jake says EasyJet called him the following day, apologised and offered to refund his fine, but he hasn't accepted it yet.

The angered customer claims he's not sure if the offer would have been made had his video not gone viral and users not been raging. Jake, from Worcester, said: “I couldn’t believe they were trying to charge me for something that clearly fitted inside the compartment. He said it's because I pushed it into the compartment and it has to freefall into it. I said I disagreed with him and that I thought it was ridiculous to pay £48 for that so he told me to have a go at repacking my bag.

“I went to the side and I put on a pair of jeans and a jumper, just so the bag could fit even more perfectly. When I put it in again at the end of the queue, it flew into the compartment like a dream. He said he could see that I’ve put my clothes on and that I’m supposed to rearrange my bag, not empty it. It was crazy. When I went to board the flight, he said he will terminate my boarding pass if I didn’t delete the footage.

“I was in shock. I just stood there, wearing two pairs of jeans and two jumpers. It was just an absolute nightmare. I paid because it really felt like I wasn’t going to be allowed on the flight and he was just looking at me with a smug smile on his face. For the next 10 minutes, I was quite angry but soon calmed down when I arrived in Lisbon. I didn’t let it ruin my trip and was quite relieved when I realised I hadn’t deleted all the footage.

“They called me the next day after I posted it, apologised and said they’ll offer me a refund. I'm not sure I would have been offered a refund if it hadn't gone as viral as it did. Why should I get a refund and not everyone else who got unfairly charged, just because I happened to film it?“

Jake says his girlfriend bought the bag specifically for EasyJet flights and hasn't been charged for using it in the past.

His TikTok racked up more than 4,500 comments and was captioned “EasyJet staff made me delete all of this footage or I wouldn't be allowed to board”. One user wrote: “What on Earth? I have never seen a bag fit more perfectly! I hope you get your money back.”

Another commented: “Yeah, I think we need to travel with another airline. They want the footage deleted because they know you and other passengers are right. “

A third wrote: “I'm raging just watching this.”

An EasyJet spokesman said: “We are investigating with our ground handling provider at Manchester Airport to understand why Mr Hughes was charged for his bag, which appears to be in line with his allowance. We have been in touch with him to refund the charge.”