Re #79
Airlines already sell wider seats as business or first class, but the price premium is often larger than the cost of a second seat.
If the seats in the row of two were 50% more, the money to the airline would be the same as they get from the row of 3 seats. Maybe that would be more affordable and more popular.
^ What if the people of size who needed the larger seats didn’t select them? Are they also first come first served? I can think of several circumstances where someone (eg traveling with infant, etc., or simply don’t want some character kicking you or jabbing you in the side) might choose to pay a bit mor for a larger seat. How big are the economy comfort seats? Are they any wider or have any more leg room? It may have been mentioned earlier- don’t recall.
This couldn’t have happened. Unless you were departing from a Canadian airport that had US immigration processing, you would have had to gone thru immigration processing at the 1st point of entry in the US.
Who cares about cobrat’s flight details. It’s not relevant to this discussion. (
For United and Hawaiian Air, the economy plus seats give you a bit more leg room, so if you drop something you can actually bend down and pick it up without having to be a contortionist!
One of the best things about H and me flying together is that we usually get 2 seats together–usually I have the window and H has the aisle and that has been our situation on most flights. D has had larger folks seated beside her several times–she’s not quite 100 pounds. She tends to feel sorry for them and say they seemed uncomfortable the entire flight. S flies a ton and is fortunate to frequently get free upgrades to economy plus or 1st class. He is also slim–has not spoken about being squeezed.
@HImom Do the economy plus seats provide more width as well or just more legroom?
I believe they mostly have more leg room, but am not sure as we never have issues on seat width, only legroom. I always worry about picking up things as soon as I drop them on the flight, otherwise, no idea where it will end up by the end of my flight. My flights are 5+ to 10+ hours most of the time. Space feels GREAT! We will take the economy plus seats if available, even if that means H and I are in different rows.
Only more legroom. I always book economy plus because my legs are very very long and I have issues with my joints and need to be able to move around. Those few extra inches make for a completely different experience. But the seats are no wider. Some economy plus seats are actually a bit narrower – bulk head and exit row have slightly thicker armrests to accommodate the tray tables.
With United, you can book a subscription to get economy plus for all your flights for a year. If you’re going to fly a lot, it can make the experience more comfortable and be cheaper than buying it individually on each flight. We did purchase it one year–it was a splurge but well worth it to us!
Should clarify – some international flights may have wider seats in economy plus; I’m not sure
When the plane is refueling the passengers are normally kicked out from the plane. However they are not allowed out of the boarding area and do not pass immigration. I had this experience in Gander, Newfoundland. It was cold.
Maybe Cobrat hid under his narrow seat.
Maybe one of the flight attendants was a cousin and hid him in the galley or the bathroom. And maybe there was a police officer waiting when they deplaned to arrest the passenger for assault for jabbing and kicking the person next to him. There’s no excuse for boorish behavior.
More airlines need to offer the option to buy another seat like SW does. Quite frankly, there are times DH and I might decide it’s worth it to pay for 3 bargain seats to guarantee an empty middle between us. I love the window, DH needs the aisle to flex his legs.
Since SWA doesn’t assign seats, how would anyone know someone paid for 2 seats? Would the person have 2 boarding passes and put one on the empty seat next to them to prevent someone from sitting there?
I was curious about that as well @jym626 so I read their website and they have the policies outlined. From the website:
“The Customer who has secured more than one seat must be an active participant in preserving his/her additional seat. We encourage Customers of size to preboard to locate adequate seating and place the Seat Reserved Document in the adjacent seat. Our Ground Operations and Inflight Employees communicate about Customers’ needs, and if a Customer of size needs seating assistance, he/she should ask an Employee for help.”
Thanks, @doschicos . Where does one get a “seat reserved” document, and what’s to keep someone with marginal ethics from making one that looks legit?
I feel for people who suffer from obesity. I really do. I see it as a disability that no one would willingly choose. I have no wish to add to anyone’s humiliation or create a conflict if it can be avoided.
But I have my own issues. I’m horribly claustrophobic and have a very strong aversion to being touched by a stranger. Flying is painful for me because as others have observed, non-obese people can be quite good at spilling over onto their neighbor’s seats. I pay for or use points for upgraded seating whenever possible. When I’m crammed into a coach seat, I lean over to my side and give up the armrest. I’ve given up flying in a middle seat. I can handle a short flight, even a two hour flight. Unfortunately for me, most of my flying is cross-country.
I would probably have to leave the plane if someone morbidly obese sat next to me on a cross country flight and there was no option for one of us to be reseated. I can handle parents with infants and toddlers easily. I love when I get seated next to someone with an animal. I’m helpful to senior citizens and put their luggage up and bring it down during the flight. Maybe we should fill out a seatmate questionnaire before boarding, lol? All I ask is the use of my one seat.
It seems to me that the responsibility for managing this issue lies squarely with the airline and that there are some solutions for them to take charge of the situation. The pop-up window mentioned above, asking whether you will be able to fit in the seat with the armrests down is a great idea. It could provide weight guidance and carry a warning that if you do not fit, then you may be asked to purchase an additional seat or, if no seats are available, to leave the plane. Just as you agree to the hazardous cargo terms and the non-refundability of the ticket terms, you could be required to agree to the weight terms. (Shoot, I’d love to have everyone sign a code of conduct agreement too, 
) If the passenger ignores the warning, he takes a calculated risk and brings the consequences on himself.
That said, I don’t think it’s right to impose the entire cost of what I believe is a disability on the disabled individual. The airline could reduce the charge for a second seat if a person can establish disability, through a physician’s note perhaps. Perhaps it could be 20% more or 50% more on more popular flights.
@3girls3cats - I took a 4 hr flight that would have been your worst nightmare. I posted about it in the past, here http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19027685/#Comment_19027685
Like you, I have great sympathy for those with weight issues, regardless of the cause. DH’s family has many members who are very large. But they are considerate and when flying want their flight to be as equally comfortable as their seat mates. Regardless of size, it is the inconsiderate seat mate that can make a flight uncomfortable and unpleasant.
@doschicos @nottelling Most domestic premium economy seats feature a little extra legroom and recline but nothing more. On international flights premium economy often features a slightly wider or even substantially wider seat.
There is no question airline seats are getting smaller. Everyone used to fly the 777 with a 2-5-2 configuration with 18.5" seats. Now the airlines cram in 10 seats per row with a 3-4-3 configuration and 17-inch seats. Everything about it is miserable. The seats are painfully narrow and the three-across seating guarantees that couples will have to sit with a stranger.
Boeing designed the 787 for 8-across seating and a 19-inch seat. The airlines decided to cram in an extra seat, and so most 787s feature seats that are 16.9- or 17-inches wide. Talk about misery!
The key is to plan ahead very carefully. I use Seatguru for every long-haul flight. When traveling as a couple, I find the 767 is one of the best planes to fly. On Delta these seats are 17.9-inches wide, which is not as wide as I would like, but it’s possible to sit in rows of two, so no need to interact with a stranger. I don’t care a bit about having extra legroom, but I would gladly pay a premium for a substantially wider seat. My personal opinion is that the airlines intentionally make coach flying fairly miserable in order to force people to pay more to fly business or first class.