I think this is fair play, they can charge how they want (within reason) and it’s not too different than other bulk discounts.
But someone should totally make a site for finding strangers to book the same flight with :)
But someone should totally make a site for finding strangers to book the same flight with :)
Overhead luggage is the only place you can take anything fragile. You have no control over how your checked baggage is handled and anything you have to take with you into the cramped seating space will get squished.
For boarding it might speed things up but often boarding is done before all checked luggage is loaded so it will probably not let you take off faster either.
Similarly, for takeoff I agree that it wouldn't necessarily save time, net. But it would help with the frustration of standing in line, backed up on the jetway while everyone is struggling with setting up the initial conditions for the deplaning scenario I described above. At least people could get seated sooner and be comfortable for longer while they're waiting for takeoff.
[1] Based on a true story.
Unusually large or small sizes can end up more expensive (and/or only manufactured in limited quantities) because they're not commonly bought and they take up space on the shop floor and in inventory which could be used for things with higher turnover. (Edit: Also at the extreme ends of sizing simply enlarging or shrinking the pattern won't work well, you have to redraft it so it sits correctly on a petite or plus-sized frame).
Otherwise I would buy seats for my personal helium balloons on either side of me.
Anyway I’ll be across the aisle with hydrogen balloons paying less than you either way. Enjoy your flight!
Not allowed because they're too big to be carry ons.
- Taking up more than one seat with girth, needing a seatbelt extender.
- Fitting through narrow passages, tight turns, limited headroom
- An unconscious person may need to be lifted, and transported somehow
- Toilets and life vests and other safety equipment, rated for your "standard average man size"
- Total mass of passengers/cargo, and its distribution on the aircraft itself
Elevators in the US have a maximum weight and maximum occupancy rating.
Arguably, if obesity is a disability, then appeal to the Americans with Disability Act or similar regulations, but from a standpoint of safety and the common good, it does not seem unreasonable for airlines to charge extra to cover their expenses above.
Economic argument: fat people are more likely to make use of on-board food service despite high markup, so you want as many of them as possible.
On a flight to Greenland I spent six hours smashed up between the window and a stranger (constant, sweaty, skin-on-skin contact) because they put three fat guys right next to each other on a full flight. I'd rather have taken a couple months of vacation and ridden the icebreaker in.
Much better than subjecting someone who has made better life choices to the consequences of yours.
I don't particularly want to make life choices based on what's most economically efficient for airlines, but you do you I guess. And while my being fat is definitely a result of my life choices, that's certainly not the case for all of us.
Regardless of what size you believe everyone should be, the airlines have to deal with the size that people actually are. They have made the choice to size their seats in a way that causes this problem. They could have just plastered "no fatties" at the ticket counter, or maybe had a section of seats reserved for fat people at a somewhat higher price point and required people over a certain size to use them, but instead they've chosen to sit us all together. And they do so with the knowledge that judgemental assholes will just blame the fatties instead of them.
But keep playing their game, you appear to be good at it.
> And while my being fat is definitely a result of my life choices, that's certainly not the case for all of us.
It literally is. No matter the genetic predisposition, you need a caloric surplus to get fat.
> They could have just plastered "no fatties" at the ticket counter, or maybe had a section of seats reserved for fat people at a somewhat higher price point and required people over a certain size to use them, but instead they've chosen to sit us all together.
They do provide bigger seats at a higher price point though. You have chosen not to make use of them and then blame the airline. If you are big enough that sitting next to someone your own size causes you discomfort then you would be encroaching the space of someone smaller sitting next to you. That wouldn't be fair to them.
Is this some kind of satire? In many cases (for a whole slew of things), I feel like men pay less and get better service.
And the service could even be set up to give you some choice over the stranger (at the expense of less matches) like setting a maximum weight.
People are flaky, and being on the same itinerary with the same PNR as someone else means your trip is in their hands.