I bet Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is definitely not a fan of the Rufus Roo. The Rufus Roo is hardly the most stylish of in-flight outfits. But that is not the reason why I say Tony is not a fan.
The Rufus Roo is an outsize ‘flying jacket’ that could save its wearer lots of money, money that would otherwise have gone to budget airlines such as AirAsia.
The Rufus Roo polyester jacket can carry up to 10kg in its six pockets. Volume-wise, it can store as much as one is normally able to carry in a hand luggage bag, including a laptop, wine bottles, clothes and shoes.
The Rufus Roo jacket
The jacket is the invention of 48-year-old British businessman Andrew Gaule, who became frustrated at seeing passengers charged large sums for excess luggage, or being forced to repack their hand luggage at the check-in counter.
Budget carriers like AirAsia, Tiger Airways and Ryanair allow passengers to take one piece of reasonably sized hand luggage on board for free. They also let you wear a jacket or coat: this is what gave Gaule, from Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire, his idea to bypass the checked-luggage charges altogether. Taken together with one item of hand luggage, the wearer of this jacket is potentially able to double the amount of material they can take on board for free.
The things that you can carry in the pockets of the Rufus Roo jacket
Gaule said: “I have lost count of the number of times I saw passengers having to either repack their hand luggage at check in or pay sky-high fees to put it all in the hold.”
On the Rufus Roo, Gaule said: “If it brings down the cost of flying I’ve achieved my goal.”
The Rufus Roo jacket costs £29.95 and comes in a variety of colours and sizes. It is available online at www.rufusroo.com.
I’ve read your piece on avoiding baggage charges ‘’and would like to inform you of another solution on the market that I don’t think your aware off the jaktogo which I’m the owner of one and have being using it for a long time and can only say it’s not only a coat but transforms into a Bag yes a Bag’’ so you don’t have to look stupid all the time ‘’ check it out jaktogo.com