'The bigger you are the higher the cost of a plane ticket' AIBU to think that this is ridiculous?

[Poppet48]

I have just heard the debate of should a plane ticket cost more for obese people.

I think that this is ridiculous, not only is it discriminating it is highly embarrassing to have to get weighed at the airport check in, Where have the human rights gone?

AIBU to feel this way?

I would love to hear what others think of this.

Soup, you pay more due to length of journey - please read my price comparison in terms of £/min spent on journey comparing buses vs airplanes.

hmmm I flew back from a holiday in the sun to Glasgow
Yesterday. Where would you start? Only a small minority of passengers were slim and, I would guess, under 70 kg. The baggage allowance was 5kg or you had to pay excess. I weigh 52kg...so ultimately im subsidising the extra fuel costs to carry someone twice or three times my weight.

The man in front of me asked for a seatbelt extension. This was given free of charge. Virtually nothing else on the flight was free but I guess this is for safety reasons, although being squashed by a very large person is hardly safe either.

Kendodd I am 6'4 tall and built on the large side, my body fat % is just over 18 which is considered athletic/normal. I have never done weights - so not artificially bulked up. My over weight 8 yr old DD has just been diagnosed with Thyroid. Some large/fat people are what they are due to genetics, medical conditions etc. Is it just to discriminate against such people in a civil society? Do you want to live in a civil society?

thyroid problems are much rarer than you think,

to many people are making excuses for ther lack of control.

Some posters don't seem to have grasped the fact that charging for total weight instead of weight of luggage is not going to solve the overspill problem. Yes, airlines would charge more for the bigger person but the seat sizes will remain the same so you will still be wedged in to your seat with someone else 'sharing' it.

mrsBucks I agree but what about hormone problems, that's what GP suspected and just added the thyroid test as an after thought. Then there is the mental health issues such as eating disorders which incidentally means that the 50kg passenger & the 150kg passenger are both suffering from the same problem but one gets fined whereas the other doesn't.

IMO I think it's better to address the underlying issues causing the increase in average weight of population than fining them. The cost to NHS is much more than what you end up saving on flight tickets.

Chaotic - I know, and it is driving me batty. Poor old journo OP has had hardly any actual answers to her question...

Thyroid disorders once treated are not really an excuse either. Weight gain is a symptom, but only before treatment.

Surely if someone was so big they spill into another seat, they wouldn't want to fly without buying an extra seat? The embarrassment must be horrific.

ilikebirds so what should we do stop flying until DD gets it sorted? What about all the other issues raised?

LtEve, it's driving me batty too. Still if posters want to continue to believe that charging larger people extra will mean they get a full seat that's their choice.

Mondrian you don't have to stop flying, pay for an extra seat.

Mondrian, many (most?) 50kg passengers will not have MH issues or eating disorders! Just under 8 stone is a perfectly respectable weight for the smaller in stature, thanks.

Mondrian - are you actually suggesting that people like me, who weigh around 50kg, have mental health issues? Its a perfectly normal weight for fit and active women under say 5 feet 4! How odd!

It seems Mondrian is doing the normal insult the smaller people thing. How disappointing. Such a great user name too.

I don't think Mondrian was suggesting all 50kg passengers have mental health issues. Wasn't it more of a point to highlight that two people could suffer the same sort of MH issue but with two very different results and one would be penalised for it? That's how I read it at least.
Chaotic - yep, the two issues do appear to be getting confused and it is really frustrating!

That's how I read it too LetMe

seriously skinny people get help cause the die faster than fat people than over eat, both are killing themselves.

if you are larger please buy the extra seat and do the right thing.

two people suffer the same problem, and only one is penalized...but then only on affects others?

Something like low self-esteem/depression can cause people to behave in a massive range of ways.

Obviously curing the problem is optimal...but if we can't (although I don't see why not) then surely it is right for society to tackle the aspects that make others lives difficult before the ones that don't?

Another day, another fat-bashing thread. Super.

The airlines are a business, not a charity nor a 'right'. They transport people and cargo to make a profit. The price of a ticket is very much about need and demand, and is not calculated by taking in consideration people's weight. Cargo is a completely different matter.

On a plane you will encounter plenty of inconsiderate people, or people you just don't feel like sitting next to. What do you expect the airline to do about it? Sitting next to someone who is so large that they can't fit into one seat is a completely different issue. There's also a big difference between sitting next to someone a bit big who's rubbing shoulders with you and stretching their legs out to someone who's obese.

If a person cannot fit into just one seat they pose a safety risk to themselves and the person sitting next to them. Not to mention how uncomfortable both people will be. Many carriers in the US offer you a half price ticket for the 2nd seat if you purchase both seats at the time of booking. You also have the option of buying a business class or first class seat if that aircraft has any. These are all good options.

The airline lets passengers check in a bag as a courtesy. They don't make any profit off this, unless they are charging extra fees. It's much easier for a passenger not to pack 24 pairs of shoes for a two week trip then it is for them to lose 100lbs for their flight. Baggage and cargo has nothing to do with a passenger not fitting into one seat.

Like someone else stated, just because a large person sitting next to you is paying more for their ticket (if people paid by weight) you wouldn't be any more comfortable.

Coach class seats are very small and cramped even if you are skinny. Like someone else already stated, us consumers have driven down the cost of tickets. What do you expect? Again the airline is a business. If you don't like the small cramped seat your very affordable ticket got you then pay more and fly first class.

What difference does it make who's fat, who's skinny, and how they got that way? Why do you think the airlines care?

DH's last flight, he was on a row-of-three with a woman who was so overweight she needed help into her seat from the cabin crew. His seat was the aisle seat (because he's so tall he can't generally sit comfortably in any other on one-class flights) and hers was the window.

The cabin crew asked him to swap, as they couldn't safely get her into "her" seat, nor out of it in an emergency. He was a bit put out, as obviously if there had been said emergency he'd have had a hell of a job to get past her.

A certain amount of weight actually puts other passengers in danger, let alone discomfort.

LetMe is spot on with her take on my point. However if skinnies want to charge fat people then they should be prepared for some too. For the record I am not even overweight.

It's not about "fat bashing" or "skinnies" charging "fat people" it's about people sitting half on a seat paid for by someone else and the fact that it is not fair.

Horry - that's really dangerous to be so overweight that you need to be carried to your seat and when you get to it you are literally squashed in and in fact have to ask others to move. In an emergency what on earth was your DH going to do.