davidphogan: 2theruns: 6'4" 190lbs. Just tired of sitting on tarmac while 30+ minutes is wasted on the "overhead bag shuffle" during takeoff and landing. Publicly shaming fatties is just a bonus.

Ah, so you just happened to choose a number that lets your scrawny butt and a bag fly with no additional costs. Okay.

It is SCIENCE!

/wait, no, it's psychology

Knucklepopper: I GOT 3 GREENLIGHTS IN A ROW TODAY!!!!! YEAH, BABEEEEEE!

no one cares, douche

Link (new window)

BA hosties busted for doing what they do best. Link goes to The Sun

My husband loves the window seat. Or, should I say, LOVED the window seat until he had a pulmonary embolism two weeks after a flight from Texas to Germany, originating from a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his lower left leg. There was a ton of turbulance, and the few times the seatbelt light was off, there were drinks carts in the aisle. Result? He didn't get up once. He's a fit, normal-weight guy in his late 30's with no other health issues, so it really can happen to anyone.

Fortunately, he's still here to go flying again. He will pretty much have to have an aisle seat, as he must get up and walk around every hour or so (along with injecting Heparin and wearing pressure stockings). We're ok with paying extra, but if it gets like the exit row/premium economy situation where these seats are only offered to the general public after the frequent flyers have had a chance to get them, then that's crap.

Moral of the story: get up and walk around the plane at least every two hours, and the hell with what your seatmate thinks. If they don't like being disturbed, offer to trade seats with them. Your life is more important than his or her comfort.

Soon they'll be charging me to slap the arse of the flight attendants.

Likely charge me to upgrade to stealing a pinch from her as well.

Are no perks of flying sacred anymore?

As was said before in previous threads... the airlines are also working on how to charge a fee for anyone deemed "smelly." And no smelly doesn't mean what you think it means... it means if the person next to you can smell any odors coming from you... even cologne or perfume.

Once again, a few years ago, United (IIRC) made the decision to take out 3 or 4 rows of seats and give everybody in coach more legroom. There was a big advertising campaign it was covered in the Business, travel and general news. United hat to charge more for this luxury.

Nobody flew United. The seats went back on the planes, the prices dropped and United was competing with everybody else.

So when you "Tall" (fat) people complain about the size of the seats, you have nobody to blame but yourself because when you had the chance to buy a comfortable flight, you decided to have "save" fifty bucks and fly like cattle.

digistil: As was said before in previous threads... the airlines are also working on how to charge a fee for anyone deemed "smelly." And no smelly doesn't mean what you think it means... it means if the person next to you can smell any odors coming from you... even cologne or perfume.

That's great and all, but it doesn't actually SOLVE the issue of someone dousing themselves in perfume and then being locked in a small metal tube with 100 other people.

Of course, maybe that's the angle the airlines will take to charge you for breathable air.

jagec: If you can't fit into a regular airplane seat, you are not human sized. Obviously it won't be as comfortable as your La-Z-Boy, but it's good enough for a few hours in the air.

I'm not a huge guy but I'm Sicilian and come from a long line of wrestlers and football players. My ass has plenty of room in the seat but my shoulders overrun the middle seat borders on both sides unless I crouch inward. On the aisle I get nailed by the cart if I'm not paying attention. With a window seat I spend the flight with a shoulder jammed against the bulkhead for the entire flight.

Those seats were designed for women and medium sized teenagers.

/yeah, i sound like a guido

shower_in_my_socks: Eh... I've never like the aisle. Window is where it's at. Put me in the corner and leave me the fark alone. Nobody makes me get up so they can use the bathroom and nobody smashes into me or drops shiat on me from the aisle.

A single-serving portion of THIS

Two things

1) I think airfare has been too cheap anyways. They underbid to steal business from other airlines and as a result take huge losses all over. It shouldn't cost only $900 USD to fly 3000 miles. Sorry, but it shouldn't. Raise the base rates and get rid of the a-la-carte fees

2) If running airlines is so unprofitable maybe they *SHOULD* be socialized for the greater good of the public. We *NEED* airlines to function as a society, but if they can't run as a profit on their own [e.g. need subsidies] they should be turned public.

