Airlines to charge obese customers extra

LauraMax

LauraMax

Cathlete
I have some mixed feelings about this, but I'm just gonna post my thoughts as concisely as I can:

1) if you need two seats, you should pay for two seats
2) if you're obese for medical reasons, you should be exempt (yeah, some docs will just write the note, but hopefully most won't)
3) if my ass is 20% smaller than the average person's, I should get a 20% discount

What do the rest of you think?
 
RapidBreath said:
I like that idea! Also, maybe we should just be charged by the pound?
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I absolutely hate that idea. What does pounds (up to a certain amount obviously) have to do with your seat. You could be 100 lbs and fit in a seat or 200 lb and fit in a seat. Why should the heavier person have to pay for when they're occupying the same amt of space (ie one seat)

And as for them charging obese people more, i thought they already had to buy two seats. So what else are they going to charge them for?
 
Hey now, I like the idea of the 20% discount! :D

I have to agree that if you need two seats, you should pay for two. I'm not sure medical reasons should expempt you from paying for two seats. Whatever the "reason", you are still taking up two seats. If I have to pay extra because my luggage weighs more, or because I have more bags to check, then what's the difference?

I know this is a pretty controversial subject that has been batted around for quite some time. I have heard of different methods for determining exactly who has to pay extra. You certainly can't weigh people at the ticket counter. One method they've talked about has been that if you need a seat belt extender, you should pay for two seats.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do think it's very unfair for the person sitting next to someone who really needs the room of two seats.
 
Laura--I love you gal! I'm not even going to comment on this one as I don't want to get flammed--yeah, I'm a "wuss". But, you go girl! :D

And, yes, I have you all the stars I could.

LauraMax said:
I have some mixed feelings about this, but I'm just gonna post my thoughts as concisely as I can:

1) if you need two seats, you should pay for two seats
2) if you're obese for medical reasons, you should be exempt (yeah, some docs will just write the note, but hopefully most won't)
3) if my ass is 20% smaller than the average person's, I should get a 20% discount

What do the rest of you think?
Click to expand...
 
Laura,

I think I would have thought this was a great idea a few months ago, but I found a reality show called "Ruby" on Style network. Watching her, following her through her struggles with food and life as a big person in a small world, I now have a totally different perspective.

A lot of people struggle with weight and it has nothing to do with food or being lazy.


Here is an excerpt from Ruby's blog:

I have lived in this unusually huge shell since I can remember. How I got to be so big is a question I would like answered on my journey. I have battled this a long time. I feel like I am always getting in the boxing ring with this beast that has no name. He always seems to win. I start off strong and determined, and in the first three rounds I take him down. But right before my eyes—yet at the same time I'm blinded by him—he grows bigger. Before I know it, he has knocked me out of the ring.
Usually at that point I am so beaten up that I can't even crawl back. Sometimes it takes me years to get back in the ring. This is the darkest side of me; a side that is unknown, a side I haven't yet conquered. It's a side of defeat, hopelessness and despair. A side I hate to admit. A side I hate to visit. I become so numb.
This is when you feel weak as a human being. You wonder why you even exist. And in those darkest hours, I pray, "God, please help me! Someone, please help me and hear my cry and come save me!" And, somewhere in the midst of all this, something in me rises up and refuses to give up.
I refuse to let it conquer me, no matter how many times I get beat up.
 
ladysaraii said:
I absolutely hate that idea. What does pounds (up to a certain amount obviously) have to do with your seat. You could be 100 lbs and fit in a seat or 200 lb and fit in a seat. Why should the heavier person have to pay for when they're occupying the same amt of space (ie one seat)

And as for them charging obese people more, i thought they already had to buy two seats. So what else are they going to charge them for?
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They will be charged only if they cannot fit in one seat. The problem is in some cases they are not taking up one seat, but two. They aren't just being charged for being obese, but for physically not being able to take up only one seat. If you read the actual policy, it does state that they will try to move them to a different section of the plane (with larger seats) before charging them for the additional seat.
 
My only question is...when are they charged and what if they can't pay? I assume they will be charged when they are on the plane. What happens if they don't have the extra bucks for the additional seat? Are they taken off the plane?

I am technically considered obese by the BMI charts. However, I can fit in one seat. How will this be determined? I don't think it can be determined until the person is actually on the plane and seen to be taking up two seats.

