United to Charge Double

[Palmetto Pilot]

From Drudge:

 

http://cbs2chicago.com/business/united.overweight.passengers.2.985271.html

Good for them! About time too. There is nothing worse than sitting next to someone who is spilling over into your seat.

[Onessa]

The next target should be the people who recline the seat as soon as they sit down and leave it back the whole flight.

 

amen.

 

And what about the coughing wretch that I inevitably get seated next to -- guzzling nyquil and spewing his germs?

 

And that woman on the cross-Atlantic red-eye who turned on her light and adjusted it to shine in my eyes?

 

Flying is to be tolerated. Just hope you survive! :D

[flagger]

United has also gone totally cashless, so if you don't have a credit card or debit card, you can't buy a snack, meal or drink.

 

For someone who only pays in cash, they are off my list.

[linda_22003]

Just asking who will determine that a pax can't fit in a seat and when will that be determined? At the check in kiosk? At the boarding gate? Or will they wait until the pax gets on the plane to size him/her up?:)

 

Is there some type of sizing tool they are going to use prior to boarding?

 

Dianne

 

Southwest has done it on the plane, I believe. I don't plan to worry about this very much, since I am a normal sized person and a normal sized seat holds no terrors for me.

[djmutters]

So would some of you folks feel the same if you was sitting next to a Gay person or a disabled person or a person of diffrent skin colour ?:mad:

 

I think its about time that it became illegal to discriminate againt large people and belive me it will come and not to soon.

[kryos]

Anyone who has been in a middle seat, with the passengers on either side of you having "size issues", will appreciate this. I'm not exactly a size zero myself, but I DO fit easily into a single seat, and people should pay for what they use.

Same here. While people who have cruised with me know that I am not a "petite lil thing," I certainly have no trouble fitting into a standard airline seat without spilling over into someone else's space. I think if you have trouble in this area, it is only fair that you either purchase a larger seat (business or first class) or purchase two separate coach seats. After all, that's only fair. It's the same thing I go through when I sail solo. I have to pay a premium to occupy that cabin by myself, the amount of which will be determined by the cabin category I book. While I am not happy about that, as I would imagine "Passengers of Size" won't be, the fact is that I do understand the reason for the charge and don't balk too much about it.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[NightRN]

So would some of you folks feel the same if you was sitting next to a Gay person or a disabled person or a person of diffrent skin colour ?:mad:

 

I think its about time that it became illegal to discriminate againt large people and belive me it will come and not to soon.

 

 

If the gay, disabled or different skin colored person is not invading my space, then I'll be fine. This isn't discrimination. It's about safety and comfort for everyone.

 

As far as the poster who asked if we would pay more for tall people since they take up more leg room, United offers their seats with more leg room for a higher price. I just paid $98 more so that my 6'4" son could fly home for Easter and have the extra leg room.

[kryos]

Just asking who will determine that a pax can't fit in a seat and when will that be determined? At the check in kiosk? At the boarding gate? Or will they wait until the pax gets on the plane to size him/her up?:)

If you've ever watched the A&E Reality show, "Airline," you'd see how Southwest does it. If the gate agent notices a "Passenger of Size" in the boarding area, she discretely notifies a supervisor via the radio to come to the check-in counter. The supervisor will make a determination and if she feels the passenger needs to purchase an extra seat, she will advise him of such. If he balks, she will gladly take him onto the aircraft before it boards and let him sit in one of the coach seats. If he can pull down the armrests and comfortably fit into the seat without spilling over into adjoining seats, then she simply apologizes and no extra seat purchase is necessary. I think she even allows him to stay on the plane and select his seat before the other passengers are allowed to board (thus compensating him for his "trouble"). But if that supervisor can readily see, and the passenger at this point can see as well, that he doesn't fit and cannot lower the armrests comfortably, then he must purchase a second seat. But, if the airline takes off with any empty seats onboard, then he will be refunded the cost of his extra seat.

 

Sounds fair to me. After all, if I pay for a seat on an airline and then a good portion of that seat is taken up by someone else too large to fit in their own, that's not very fair to me, is it? I had a friend once who had to refuse to take her seat because there wasn't enough room for her. The flight was completely sold out and another woman who had boarded before she did was taking up a good third of her seat and this friend of mine said she wasn't flying for three hours wedged in like that. She'd be crippled by the time they landed. So, she went to the flight attendant and told her of the problem. The flight attendant didn't seem very concerned, so my friend simply refused to sit down when the flight attendant asked her to. The flight attendant became very flustered and threatened to call someone from the flight crew to handle the problem. My friend, who at all times was very polite, told her to do whatever she felt she needed to do, but my friend was not sitting down when she didn't have adequate room to be safely situated and belted in.

 

Fortunately, an airline executive who was sitting in first class heard the commotion and came back to investigate and see if there was anything he could do. He immediately saw that there was a problem and he told the "passenger of size" to take his seat up in first class and he and my friend took their seats next to each other in coach. Problem solved.

