To dread flying because of my size?

[annauk1]

I am going on holiday in a few days. I should be really happy but the flight is really making me not want to go.

I flew last year and needed a belt extension which was fine, wasn't much of a problem, but the thing that petrifies me most is that DP and I won't be able to sit together and if I end up sitting next to a nasty person who is ' a fat-phobe' and huffs and puffs at me the whole 3 hours for taking up more than my (tiny) seat space. I am flying with Monarch who are notorius for their tiny seats. I am a size 26 btw.

Well done for coming back OP.

Did you see my bit about Monarch upgrades? Last time I checked it was £30 per person for each flight and for that we got much more room, comfier seats and rows of only 2 seats.

Only The kids are staying at home with their Daddy :) I'm off having a jolly without them for a few weeks. (that sounds so so so bad - I do think I am regretting agreeing to go, hence the projecting!)

Greenacy....sorry my 'projection confusion'
Have a fantastic time

Andharry Yes i saw it thanks. Well worth us looking in to.

annauk1
Have a good holiday.

BTW I have PCOS and I am overweight but the weight has been coming off slowly and it is an effort for it not to go back on but don't lose hope. Just focus on healthy eating (perhaps after the holiday ) rather than weightloss and you'll feel better whether or not you lose weight.

This is a long thread but I reminds me of a flight I took with my two kids when a very obese couple has booked aisle seats over from each other clearly intending on speading into the people next to them instead of having the discomfort of sitting next to each other.

Unfortunately for the guy who was sitting next to my toddler I had a car seat fixed in which took up the exact width of the seat and it was therefore impossible for him to spill into the fixed object!

I then heard his wife say 'how is that fair'!!!!

Annouk definately look into it as I mentioned earlier....depending on aircraft type ....some have a few rows premium and definately worth the little extra for comfort.

Glad you came back have a great hol

well op I would rather sit by you than a screaming toddler.

I would pay good money to have child free flights. of course mine were fabulous.

agree with others, you need to pre book.

for OP. Takes guts to come back and apologise for an ill considered bit of the Original Post, and I suspect a fair few of us would have chickened out!

I think the op invited the rudeness by accusing those who didn't like the idea of her spilling into their seats as fat phobic.

They aren't being fat phobic, just wanting to sit in the seat they've paid for.

In tgese circumstances it is only reasonable to say
either:

I) book two seats
Ii) book an airline with bigger seats
Iii) shift tbe blubber that is causing the problem

I flew, on Monarch, in 1998, next to a larger person. The flight was full. It was so bad that I refused to fly again for 13 years. I kept telling the crew that it was uncomfortable to distort my body and they, very kindly, let me sit in the kitchen, behind the curtain, when I was not hiding in the loo.

I am not sure of the politics of 'fatshaming' which is a phrase I have picked up from mn but I feel compassionate towards larger people. I work with older people and I have NO overweight clients. They simply die off before I have a chance to meet them. They are a self selecting group for early death.

Gannon for the Mammaries: took me ages to get that, too, Vivi!

(It was a long haul flight, still have the memories)

"FFS, size 14 is not fat"

I am 5 ft 6 inches, a size 14, and have a waist measurement of 32 inches. I am fat. I have a role of fat around my waist, big thighs which rub holes in trousers, and my bmi is about 28, so not healthy for someone with low muscle mass and small bones.

That said, I wouldn't be spilling over an airline seat. Although I'm sure I wouldn't be comfortable on a long flight as the size of my arse would make it hard for me to do anything other than sit up straight - no way I could curl up on the seat at all.

And I certainly did not tell my neighbour why I was absent. Not sure that sitting in staff quarters would be allowed now but it was my only option on that nine hour flight.

"They are a self selecting group for early death."

I don't know how old your clients are, but my FIL is 81 and morbidly obese.

I think the only reason he's still alive is that he eats a very healthy diet (fish, masses of vegetables, rice) - just way, way too much of it.

That said, he is pretty much chair bound these days.

None of my mums friends is overweight. They are all 80+, slim, fit and still driving/going out/gardening.

It is probably a health hazard in the event of an emergency.

None over seventy.

Hardly any over sixty but I will check that with the team.

OP it's not fat-phobic if you don't want someone else in your personal space, they are probably feeling just as uncomfortable as you are.

When I travelled in S-E Asia all the seats were SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than they are over here (I literally could not fit me shoulders into the seats and I'm considered slim by most people) After the first awful experience I just paid for 2 seats on any coach so I wasn't horribly cramped the entire journey - it makes such a difference and I would recommend it if it's possible.

For those people saying book the seats with extra room, they are not any wider on the budget airlines, they just have extra room in front. We have often paid the extra but there is very little difference so we don't bother now unless the other unbooked seats are rubbish.

Lying I was not saying people were rude for disagreeing with me, they are perfectly entitled do that even if they are wrong . I was saying they were rude for making hurtful and uninvited comments about the OPs weight.

I agree you need space if you are using a flight to work but I had made an assumption we were talking about a typical holiday flight here. We fly from a smaller regional airport to Spain, Majorca, etc and I have never once seen anybody work so had assumed that we were talking about that type of flight.

I wonder how it would go if airlines put in some seats that were bigger widthways as well as legroom-wise at a slightly higher cost, like you get the luxury seats at the cinema. I wonder if people would pay for them? At present we seem to have a choice of very expensive or cattle class.

I have just taken my first flight in 13 years. Made sue that we had seats together. It was awful enough on BA. I do know of one person who travelled the World but we persuaded her to book two seats each time and that was decades ago. She is long dead now, in her flutes, before her mother.

Forties, not 'flute'

I think that the sensible thing to do in this situation would be to forget that economy class existed, and fly bus class. Or to book thee economy seats between two - no problem.

Of course it's a hell of a lot more expensive, but it's more comfortable and less embarrassing for everyone, and especially for the OP. If it means you must take fewer holidays then so be it.

So why not just have benches, then, Stumbled, instead of defined chairs? They'd be able to squeeze at least another person in the space between 2 actual seats.
I'd like to see some oversized person trying your argument as they spilled over into my lap