Don't get me wrong I love flying from one end of the continent to the other in less than a day for cheap, but if that means the airline starts cutting corners and then gouging people at the ticket counter ... I'd rather have a higher base rate.

Komplex: Nobody flew United.

I remember that. I flew United religiously because I could actually open my laptop in coach and work while on the plane. I distinctly remember the 'wtf' moment when they went back and I could barely get the screen open even though I had the keyboard jammed into my ribs.

Go back to the pre-wussy days and I'll fly again. Wind things back to 1960, airline-style, and I'll fly everywhere. I'm not even talking prices, here. I'm talking about walking into an airport, paying cash for a ticket without having to show any ID, and then...boarding the plane and taking off. No cattle-herding. No "random" security checks. And we were EXACTLY as safe then as we would be now. There was a reason Airplane! made fun of the security checkpoints - people knew even way back then that they were crap.

tombotia: It shouldn't cost only $900 USD to fly 3000 miles. Sorry, but it shouldn't.

Why shouldn't it? It's not like they're flying the entire plane for $900...there are usually multiple passengers on each flight. But if things keep going they way they're going, then fewer and fewer people are going to have to take on a larger and larger share of each flight, and you'll get your wish.

ScottMpls: Surely, you can't be serious!

Yes, and my name's not Shirley.

JonBuck: I think that charging an extra $25 so you can bring a single bag of luggage might have something to do with customer satisfaction as well. For my vacation this summer: Roadtrip. I'm sick of flying.

What's with people that can't seem to fly without bringing a ton of luggage along? I fly with a single carry-on only, which is actually carry-on size unlike most people's idea lately of a carry-on. Doesn't matter if I'm off for a weekend in Seattle or off for a month in Africa, it's not difficult to do.

CaesarSneezy: Why would anyone want an aisle seat? You can't look out the window and you can't lean sideways against the wall.

I get really claustrophobic in planes. Not having someone or a wall to one side of me makes me feel much more comfortable on a plane.

/hates flying with a passion
//doesn't drink, stays up as late as possible the night before the flight so I sleep on the plane

shower_in_my_socks: Eh... I've never like the aisle. Window is where it's at. Put me in the corner and leave me the fark alone. Nobody makes me get up so they can use the bathroom and nobody smashes into me or drops shiat on me from the aisle.

If you were 6'3" you would understand the need for aisle!

SlothB77: window seat if i can hold it the entire flight. aisle seat if i will be going to the bathroom. i don't want to climb over two people.

I prefer aisle seats too for the bathroom reason (due to some surgery, I have to go fairly frequently).

...but no way in hell am I paying $80 for the privilege of being polite. If it comes down to that, somebody is just going to have to get woken-up & move.

Helena Handbasket: What's with people that can't seem to fly without bringing a ton of luggage along?

The airlines began charging for checked bags, so it created an incentive to haul everything into the cabin, making the stewardesses lives even harder trying to fit all the crap into the bins & deal with (rightly) annoyed passengers.

Everyone over 6'0" just flipped off the airline.


All I ask is for 3 extra inches of leg room! I hate having to lean my legs sideways the entire flight. The last 5 minutes makes me stabby because both of my legs have fallen asleep and I want nothing move than to move around.

The only time I ever snapped in an airplane was a coast-to-coast flight. With an hour left in the flight, the woman in front of me reclined her seat all the way(quite quickly I might add). I cried out a 'Yelp'. Then reaction took over; I freaked and punched the back of her seat very hard.

All the stewardesses had to get involved because the lady flipped out at me. I had immediately apologized, but she wouldn't accept it. She kept saying I had attacked her. They might have taken her side too, but she started saying I violated her, which I think pissed off the supervisor.

They ended up calming her down and gave me a free airline voucher. So I suppose it worked out best for me in the end(except the cramped legs).

I always picked aisle seat because I don't want to bother other passengers when I have to go to the restroom. A bit of extra leg room really was just side benefit.

