The last time I flew, I had a very large person next to me. I’m not small, but at least I don’t flow over into the next seat, nor do I need a seat belt extender. I simply sat down, buckled in, crossed my arms and assumed the “I’m trying to sleep here” position. My left elbow was safely in my seat area and was gouging his fat. He spent the flight trying to get away from me and nearly asphyxiating the woman in the window seat.
If it happens again, I’m gonna complain about it. Sorry, large folks. Either ride the bus, ride the train or lose weight. Airplanes ain’t for you.
That may be a quirk with how Southwest does seating. Since it’s open seating, they don’t want people to be able to say that the empty seat is theirs. It would be too easy for people to say that all the time trying to keep seats empty around them. The crew would need to somehow validate that you did in fact pay for that seat which is staying empty. Not just on checkin, but the crew on the plane would somehow need to know why that seat next to you is empty. I suspect that on a flight with assigned seating it would work better.
No, when you buy an empty seat, you get a boarding-pass-sized card to put on the empty seat, which informs both the crew and any passengers inquiring whether they can sit there. So that’s not the problem.
You get it when you get your boarding pass for your own seat, if you pick up your boarding pass at the ticket counter. IIRC, you actually have to pick up the extra-seat card there, rather than print it out online.
What I don’t get is people saying “well you are paying very little in economy, so you should live with what you get”
The point is, I’m paying $X to get Y inches of space. If the newest seats are, say 17 inches wide, then if I can fit in that seat, I’ll pay $X. I may be crammed in those 17 inches, but that’s what I paid for and I’ll live with it. But it’s my 17 inches.
It’s as if Subway offers a $3 ‘economy’ sandwich, with inferior meat cuts. If I’m OK with those cuts of meat, I’ll pay $3 for them. Otherwise, I’ll have to get their regular sandwich for $6.
But, if I pay the $3 for the crummy sandwich, at least I know it’s mine, and no one can take a bite out of it.
The way airline seats work now, it’s like paying $3 for a crummy sandwich, but also risking the possibility that another Subway customer can just take a huge bite out of it, and Subway will do nothing about it.
It’s not enough I’m suffering the reduced space of the new narrower seats, I have to also risk the fact that someone may spill into my space.
Sounds like you are well aware you risk having to share your seat with a larger person . If you don’t want that risk pay for a premium seat. It’s no secret flying coach sucks. It’s a choice we makeep to get cheap tickets.
Actually, what they sell is transportation, not seats. You don’t “buy a seat” on a plane, you buy the right to have yourself and some of your belongings transported to a particular airport. If you want to get a ticket to transport some random air, fine, but just be aware that air has no rights under the denied boarding regulations, so any time when there are other people who the airline wants to put on the plane, your air is going to be the first casualty, even before they ask for volunteers.
“Sounds like you are well aware you risk having to share your sandwich with a larger person . If you don’t want that risk pay for a premium sandwich. It’s no secret eating $3 sandwiches sucks. It’s a choice we make to get cheap sandwiches”
I don’t think people in any society would put up with another product where the cheap version of the product ran the risk of being partially taken away from you if an overweight person happened to be next to you.
If you give a significant discount for the skinny seat, and charge enough surcharge for the fat seat, skinny people may be very happy with the idea.
A lot of airplanes are now selling “more room” seats, which give you some extra space and cost a little extra, not enormously extra like first class. They seem somewhat popular.
Because regulations are carved in granite, after all - the Federal Register is an urban legend.
Not to mention, IIRC, those regs say what the airline is allowed to do when there are persons on the waiting list for a flight. Unless the regs say the airline has to give up an empty seat that someone’s paid for to the first person on the waiting list, all that has to happen is for airlines to change their policies to sell extra seats to whoever wants to buy them, with no requirement that they be given up.
My Wife recently purchased flights for us. I’m tall so she got the stretch seating. Poking around, it looks like it nearly doubled the fare. So while not quite as bad as the complete robbery for first class, that IMHO is a bit much for a little more length (you don’t get any more width). But :sigh: we bought it, so I guess it’s just shit we have to put up with (stretch seating and first class is totally subsidizing economy IMHO).
Meh. Most forms of transport around the world make flying coach look like pure luxury. On the list of problems I worry about, being a little cramped while you experience the miracle of flying thousands of miles in mere hours for a pittance just doesn’t make the cut.
I don’t think it’s equitable or fair to ask for between 2 and 4 times the economy fare to get a little bit extra room so that economy class can be kept so cheep.
I’m 6’4 215. Not a huge guy buy any means, but pretty big.
And then there is the bitching on the SDMB. “This guys shoulders where encroaching on my space”. I’ll be spending an extra 90% just to get an extra 19% of legroom. And that’s not first class.
The prices we pay keep economy cheep.
Yes I will bitch about that. That people of smaller stature complaining is kinda silly. An extra $10 per economy seat would make stretch seating or business class a little bit more affordable. And not the ridiculous prices they charge. (if you can get it). Or give an extra 2 inches leg room in economy if the plane is only set up that way.
