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We all know that you can't take heavy luggage on a plane anymore without being charged. But United Airlines, in an attempt to rain on the parade of the "you can have your cake and eat it, too," crowd, has just announced that people packing extra pounds may pay more for their tickets as well. They have three new rules, as they mention on their web site. You will pay for an extra ticket or be forced to upgrade where you'll have more room (or be exited off the plane if you refuse) if:
you're unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin.
you're unable to properly buckle the seat belt using a single seat belt extender
you're unable to put the seat's arm rests down when seated.
Excellent, and it's about time!!! I don't want my space and comfort compromised by some ridiculous fat ass sitting next to me. Economy seating is cramped enough already without having your space further being eaten into.
I actually think this is a good thing. A passenger pays for one seat and if they are spilling into the seat next to them (which somebody else paid for and is sitting in!) it is not the airlines fault. In order to accomodate these people the airline will just charge them for a seat they can fit in.
If I paid $350 to fly LAX-NYC and had somebody that was "large" come and take up half of MY $350 seat I would be really angry. If you can't fit, pay the price.
It would be like booking a hotel room that had two double beds that can sleep four people, but then showing up with 18 people and being angry you all don't have enough space to sleep. The hotel will either make you buy multiple rooms (multiple economy seats) or get a huge expensive suite that can sleep 18 (first class).
We all know that you can't take heavy luggage on a plane anymore without being charged. But United Airlines, in an attempt to rain on the parade of the "you can have your cake and eat it, too," crowd, has just announced that people packing extra pounds may pay more for their tickets as well. They have three new rules, as they mention on their web site. You will pay for an extra ticket or be forced to upgrade where you'll have more room (or be exited off the plane if you refuse) if:
you're unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin.
you're unable to properly buckle the seat belt using a single seat belt extender
you're unable to put the seat's arm rests down when seated.
Absolutely, I got stuck beside some stinking fat sweating slob that wanted a portion of my seat to spread out his more than ample butt. The arm rest stayed down, and his fat butt didn't encroach on my seat. He wasn't happy, but I I had an air gap between me an this sweating fat slob.
Had the air crew told me that armrest must remain up to accommodate him, I would have demanded a different seat, but plane was full, or I'll just get off and catch another flight, I will not be plaster to the side of this slob for 2+ hours. To really make things worse, the flight originated from Tampa in the summer, he was soaking wet from sweat.
They'd best be careful. Things like this can lead to legislation forcing the airlines to provide reasonable seat spaces. United especially has VERY tiny seats. I'm slender and even I have to crunch in there.
Southwest, Delta, Continental, etc.... have a similar policy regarding what airlines call "People of Size" and there have been no law suits yet. Also remember all United airlplanes have "Economy Plus" with 5 more inches of legroom which a person can easily upgrade or purchase instead of a regular economy seat so UA does provide options for "reasonable space".
Southwest, Delta, Continental, etc.... have a similar policy regarding what airlines call "People of Size" and there have been no law suits yet. Also remember all United airlplanes have "Economy Plus" with 5 more inches of legroom which a person can easily upgrade or purchase instead of a regular economy seat so UA does provide options for "reasonable space".
Just because nobody's stepped up to sue doesn't mean there's not a case.
Southwest and Continental have "reasonably" sized seats. United's are just tiny. And then to charge for extra room, absolutely nuts. I guarantee a discrimination suit would go a fair distance.
This gets sillier by the moment. What are they doing to do with the ex-professional sports figure who has a 52" chest? Deny boarding? I doubt it.
This comes from an airline who NEVER enforces its carry-on policies.
I find it amazing that an airline that is constantly on the verge of bankruptcy spends so much time and effort thinking of ways to extract more money from their remaining customers. They would do far better to do things that would improve the airline LIKE:
Train their flight attendants to be friendly. (I used to LOVE to fly TED watching United FAs try to pretend like they work for Southwest. Never have a seen so many forced smiles.)
it does sound like a good idea overall (as mentioned, other airlines have similar rules on the book). I'm overweight, but have no issues fitting in seats or w/ wearing a seatbelt but my shoulders are broader than most women so can run into issues when sitting next to other broad shouldered people. hopefully they won't force me to buy another seat just b/c of this (nothing I can do about my shoulder width!). sounds like I'll be okay though, so no worries for me. though you may now have have who just barely fits trying their hardest to suck it in so they don't have to pay more money and the fact that these people are barely restrained may be a safety issue for them
however, jlawrence brings up another good point. carry-on policies are rarely followed to the letter. I work at O'Hare and see people come in through security w/ massive sized bags and multiple bags (remember one lady w/ a regular sized carry-on, a very large shoulder bag, a large paper bag from a local store filled w/ purchases, and anotner bag of stuff bought in the airport). whenever I fly, I dread beyond in a later boarding group b/c by the time group 3 starts to board, the bins are really filled up and there's always some idiot that puts they bags several rows ahead of where they're actually sitting
and if this is all about customer satisfaction (*cough*BS*cough*), then how about they do something about all the other annoyances: people who recline so far back you can see their eyebrows and end up squishing your knees, kids being loud or climbing over you if you're in the aisle seat (doesn't anyone teach these kids to say "excuse me please" any more?), people w/ laptops wider than the seats who are typing away so fast that their elbows and hands keep bumping into you. I even had one lady w/ too many bags ask me if she could store one of her bags under MY seat and I should move my laptop bag to the overhead bin. I told her hell no (but in a much nicer way). all of the above in one way or another are intruding on my space. of course, these above issues could be handled if airlines enforced carry on rules, parents controlled their kids, and people exhibit some common sense courtesy on board
I think there are a lot of issues w/ airlines that are making people annoyed, however this is one issue they can immediately profit from by forcing people to by larger seats
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