Arklop: JonBuck: I think that charging an extra $25 so you can bring a single bag of luggage might have something to do with customer satisfaction as well.


Their website says it gives the best travel exp of your life... what do they mean, does the vest give you an in-flight BJ as well?

I didn't read all of these comments, so maybe this has been said.....

If the flight is fully booked and no one pays the $80 extra for the aisle seat...what happens? It's not like they keep certain seats open. Are the airlines going to sell less tickets per flight now and hope that people pay the extra $80 to open up the other seats?

I like an aisle seat so I can easily get up, walk around the cabin and crop dust.

That smell? Yep. It's me.

untaken_name: davidphogan: 2theruns: 6'4" 190lbs. Just tired of sitting on tarmac while 30+ minutes is wasted on the "overhead bag shuffle" during takeoff and landing. Publicly shaming fatties is just a bonus.

Ah, so you just happened to choose a number that lets your scrawny butt and a bag fly with no additional costs. Okay.

It is SCIENCE!

/wait, no, it's psychology

No, 230lbs covers men up to 7' with a normal BMI.

My prediction is that toilets and overhead compartments will be the next things you'll be charged for using. Which, of course, will lead to you being forced to sit next to some "clever" individual wearing five layers of clothing and an adult diaper.

\It's now cheaper for me to drive home for Christmas
\\That's counting cost of food, gas, and hotel (2-day trip) for a drive vs. food, ticket, car lot fee, checked bag fee, etc. for a flight.
\\\More convenient for me as well, actually

redmid17: 2theruns: CornFedIowan: 2theruns: 230lbs including carry-ons. $100/10lbs over. Huge scale with giant numbers that sounds an alarm, spits out your bill, and blacklists your seat until paid. First class is exempt. Every airline is profitable as first class tickets become in demand.

Explain how a weight limit doesn't discriminate against men.

Men with a normal weight BMI easily fits within the 230lbs. More weight, more fuel, more money.

Men with a normal BMI? I'm 6'3" 220. That would leave me with 10 pounds to pack shiat in. I'm not fat and even lost 10 pounds the past month cause of crossfit training. If you are even somewhat muscular BMI is a horrible scale. I dislike the airline seats as they are, but it's the lack of legroom that kills tall guys. That's why I always rock the aisle seats. When I check in on Southwest, I set an alarm in my outlook calendar so I can hit submit as soon as the clock turns. My record is A21, which was awesome considering the first 15 seats are reserved.

That is from the BMI tables:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.htm

People complain about being cattle, leg room, declining services, declining customer service yet get pissed about fees trying to recoup expenses on ridiculously low airfare prices.

Ticket prices have to go up. Would you prefer fee increases for everyone? A $10 fee for you is a $200 fee for overweight people with thousands of bags. You can easily mitigate all fee increases by not being fat and/or not having 5 carry-on bags weighing 150 lbs.

untaken_name: tombotia: It shouldn't cost only $900 USD to fly 3000 miles. Sorry, but it shouldn't.

Why shouldn't it? It's not like they're flying the entire plane for $900...there are usually multiple passengers on each flight. But if things keep going they way they're going, then fewer and fewer people are going to have to take on a larger and larger share of each flight, and you'll get your wish.

Try driving 3000 miles and see if the luxury of doing that 3-4 day trek [which will make you sore as heck] in only 6 hours is worth more than $900.

The fact of the matter though is they are losing money on flights which means quite literally they're not charging enough.

portland40k: There are a lot of large Americans. There will continue to be. If airlines charge by weight, people who weigh more will fly at a much lower rate. (Great! No more fatties to sit next to!) Oh, but wait. The airlines lose money this way and will just raise ticket prices for everyone to make up for lost revenue.

If it's worth so much more money for you to have your area all to yourself, just pay up for first class. Or start blaming airlines for not providing larger seats. Airlines changing is MUCH more likely than everyone weighing a buck sixty and having narrow shoulders.

How will fat people fly at a lower rate?