 

However, the upside of this story is that yes, the "passenger of size" got the first class seat, but my friend and this airline exec got all the first class amenities, including the wine, good dinner, etc. The exec was very apologetic about the problem saying that the passenger of size should have never been allowed to board the aircraft with only one seat assignment.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[6rugrats]

So would some of you folks feel the same if you was sitting next to a Gay person or a disabled person or a person of diffrent skin colour ?:mad:

 

I think its about time that it became illegal to discriminate againt large people and belive me it will come and not to soon.

 

Just not logical; you are comparing apples to oranges.

 

None of these people take up my room on the plane. If you are overweight, why is it discrimination to ask you to purchase the space your body is occupying?

 

In reverse, isn't it discrimination to ask an average size person to not receive the space they paid for, because someone's excess body fat is bulging over into their seat?

 

This is certainly not discrimination. I am so tired of hearing, "it's not my fault, it's my disease." Give me a break.

[serene56]

 

Is there some type of sizing tool they are going to use prior to boarding?

 

Dianne

 

 

It will be the same tool they use to measure all those "giant" carry on bags. :D

 

I cant imagine who determines if a person is big or not.

[6rugrats]

United has also gone totally cashless, so if you don't have a credit card or debit card, you can't buy a snack, meal or drink.

 

For someone who only pays in cash, they are off my list.

 

All airlines are heading that way, which really makes a lot of sense.

 

I always bring my own food aboard, as airline food is awful.

[6rugrats]

I seem to recall reading that if YOU complain, they have to move you to another seat (hopefully one is available).

 

This is absolutely not true. The airline does not have to move you because you don't like your seat.

[98Charlie]

Southwest has done it on the plane, I believe. I don't plan to worry about this very much, since I am a normal sized person and a normal sized seat holds no terrors for me.

 

I'm not worried about being ``sized up'' for the seats. I'm well below the size that would be considered ``over size.'' However, I do hope that those considered to be over the size limits will be screened prior to boarding.

 

With fewer flights being offered these days coupled with the normal day-to-day flight delays (i.e. weather, waiting for pax on delayed flights, etc.) I definitely don't want to be sitting at the departure gate while they try to fit an over-sized pax into a seat prior to taxing to the runway.

 

I figure all of this will be a mute subject soon anyway when civil rights and civil liberty lobbyists get into the picture.

 

Dianne

[6rugrats]

It will be the same tool they use to measure all those "giant" carry on bags. :D

 

I cant imagine who determines if a person is big or not.

 

It is clearly stated in the article:

 

Passengers who "are unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin; are unable to properly buckle the seatbelt using a single seatbelt extender; and/or are unable to put the seat's armrests down when seated" will be denied boarding unless they purchase an extra seat.

[Loves_Dogs]

Just not logical; you are comparing apples to oranges.

 

None of these people take up my room on the plane. If you are overweight, why is it discrimination to ask you to purchase the space your body is occupying?

 

In reverse, isn't it discrimination to ask an average size person to not receive the space they paid for, because someone's excess body fat is bulging over into their seat?

 

This is certainly not discrimination. I am so tired of hearing, "it's not my fault, it's my disease." Give me a break.

 

I couldnt agree more!

 

And as for the person who compared the overweight person with the tall person, there IS a difference. A tall person cannot help how tall they are. It is totally out of their control. An overweight person, well, say what you want but there are very few overweight people with legitimate medical issues that cause them to be this way.

[djmutters]

Just not logical; you are comparing apples to oranges.

 

None of these people take up my room on the plane. If you are overweight, why is it discrimination to ask you to purchase the space your body is occupying?

 

In reverse, isn't it discrimination to ask an average size person to not receive the space they paid for, because someone's excess body fat is bulging over into their seat?

 

This is certainly not discrimination. I am so tired of hearing, "it's not my fault, it's my disease." Give me a break.

 

I never said anything about "Its my disease" .......................

 

I've never asked anyone to move................

 

And using words like "bulging over" imo is just rude:mad:

[djmutters]

say what you want but there are very few overweight people with legitimate medical issues that cause them to be this way.

 

So you actually have the facts and figures right ?

[kryos]

There IS the policy of most airlines in allowing 2 people to buy the seat in-between for a half-charge to each. This is a great way for a couple, traveling together, to have a comfortable flight with useable space by buying the chair between them. I've never done it, but I've seen it done.

Yeah, but that's only gonna work in the case of spouses or friends traveling together who agree to do it because of the one passenger's size. I can't imagine a small passenger being asked to help pay for the middle seat because he's got a "fluffy" sitting next to him. The "fluffy will still have to pay for the cost of that second seat.

 

But ... here's the question I have. What happens if a larger passenger is traveling with a friend or spouse, and they book a row with only two seats. Yes, the larger passenger will spill over into the other passenger's space, but that passenger tells the airline it is fine. I wonder if the large passenger will still be required to buy a second seat? I mean, if you are infringing on the space of a friend or spouse and they have no problem accommodating you, that shouldn't be the same thing as spilling over into the space of a stranger who very well will (and should) have a problem with it.

 

Wonder how that will be handled?

 

And, yes, I would certainly hope that if someone were to be required to buy two seats, they should get double the amenities ... including two bags checked at the first bag rate, two glasses of soda (if the airline is still giving them out for free), etc.

