Singer Dons 12 Layers of Clothes to Avoid easyJet Bag Fee, Collapses on Flight

Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 12:54 PM ET, Mon July 13, 2015

Some travelers will go to incredible lengths to avoid bag fees. But oftentimes passengers are better served to swallow their pride and fork over the fee.

It's a lesson Rewind band member James McElvar learned the hard way last week.

According to the Daily Mail, in a bold attempt to avoid paying a $70 excess luggage fee on an easyJet flight from London to Glasgow, the 19-year-old put on a dozen layers of clothes.

Despite successfully boarding the flight with his bandmates, McElvar later fell ill aboard the plane after his temperature skyrocketed and his health began to decline.

"I felt it was my only option to put on everything," said McElvar via the Daily Mail. "It was impossible to walk, I could barely get on the plane. I wanted to take them all off as soon as I got to my seat - beside which was a spare seat that I could have sat one of my bags on - but was told I had to wait until we were up in the air."

McElvar told the Daily Mail that he "knew something was wrong early on," when he couldn't breath properly. "I thought I was having a heart attack," he added.

McElvar said that he passed out multiple times and was transported to a nearby hospital by a waiting ambulance upon landing in Glasgow.

Paramedics said he was "lucky to be alive" after collapsing from heat exhaustion, according to the BBC.

"In this instance the passenger had two items of cabin baggage which he could not combine into the allocated bag allowance and as such he was asked to either combine his baggage into one bag or pay £45 to check the bag into the hold," easyJet told Mashable. "During the flight Mr McElvar became unwell and our crew onboard assisted him. We wish him a speedy recovery."

Rewind provided an encouraging update on McElvar's status a day after the scary incident.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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