This was published 7 years ago
Airport Jacket: New jacket design to help travellers avoid baggage fees
By Soo Kim
Designed with 14 deep pockets, two additional detachable pocket panels, the "stylish" Airport Jacket promises to help passengers travel with up to 15kg of luggage for their trip, without the burden of steep baggage fees or a suspiciously bulky look.
The proposed multi-purpose jacket, the brainchild of Andrew Benke and Claire Murphy, the owners of Australia-based marketing company Juice Promotions, offers a series of pockets that can fit up to 16 items including two pairs of shoes, a 13 inch-laptop, a tablet, a mobile phone, their corresponding charge cords, a camera and an extra camera lens.
The convertible coat can be worn in three ways including as a hip-length waist coat (eight pockets), a three-quarter length jacket (11 pockets) and longer full-length coat (14 pockets). Its two detachable panels come with three extra pockets that can together up to six kilograms.
The Airport Jacket is designed to be worn three ways.Credit: kickstarter.com
Worn at full length, the jacket can also carry a pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts, three T-shirts, underwear to last up to four days, a light jumper, a liquids bag, a wallet and a passport, in addition to the other items mentioned, with room to spare, according to the company which launched the jacket on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter earlier this year.
The jacket's detachable 55cm x 40cm x 25cm duffel bag, made with a "robust" water-resistant fabric, is large enough to hold the fully stuffed jacket when rolled up and can fit underneath your plane seat.
The Airport Jacket is the latest in a series of multifunctional travel jackets proposed in recent years. In 2015, BauBax, dubbed the "world's best travel jacket", was launched offering 15 built-in features including a neck pillow, hood, eye mask, gloves, drink holder and multiple compartments that can store full size tablets as well as phones, earphones, portable chargers and a small blanket.
What to pack in the jacket's 14 pockets.Credit: kickstarter.com
In 2014, the SeV Women's Trench, designed by American brand Scottevest, also offered a surprisingly stylish solution to cutting baggage fees. The multi-pocketed trench coat, complete with a double-breasted style, adjustable waist belt and epaulets, features 18 hidden pockets that can carry all of your travel essentials including two mobile phones, a digital camera, an iPad, and a water bottle.
The jacket is installed with several high-tech features including "Weight Management System" technology designed to evenly balance the heft of the items carried and a "NoBulge" design said to help the "sleek and stylish" coat maintain a slim, "figure-flattering" line.
In 2011, the Rufus Roo - a vest jacket made from lightweight nylon designed simply to carry things - was created by Andrew Gaule, a traveller and full-time business consultant frustrated by rising baggage fees.
The jacket has capacity for one to two light jumpers and a pair of pants.Credit: kickstarter.com
For day-to-day commuting, back in 2013, a protective "flu-fighting" jacket claimed it could keep travellers free from the "germ-ridden hazards" of public transport. Featuring a high zippered collar and pull-out sleeve cuffs made with a silver-infused, anti-microbial fabric that can keep your hands, face and neck area covered, the Germinator Transit Jacket was designed to enable you to "discreetly protect yourself" from sneezes, coughs or "a thick brew of backwashed breath", as well as "reckless farts" when someone "lets out a silent but deadly one" on a bus or train, according to Betabrand, the crowdfunding clothing company where the jacket was launched.
The Telegraph, London
See also: Passenger wears all his clothes to avoid paying baggage fee
See also: Passenger's brilliant plan to never lose his luggage again
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