Fat Tax (Page 2)

This is about fuel use, not seat use.  If it truly costs more to fly my 230 lb husband (who is 6'3'' by the way, and doesn't spill into the next seat), then I can understand needing to pay more.  It does't help me at all when I am buying both tickets, but if I am just buying for myself then I would love to pay less.

I have ALWAYS felt this way about that baggage crap. Especially since I can unpack my 52 lb bag, stick the extra item or two in my carryon, and still get on the flight with the same junk.  And all of this, added up, I still weigh less than my husband.  

I'd like to see a total limit, say 400 lbs, per passenger.  You get weighed with your stuff.

The problem with confusing this with seat fillage is that my husband for instance, who might pay more in this case, still gets jammed into a very uncomfortable seat but has to pay more for it.   If they really wanted to sell two seats they would have to start using a guide of some sort. 

Or, maybe they have different sizes of seats?    Under 100 lbs and under 5'2'' you get the cheapest seat.    The next tier is 175 lbs and under 5'8'' (slightly wider, slighly more leg room), etc.    

I am not sure this is the instant law suit.  There are many things in life when you can/can't do something based on your body size.  Again with the big husband, there are many things not rated to go above 225 lbs in the recreational world, like folding bikes or a freefall simulator.   I wanted to do a special thing at the science museum and you had to weigh over 100 lbs and under 175.  In our group of 4, only 1 person was in that range (1 under, 2 over).   It happens.

They just need a scale and a policy.

I'm not obese but I can tell you that I have wide shoulders so I go out of my way to try to keep my elbows in to not be rude to others.  I can also say that the short and THICK lady who sat next to me in December was not brought up to be as courteous.

I have flown with guys who have big shoulders who were not nearly as considerate!

I have always wondered why airlines dont charge by weight.  We ship cargo by weight.  In then end what is the difference.  It is ridiculous that children should cost the same as a 300lb person to fly the same distance.  Maybe a minimum fare for up to 100 lbs and then charge for every lb over that.

Maybe you have a price for up to 400 lbs and then at weigh in you get a discount for how much you come in under that weight?

Same principle, not such a negative connotation.

It's interesting to view it as a punishment.

I see it as any other event in life where the excessively short/tall/small/large folks simply have to do something different. Sometimes it's benign like having to shop in the petite or big-and-tall section, having to get every pair of pants hemmed, or custom suits made. Sometimes it's not being able to ride the roller coaster. And sometimes it might involve paying more to participate. 

This. One of my consulting assignments back in the day was to help airlines price. Inevitably, the discussions got to this: 

- Why carry passengers?  Cargo doesn't complain, pays well, don't need pretzels or a working in-flight entertainment system, wifi, or a raft of flight attendants. 

Some airlines altered their mix, some didn't...but what's clear is that economically, for better or worse, your ticket price, as a passenger, is more significantly influenced by the amount of cargo you displace than anything else. 

Hence why the airlines refer to us all (except 1st class) as "Self-storing cargo". 

Well, we punish (to use your term) people that drink and smoke by way of additional taxes and we punish people that do drugs by way of sending them to jail.

Hey I like to poke fun of fatties like the next guy,

But it appearsto me that supporting taxing/surcharging fat and unhealthy, can validate new ways to tax/surcharge thin and healthy. We all loose.

We threw King George's goons out for good reason! Lets not pee on their sacrafice.

The sole driver of all passenger airline costs is not weight.  It is probably the largest driver and as fuel continues to represent an increasing share of the pie of airline costs its dominance will increase.

That said I've seen "fuel surcharge" on an airline ticket before.  This was a flat rate for every passenger but fuel used is solely determined by the weight.  I think a fixed price + price per pound of you & luggage is a good idea or as Karen mentioned a set price with included weight and fees per pound if you go over.

That said we're asking the airlines to do something sensible.  The same industry that will charge less than half for a round trip than a one-way (my experince of looking for flights London-Boston in May 804GBP one way, or the same flight as part of a round trip 315GBP).

even at 300 lbs the bigger issue for me is leg room when I fly.  I usually support the person in front of me with my knees.  That will never change no mater the weight.  Problem is when you take a red eye home the person in front tries to recline but since I am holding there seat up that will never happen. 

If an airline can find a way to increase the price they will plane and simple. 

Ha... I like what you did there.

Will they charge the handicapped extra because they have to transport their 150-200lb electric wheelchair?  (I don't know if they already do) or because they require extra assistance?

This is just an excuse to charge more money without saying that they are.  

Just like the oil companies raising gas prices because Katrina would reduce the refining capacity.  Gas prices flirted with $2 but rarely went over, it gave them an excuse to go over $2.  How many years ago was Katrina?  Have we ever seen gas below $2 since?    

this is what always gets me - my bike box, at <50 pounds is anywhere from 50-250 but the fat guy gets to take up half my seat?  weigh me with my bags!!! so each passenger is allowed x amount of weight for them and their stuff and you pay if you exceed it.

this just in....

fast forward a year, i wonder how/if this affects their business.

I moved my seat on a SW flight last week when the man next to me required the "BIG" seatbelt extender to snap in.  When I got up to move he looked at me as if his taking up half my seat too was my fault.  

I'm not sure how the airlines would enforce charging more without insulting obese flyers but something should be done to compensate the airlines for the additional weight.  It may be a wake up call for some passengers, after Director Kevin Smith was told to pay for a second seat (and all the publicity afterwards because he made a scene) he started going to Weight Watchers.

I'm guessing the weight thing is not that big of an issue for passenger planes (for those that are focused on that).  It plays a factor, but not significant, I'm guessing.  Compared to the weight of the plane, the weight of passengers and their luggage is minimal.  A small increase of the weight of the cargo is nominal.  I also think that most fuel costs are due to overcoming drag, than weight for a passenger plane.

I'm guess the reason the limit baggage is because they can limit staff and carts and everything it takes to MOVE the luggage.  Not the weight of it.

I'm also speculating that the airlines spend more money moving 20 50 lb bags than 50 10 lb bags. even though it's half the weight.  It takes more of the luggage carts and probably another ground crew member or two to schlep them.

They want to run a skeleton crew by encouraging people to bring on their small bags themselves than worry about the weight of the larger bags.

So I'm guessing it's not the weigh they are concerned about.  If a person in 200 lbs and fits or 100 lbs and spills over is peanuts for the weight of the plane and fuel costs.  Shoot, just an extra 13 gallons of jet fuel is 100 lbs.  The plane doesn't even feel that.  It's more for the comfort of passengers plus a way to charge for an unused seat of someone spills over to two.

I'm torn!  Being a "lean-ish" 6'7 at 235 lbs, I get penalized for being tall even though I don't take any more space than a lot of people.

But paying full price for a 6yr old always got me.  If you have a larg-ish family, it would make traveling more doable.

The airports will make a killing.  All the people cutting weight for a flight like a boxer would for a fight, gonna be hungry when they get past check-in.