Flying when really fat - impossible without buying 2 seats?

[FknOmniShambles]

I last flew about 5 years ago when I went to Iceland and was a size 22. It was a squeeze to be comfy in the seat but I used a belt extender which was fine. Sadly, I'm now bigger (please don't judge cos I say it all to myself every day anyway) and am about a size 26. My weight is around my belly and bum.
Fiance is desperate to get away, and I'd love to as well. I've told him I'm scared of flying and we have explored rail trips and cruises... But ultimately we are limiting ourselves and I feel so bad as its my fault.
Any ladies of a similar size have any tips about plus size travel? I'd be very grateful!
I will book two seats happily if that's the only option.

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The series is called Go Love Yourself.

It has attached and thank you for this x

My DH is overweight. We always fly with BA in their premium economy (club?). They only seat 2 people in each row so the middle seat is empty which is much more comfy for him but obviously it’s put a stop to cheap breaks away for us because we can’t fly easyjet or similar. You do get lounge access, priority boarding, checked luggage and a meal on board though.

I once flew easyjet with my sibling and the plane they used to fly us back was ridiculously cramped so we can’t risk it even buying another seat.

There was definitely a thread on this not too long ago, if you search? And the person definitely flew Easyjet or Ryan Air.

I can't advise on flight experience but I did want to say that rail and boat isn't limiting you necessarily!
There's a ferry from Portsmouth (I think) to Santander (Northern Spain). You could take Eurostar to Paris or Brussels. There's loads on connections from there to other places. Don't be limited to planes necessarily

The airlines often publish information about seat sizes. You could try fitting into that space before you book?

I think it's possible to find out the precise width of seats for a given airline/flight.

That could enable you to check your options, including whether 2 premium economy seats might be better/cheaper than 3 budget airline seats or not.

But might it be easier to travel to somewhere by train?

Easyjet might be a squeeze, but the worst will happen is you’ll have to breathe in, and failing that an extender. BA I think you’ll be fine. Whatever airline you choose just check they have extenders (they will) so you know what the procedure will be if you need one which will help your anxiety.

I am not a dissimilar size and fly several times a month. Never not been able to use the belt.

Honestly you'll be ok, albeit a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps don't choose a cheap airline like Ryanair, as seats tend to be more narrow. I'm bigger than you and I fly. Yes, I feel shame and ask for a seatbelt extension but I fit somehow. My weight is around my thighs and bum but at my weight it's also everywhere.

Rail trips aren't necessarily more comfortable, especially with a seat booking on a full train. I find train seats even more narrow.

You'd need to know the plane type, which can be found out for a route beforehand but there is no guarantee that there won't be changes prior to departure.

I doubt you are bigger than dp and we fly all the time. His bigger issue is he's tall too! For long haul premium economy has bigger seats and much more legroom.

Another great option is the ferry to Santander, Spain and visit the Picos or San San Sebastián or Cunard do cruise itineraries to Rome and take the train back (or vice versa)

I can't tell you how much I appreciate these replies. I think in my head I've convinced myself I'm the biggest person in the world so there would be no solutions.. But these relies are extremely helpful, thank you.

Search for "If it fits, I sits" on Facebook. They have a wealth of tried and tested info on plane seats, theatre seats, stadium seats...

Really depends how your weight is distributed, as to whether tounwill fit in the seat widths I think when I flew BA it was 41cm wide and I knew I would encroach so I got an aisle seat which let the arm rest go up so I could spill out into the aisle.

I struggled to fully get arm rest down I did but really dug in so I always had it up as soon as seat belt sign was off. I also couldn't get the whole tray table down cos of my tummy lucky it folded in half ao I could have it down like that.

On my flight out it was pretty empty so had noone next to me.

It's made me focus on losing weight cos I don't want to experience that again

Jet 2 are very spacious seats so try to use them for Europe
virgin premium economy for USA
I avoid Ryanair but find easyJet quite ok
tend to buy a third seat anyway so have whole row between the two of us .
plenty of fat people fly !

BA premium economy don’t always seat just two people per row. You may just be lucky to always have an empty seat in your row but it isn’t standard practice.

My mistake sorry I didn’t check the name of the service, turns out I mean club europe

Some people are suggesting that you're going to have more space on BA than Ryanair, but for any flight less than 4 hours you're going to be on a Boeing 737 or an Airbus 320, and that means the seats are going to be the same width on every airline. They can vary how many rows they put in to give people more legroom, but the big metal tube is already built, the aisle has to have a certain width, and they're then going to divide the remaining width among two sets of 3 seats. I'd be surprised if there is 1cm of difference between any of them.

Some things you can do to reduce the stress, perhaps:

• Book an extra seat, as you mentioned. I was booking a Ryanair flight the other day and there was a checkbox for that.
• If not, book the aisle seat (C or D) and have your fiancé sit in the middle seat (B or E). That way you only have to worry that you're bumping into him and not a stranger.
• Get a seat near the front of the plane (see next point).
• Board last, as in, be literally the last two passengers to get on the plane. After all, someone has to be! That way you can probably walk straight to your seats in 4B/4C or 5E/5D and sit down. This reduces the chance of someone making a nasty comment because they think you're slowing them down (or just because they're horrible), and as a bonus it also means you spend less time in the narrow seat.

I'd just buy two seats. My mum had a larger lady encroaching on her seat for her entire flight and she ended up with severe back pain from contorting herself for hours on end. It completely ruined her holiday. I think if you can't confidently stay within the confines of your seat then you really do need two.

If you book two seats don't you still need to have the armrests down for take off and landing?

I get an extender on Ryanair and feel more squashed.
Jet2 l don't need one and the seats seem bigger.
I'm a size 24.
I go window seat.

Having the armrests down is intended to make it more likely that you will stay in your seat if there is a sideways impact on the plane (for example, if it skids off the runway), as a 2-point seat belt can only do so much. That's also why exit row seats have fixed armrests, because it's extra-important that you don't have two people stuck there if they cracked their heads against each other.

On that basis, if one person is occupying two seats then the armrest between those seats is not required, and presumably the armrest that separates them from the third seat is enough. Crew training is pretty good and I doubt if a jobsworth will tell a passenger of size (this is the official term, see https://www.ifly.com/flying-info-and-tips/overweight-passengers) that they have to put the armrest down when this is close to impossible. In fact that might result in the passenger getting stuck in case of an emergency.

Thanks for this thread. Flying in two weeks and worrying about this too.

Thank you for the explanation @samarrange.

Did you fly??? Im flying in june and am similar size! Xx