Stand on a scale with all carry-on luggage. Over X pounds, fee; under X pounds, no fee. Even without carry-on luggage there will still be a disproportionate amount of people triggering the "fat fee."

If you don't want to stand on giant scale in the airport and told you are too fat, pay more for first class that has no restrictions. Everyone comes out ahead.

ScottMpls: Surely, you can't be serious!

I am serious, and stop calling me Shirley.

/Just wanted to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.

oddball318: Merry Sunshine: If airlines had any farking sense of how the real world works, they would discontinue the checked bag fees, and institute carry-on bag fees. Checked bag fees have only encouraged everyone to try and jam their entire farking households into the overhead bins, resulting in more time spent sitting on the tarmac loading and unloading, less space in the bins for everyone, and just more bullshiat generally. Charge $40 to carry-on anything that won't fit under the seat in front of you, and let folks check as many farking bags as will fit in the cargo hold.

THIS
I'd never seen so much luggage dragged into the cabin before the BS about charging for every checked bag. It slows down boarding and security processing. Free carry-on should only be about a Briefcase/laptop/large purse (at least on any flight under say 3 hours).

Add medically required items to that and I'll agree.

//No way I'm checking my CPAP machine or my laptop.

tombotia: The fact of the matter though is they are losing money on flights which means quite literally they're not charging enough.

Or that they're overspending in other areas. Seriously, tickets are expensive as shiat already. Why not reduce the bonuses for the C-level folks 25% (There, I just saved you 1bil), close routes that nobody's using, and other common sense things instead of farking the consumer over?

I travel to west coast or east coast from Houston 5 to 6 times a year just to play around. Kind of big guy so I dont want middle seat. Only take carry on cause why do you need a lot of clothes and shoes for 2 or 3 days. So no problems here. My biggest complaint is the flying public and unreasonable expectations. You want the extras pay for the extras and STFU.

Airlines aren't going to lose business cause they are charging for blankets pillows or what ever cause if I feel like going to LA, I will pay up to double what I usually pay ($300)

Oh any you SWA lovers, rarely fly them because they are usually $50 to $150 more for same time between destinations so there's your bags fly free (really) claim and we still give snacks.

Example, March trip to Hartford planned. I can fly for $252 RT on United, Delta or Continential. Cheapest SWA flight is $298 up to $498 at approximately same times.

Exception Houston to Oakland on SWA is better than any other airline into SF.

Airlines tickets used to cost much more than they do today. It seems about 12-15 years ago, discount ticket fares (which have now become the norm) began appearing. So now, 15 progressively unprofitable years later the airlines are having to deploy these nickle-and-dime tactics in an effort to stay afloat. Well gee whiz, folks, how did you think is was going work out?

fortheloveofgod: shower_in_my_socks: Eh... I've never like the aisle. Window is where it's at. Put me in the corner and leave me the fark alone. Nobody makes me get up so they can use the bathroom and nobody smashes into me or drops shiat on me from the aisle.

If you were 6'3" you would understand the need for aisle!

6'4 and will choose the window every time. but then again, i self-medicate myself prior to every flight, and try to spend as much of the miserable experience as i can fast asleep. with the window, i have somewhere to lay my head, and am not constantly stirring awake to find somebody's ass directly in my face, said ass being so large it cannot get down an aisle without coming into contact with every person in every aisle seat.

2theruns: Stand on a scale with all carry-on luggage. Over X pounds, fee; under X pounds, no fee. Even without carry-on luggage there will still be a disproportionate amount of people triggering the "fat fee."

If you don't want to stand on giant scale in the airport and told you are too fat, pay more for first class that has no restrictions. Everyone comes out ahead.

Using that same analogy, if you drive a POS car and I drive a BMW, you shouldn't get to use the fast lane because you're not paying the same amount as I am in DMV fees. Sounds stupid, doesn't it?

2theruns: Already here:

I loaded that image into paintshop and did some measuring.

Based on the length of the 30" index line, the man child sitting in the seat is approximately 4'6".

i prefer sitting by the window.