Carrie
 
LauraMax said:
1) if you need two seats, you should pay for two seats
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I think this is fair.

Carrie, those are good questions. In addition, what if the plane is full? Say you have someone who is taking up enough room for two seats, you've determined they need to pay for that second seat, yet there is no other spot to put this person. Do they stay in the single seat for the flight and get charged for the second seat anyway?

Can the airlines measure the width and tell people, "Listen, if you're beyond X inches across, you need a second seat"?
 
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I have to admit, when I am seating on an airplane and watching people come down the aisles, I am always crossing my fingers about who is going to sit next to me.

My husband once sat next to an obese person who only had one seat. I offered to switch, but being the gentleman he is, he refused. By the end of the flight, my husband's back, neck, legs all ached from having to hold himself over to one side.

Laura - I am going to add one more question - how does everyone feel about people bringing carry on bags that really are too big just to avoid the luggage fee?

The last couple of flights I took, the airline attendants spend at least 10 minutes trying to help passengers fit their luggage somewhere on the plane in the overhead compartments.
 
Many of the people who should really be buying two seats will tell you they only need one as they want to put the arm rests up during flight and they encroach on the other seats and so it works for them. Moving them to first class is usually not an option as they have to pay or it is full anyway. The seats are dang narrow to begin with.

I hate to say it but maybe they should have a "tester" row of seats at the gate . . . and you have to keep the arm rests down!

Then you also have the over weight parent with the 2 year old who is considered a lap child - OY!

Also if they need a seat belt extension they cannot sit in the emergency exit row which has more leg room at least.

I am a retired flight attendant - 10 years out - and I am sure there are other airline people on here who can shed more up to date info.
 
Debbie, I'm not sure, but I think the attendants can determine if the carry-on is too big and can redirect it to the cargo hold (or whatever they call it...I only fly once a year :D ).

I like to use carry-ons, but I do my best to keep them small enough to fit under the seat in front of me. One time I ended up on small plane unexpectedly, and my carry-on suddenly looked huge. The flight attendant was able to cram it into an overhead bin, but prior to that she warned me that it might have to be checked.
 
I think the real issue here is how to enforce this rule. They'd need something more than a purely subjective standard, yet any objective standard is going to be riddled with exceptions. It's a tough issue. I've been seriously obese, and so I'm sympathetic. But I've also had to "share" my seat with someone who was too big to fit into his or her own, and that sucks.
 
Worknprogress said:
I have to admit, when I am seating on an airplane and watching people come down the aisles, I am always crossing my fingers about who is going to sit next to me.

My husband once sat next to an obese person who only had one seat. I offered to switch, but being the gentleman he is, he refused. By the end of the flight, my husband's back, neck, legs all ached from having to hold himself over to one side.

Laura - I am going to add one more question - how does everyone feel about people bringing carry on bags that really are too big just to avoid the luggage fee?

The last couple of flights I took, the airline attendants spend at least 10 minutes trying to help passengers fit their luggage somewhere on the plane in the overhead compartments.
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Don't get me started on carry on luggage . . . ;-)
 
Liann said:
They will be charged only if they cannot fit in one seat. The problem is in some cases they are not taking up one seat, but two. They aren't just being charged for being obese, but for physically not being able to take up only one seat. If you read the actual policy, it does state that they will try to move them to a different section of the plane (with larger seats) before charging them for the additional seat.
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Thanks for the explanation. I dont object to people being charged for a second seat if they need two, it was the charge per pound that I disagreed with.
 
Other airlines already do this. The rule is that you can't sit in the seat with the standard belt extension (in other words you need the special super-extender) and you can not put the armrest that divides the seats down. That puts you in the pay-extra category. From what I understand, they will try to move you if the flight is not full. However, if the flight is full, you need to buy two seats and if two are not available, they will bump you to the next flight. I agree with it - if I buy my seat, I shouldn't have to share it with anyone else. The medically obese are rare. Most people are just simply "eat too much/exercise too little" fat.
 
carres1973 said:
I am technically considered obese by the BMI charts.
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My husband is too. He has a very muscular/athletic build. He has very wide shoulders that extend past the middle arm rest. Airline seats are really small to begin with, and
I think small people are the only people who can fit into them without parts hanging over!
 
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