Posted on 01/29/2010 1:33:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge
You're paying to check your belongings, so why should other people's excess baggage get a free ride?
That's the question being asked by a growing number of travelers. As airlines look for new ways to boost revenue, fees for checked bags are on the rise; so is scrutiny of overweight customers whose baggage is built in.
It's a touchy subject, Airfarewatchdog.com has found, and one that airlines have been happy to avoid discussing, where possible. As late as 2008, United Airlines wouldn't even address the matter with us.
But an outcry among passengers, tired of their seatmates taking up more than their fair share of jealously-guarded seat space, is said to have played a role in the airlines new rules for transporting “customers of size.” Where a terse “we have no policy” was once the standard response, United adopted new regulations in 2009. Customers who were unable to confine themselves to one seat would be required to buy a second, should the crew be unable to reseat them.
It's a policy that's becoming increasingly commonplace.
To many, the idea seems simple enough – if you cant fit into one seat, you should probably consider buying two.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
works for me.
I fit snugly in one seat.
but I can recall a flight or two..
packed between two big swedes from london to seattle , I only wished they had been swedish babes, instead., but such is life, ya never know what latest row and seat from hell you’ll be plooped down in.
A big leg woman ain’t got no soul......but she’s still gotta buy two seats.
Amen to this! I was on a flight once where I was at the window. A couple came back to my aisle and started to seat themselves into the other two seats. The wive immediately reached to flip up our adjoining armrest before sitting down. The lucky thing was that this was an EXIT row and the armrests didn’t swing up. The flight attendant told her and her equal sized husband they’d have to squeeze themselves in. Both were so fat that all they could do is to crunch part of their butts into the armrests. Neither’s rumps touched the cushions on the seats. I was just thankful about those seats not being expandable. They would have made my trip miserable. The both should have bought the whole row.
Fair enough. Now how about all those as*%^$#s that bring all their luggage into the cabin and proceed to stuff it into the overhead compartments, delaying boarding, take off, and unboarding?
So while an empty seat to one side of the person avoids them hanging over on someone else, in rows with more than two seats it does nothing for the passenger on the other side of them.
I once sat between 2 people that were 300lb+ on a flight. Didn’t see my arms for 2 hours.
I thought fat-bottom girls rode bicycles...
I don't want to pay extra for that person, and If I know a carrier welcomes fatties with no penalty I will not fly on them, as I consider sitting next to a person who, in effect, occupies not only their seat but 20% of MY seat an affront.
Simply put, we pay for space.
There were two big guys in 3 seats coming back from LA a couple weeks ago. I don’t think they had to pay extra because the plane was not full, but they were never buckled in and were totally annoying when the plane was in landing mode by standing up and trying to get their crap out of the overhead bin.
I had an DC-Frankfurt, Germany flight once where I was at the window and a HUGE guy with cane came down the aisle (barely fit down the aisle) sat down next to me. He was a heavy mouth-breather and rolled halfway into my seat as well as taking his own. I was crunched up against the window, having only 1/2 a seat left for myself and the flight hadn’t even taken off yet. I told the stewardess that she had to move me to first class, or find me another seat. Fortunately there was a spare in the tail, where there are only 2 seats per side and I had tons of room. The toilet smell was bad, but it was worth it.
How about an extra fee for lawsuit baiters who delay flights by chanting Koranic verses or other such Islamofacist garbage?
nice thing about Southwest...you seat yourself and can avoid those situations in most cases.
It’s first come-first-seat.
Having once been a victim of a person in the next seat who came down the aisle asking the stewardess for a belt extender and who flipped up the armrest so he could rub thighs with me, I have no problem with the new rules.
In fact, they should allow everyone 220 pounds, which could be split between passenger, carry on, and checked. If someone went over 220, they’d buy a second seat and get a 440 lb allowance.
When he sat in front of me the seat went back like it was reclined. Talked to the attendant and offered to sit in a flight seat with them. No where to go. The plane got off the ground and he reclined the seat. Bathroom trip was liking climbing out of a can of sardines. Needed the jaws of life.
Worse was a flight San Diego to Hawaii. Women and small child in the row. Anther kid in front of her. The kids squealed, screamed and cried the whole way. People yelling at the woman and she said "There's nothing I can do." One guy cussed and yelled and they gave him the last seat in first class. The attendants were too passive. Wrote a letter to the airline and got a canned response. My theory. Throw the mom or one of the kids out of the emergency door at 30,000 ft and the other two would behave. No jury would have convicted me. But I let my wife talk me out of it.
Yes, but don’t they let the ‘people needing help, travelers with children, etc’ load first? If so, the lardos would probably claim the need to board first.....Delta doesn’t do that and thats the one I get stuck with for flying, so I don’t know about SW.
What would it do to mileage or fares to make the planes 14 inches wider. 2 per seat and 2 in the aisle?
I hate the airlines, but I hate sitting next to fat people to. What to do?
Well, the answer for tubby is to book his flight and select an isle seat online. Then, book a full fare refundable ticket and select the middle seat next to him. Its best to book this second seat in his wife’s name because the airlines make the ticket agents remove duplicate bookings in their spare time. Then simply don’t show up for the refundable seat. And, unless the flight is over sold, it will stay vacant. Voila two seats for the price of one.
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