Some people need ALL the creature comforts of home when they take a flight. Luxe face masks to fight dehydration. Expensive headphones to drown out other passengers. Designer luggage to show your stylish side. But not Chloé Gray because Chloé Gray travels with a warm rotisserie chicken.
Yup, you’re reading that right. While most of us are hitting up Hudson News for some extra in-flight snacks like granola bars, chips, and Cheez-Its, this hungry New Yorker showed up at Newark Liberty International Airport with a Whole. Rotisserie. Chicken. tucked into her carry-on like it was a neck pillow.
And it turns out, the TSA wasn’t ready for jet-setting poultry.
“I just got pulled aside by the TSA for having ‘something crazy’ in my bag,” Gray told her 450K+ TikTok followers. The crazy item? A full rotisserie chicken she picked up from Whole Foods on the way to catch her flight.
“I gotta get my protein in [during] the flight,” she said, while yanking the fully cooked bird from her bag like she was pulling a rabbit out of a hat, only this rabbit was a chicken, and it was lemon-herbed and juicy.
“This is how you give yourself a first-class experience without paying for first class,” she added, clutching her roast-chicken-to-go like it was a high-priced Birkin bag.
To be clear, Gray wasn’t flying for just a quick hop.
She was headed for a transcontinental flight from New Jersey to California with a layover. That’s an eight-hour, two-flight journey, so you can almost understand the logic. Maybe?
Gray, a self-described health nut, said she planned the protein-packed stunt for practical reasons like managing her blood sugar and avoiding overpriced airport fare. She also claimed the chicken came in a “chic” package with a built-in handle — a functional feature you just don’t get with other airport meals.
While Gray celebrated her win at the gate, the internet wasn’t applauding her for her bold move.
“She should be on a no-fly list,” one TikTok commenter declared.
“Someone sitting next to me on a plane pulling out a rotisserie chicken would be my last straw,” said another, probably while imagining a fuselage that smells like your local chicken shop.
Other commenters told it like it is. “The strong smell on the flight is diabolical,” one lamented, likely imagining themselves trapped in the window seat, longing for a parachute.
Still, in a world where most of us begrudgingly chug our bottle of Dasani before flashing our boarding pass, there were followers who applauded her success in getting the piping-hot poultry past security.
And as for TSA? They let her pass, chicken and all.
Apparently, cooked birds aren’t banned! Who knew? Turns out they are just frowned upon by every passenger within smelling distance.
Gray stands by her carry-on cuisine. “Some people travel with designer bags,” she quipped. “Mine just happened to be a rotisserie chicken.”
And honestly? Who needs a travel neck pillow when you can rest your head on a warm, rosemary-scented chicken thigh?
Fly high, Chloé. Just make sure you bring napkins next time.