[Toddcan]

So would some of you folks feel the same if you was sitting next to a Gay person or a disabled person or a person of diffrent skin colour ?:mad:

 

I think its about time that it became illegal to discriminate againt large people and belive me it will come and not to soon.

 

Hey, I'm a big guy (6' 245 lbs), but if you think about what you are suggesting.. you might see the flaw in the logic.

 

It's been said a few times, but physical size is different than sexual preference, or race when it comes to the mechanics of seating. Imagine this: Imagine that you are 350 lbs, and you board the airplane and see that the seat next to you is already occupied by a 500 lb man. He clearly does not fit into his seat. In fact, a full third of your seat is not available to you because his body is simply that large. Do you think it's fair that you be asked to sit in that 2/3 of a seat? You paid for the whole thing.

[kryos]

It will be the same tool they use to measure all those "giant" carry on bags. :D

 

I cant imagine who determines if a person is big or not.

Real simple. Do you fit into the seat comfortably with the arm rests down, without "spilling" over into the seat next to you? You either do or you don't, and if you don't, you have to buy a second seat. Simple as that.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Loves_Dogs]

So you actually have the facts and figures right ?

 

Nope...afraid I dont...just my observations from all the years spent on this planet watching people. It's fascinating to people watch and I tell you what I have noticed, on cruises, at restaurants and just with my own family functions, there is a HUGE difference in the types, amounts and ways that overweight people eat verses normal weight people. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why some people are as big as they are.

[djmutters]

Hey, I'm a big guy (6' 245 lbs), but if you think about what you are suggesting.. you might see the flaw in the logic.

 

It's been said a few times, but physical size is different than sexual preference, or race when it comes to the mechanics of seating. Imagine this: Imagine that you are 350 lbs, and you board the airplane and see that the seat next to you is already occupied by a 500 lb man. He clearly does not fit into his seat. In fact, a full third of your seat is not available to you because his body is simply that large. Do you think it's fair that you be asked to sit in that 2/3 of a seat? You paid for the whole thing.

 

Hi :)

 

Not sure about sexual preference I would argue that you don't choice to be straight gay bi it just is :rolleyes:

 

Yes I am a big guy and I do agree with your point 100% that if I was taking the space of the second seat then this would be unfair on the person/s sitting next to me however I would argue that these airlines should take into account there are large people in the world and maybe think about custormers comfort rather then how many small seats can we squeeze into a plane to make more money.

 

I'm not sure if you know many large people ? however I do get fed up with assuptions that large people are lazy etc etc and they choose to be overweight, I have suffered with my weight since childhood and its not easy when people are so ready to judge a person from the outiside:(

[6rugrats]

Nope...afraid I dont...just my observations from all the years spent on this planet watching people. It's fascinating to people watch and I tell you what I have noticed, on cruises, at restaurants and just with my own family functions, there is a HUGE difference in the types, amounts and ways that overweight people eat verses normal weight people.

 

It doesn't matter if you had the facts and figures; it makes no difference. I have many as my DH works in this field. The average person is overweight simply because they take in more calories than they burn, not because they have some exotic medical condition. It's not rocket science.

 

I am not judging people because they are overweight; that's their choice. I just don't want someone else in my seat. Airlines do take your comfort into account and offer business and first class seats which are larger. They are in the business of making money though and that's why there are so many seats crammed together in economy.

 

But none of that has anything really to do with this thread, which is about an airline justifiably charging someone for the seats they need.

 

I was on a UA flight last week and sat next to a woman who boarded with her cello. The cello had its own window seat and seat belt extender. The cello's owner paid full price for the extra seat. Some would say, "well that's discrimination! That instrument should have ridden for free, there was no one in that seat anyway!"

 

People or things should have to pay for the space they occupy. It's as simple as that.

[kryos]

I have mixed feelings regarding this. If you are too heavy to fit into one seat, why shouldn't you have to pay for the second seat? It is not the airlines fault, and they are in the business of selling seats. I've seen obese people trying to squeeze into one seat and it is ridiculous. Forget the fact that you are inconviencing the person next to you because your body extends into their space.

And this is the whole crux of the matter.

 

It is not fair that someone who pays for a seat now has to give up part of the space they paid money for because they happen to be unlucky enough to be seated next to a "passenger of size." Hey, I have nothing against large people. Some of my best friends are large. But when I pay for something, I expect to get the full benefits of what I paid for ... not to have to give some of them up to another person.

 

I think it's only fair that if you can't fit comfortably in one seat that you pay for a second. Or, as an alternative, you could opt for business or first class where the seats are roomier.

 

True, airline seats are very small, but that's what you are paying for when you get the good airfares. The airline has to make money on those seats, so they make them very small so as to get as many people as possible into them. If someone can't fit into the amount of seat his money buys, then he simply has to buy more. That's the way it works in our society today.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[linda_22003]

So would some of you folks feel the same if you was sitting next to a Gay person or a disabled person or a person of diffrent skin colour ?:mad:

 

You bet, if they took up more than one seat and barged into mine. THAT'S the issue here.