I had the least pleasant flight of my life this weekend from London to NYC. (And I once flew LAX-Hong Kong next to a screaming three-year-old!)
I was seated on a full flight next to a guy who must have been 400 lbs. I am not even sure how he squeezed himself into the seat. His tray table could not even move he was so big. His sides were spilling over all over both armrests. I could barely get to my headphone jack. Because there was nowhere for his arms to go but in my lap, he had to cross his arms in front of him.
As he fell asleep, his arms would fall uncrossed and hit me in the arm or worse. So, every 20 minutes I was greeted by a flailing arm. At first, he'd apologize profusely. American. Of course. By the end of the flight, he just pretended like it wasn't happening.
I've never said this before because I've never seen it before, but that guy should have bought two tickets. Or first class or something.
At least it wasn't a longer flight, thankfully. I was then very grateful I was connecting to Texas. But I needed my sleep on that flight, or at least the precious little space I paid for. Now I'm just miserable and cranky, ugh.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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13 comments:
Eww, that's awful. I have had similar experiences but I think the guys were a little smaller and the flights a lot shorter. To me London to NYC is a pretty long flight. You're a saint for putting up with that, the guy did need two seats.
How about a sample airline seat at check in next to the carry on luggage size limit display. "If your luggage does not fit in here you must check it"... "If your butt does not fit in here you must notify us on check in to be assigned an additional seat." ($50 charge, just like checking an additional bag)
Ugh. I wish technology would improve to the point of teleportation so we don't have to deal with the current unpleasantness of air travel (e.g. obese seat mates in coach, screaming children, people with BO, etc. etc.) It's amazing that the people who checked in the man didn't insist that he buy a second seat. I've seen Southwest employees do that. I'm sorry to hear about your lousy travel.
Send a customer service email to the airline asking what there policy is on oversized passengers. They probably have one, and their staff just kept passing the awkward XXXL buck until it became your problem. You never know - if you're a frequent flyer member, you might get some freebie airmiles or something.
I once got stuck next to one of these 400-lb types...actually, there were two of them on the flight but they couldn't physically sit next to each other. Seat belt extenders, unable to use the tray table, and of course taking up half my space, especially around the shoulders. Thankfully the guy on my other side (yeah, I had a middle seat) was a tiny fellow so I could lean his way without causing him discomfort.
Not only is this uncomfortable for you, but it also isn't safe. What if you have to evacuate and you can't get past him because he's so huge? Or he clogs up the aisle with his huge butt?
I got stuck next to a raging drunkard in business class once on the way from LAX-Changi (Singapore). The stewards had to manhandle him because he was such a nuissance, trying to pick fights with everybody. It freaked me out so much. The whole flight was fully booked so they couldn't move me to another seat, but they did offer me an upgrade to first in the future.
The only other thing I can think of that's up there with flying next to a fat person, and a drunkard, is having to fly next to a dead body (or be in the vicinity of one). I've heard bad stories about that one.
I take issue with K-Money's comment that they charge this person $50. Because really, that person should be paying you the $50. It should be a discount for your ticket since they are causing a negative externality to your travel experience.
Just my 2 cents.
Horrific.. I once sat beside a guy who had thrown up and peed on himself a week ago (that's what it smelled and looked like), on the train for 5 HOURS..
yyyyyyeah, you ARE a saint! I've been fortunate to have avoided those type of in-flight incidences. It's a tough one. Big people have to fly too, but they really should pay for an extra seat if they need it, don't you think?
Speaking as a person who is on the (ahem) hefty side, just how comfortable do you think this trip was for him? Why, in the name of the almighty dollar, do airlines chop up the seats in coach to ever-decreasing dimensions? And why do you not blame them for your discomfort? It's not just overweight folks who suffer, but the very tall as well. Frankly, I find your attitude and that of the other responders here as unkind, ungracious, and really, really ugly. Sorry one night of your life got ruined, but I'm willing to bet this guy has a myriad of other issues that outweigh (all puns intended) your one bad flight. And No, I don't think he should have to pay extra for the "crime" of being obese.
This is a tough issue. On the one hand I agree with Grace, many of the comments here have been very unkind and probably a bit unnecessary. The man probably felt very bad for being in the position of making you uncomfortable, and the airlines are somewhat at fault here as well. They've chopped those seats up so that they can fit more passengers in them. It's greedy and clearly makes everyone's lives more difficult.
On the other hand, being of a larger size - in many cases - is a choice. I'm not saying it's easy to lose the weight and I'm not suggesting that there can't be some medical issues involved. I spent a lot of my younger years being significantly overweight. But, I am saying that staying obese is a personal choice. I drew the line the day I didn't fit into the roller coaster at Six Flags. I lost the weight. So, because I think it's a personal choice, I do see the argument for making them pay for an additional seat. However, given the fact that airlines have purposely made those seats small, I think the larger passenger should only be charged half for the second seat and let the airlines eat the rest of that cost.
@ Grace -- I'm sure that trip was truly awful for him, but not much I could do about that.
The airlines do have seats his size. They're called first class. He could have bought one.
Obviously, he didn't care about his own comfort. The part that sucks is that neither he nor the airline cared about mine.
I don't know what the solution was, but if that happens to me again, I'm going to be moved, full flight or not.
As long as people want discount tickets be prepared to be squeezed into seats and deal with experiences just like this. The worst part-many times those obese people do pay for two seats and the airline over books so guess what? You are sitting in a seat that was paid for twice! Airlines are struggling and moral is down, there is no respect for the industry in general.People people want cheap flights, so you are going to get what you pay for. Those Flight Attendants probably don't care if you are squeezed in like a sardine because they get paid 20k a year, so they figure you can deal with it or ask them yourself to be moved. ***Sorry, just telling the truth from the airline's standpoint, I hear it all the time as I am married to a pilot and we have many friends in the industry.***
The best solution would have been to book a first-class seat. The whole point of the coach is the ECONOMY of it. They need to carve out the smallest seat possible for the most amount of people to keep it cost effective. I am 5'4" and 120 and even I feel like those seats are too small, but I am willing to trade that for a cheap $200 flight.
If all clothes were priced by the size (4=$40, 6=$42.50.....24=$70) based on how much more material and time it took to make them, larger people would be squeezing themselves into smaller sizes (this goes for 6s wearing 4s, too) just like large people try to fit in small coach seats. It is a fact of life for larger (taller, fatter, whatever) that they need more resources in general and this includes seating space.
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