The Essentials

What Qualifies as a Medical Device on Airlines

If you have a disability, most airlines will give you a baggage fee waiver for a medical device — that ranges from wheelchairs to any piece of equipment that assists a passenger to hear, see, communicate or maneuver.

But a growing number of airline passengers are trying to redefine what’s acceptable to get around paying those fees.

Here’s what will not qualify as a medical device or get you that baggage fee waiver: anything that can be used recreationally — and that ranges from chiropractic tables to bicycles, all of which passengers attempted to check in for free.

And it’s getting more silly — one passenger even tried to check in a hospital bed. And a wagon.

Another tried getting a baggage fee waiver on bars of soap and deodorant.