Charge by the pound

[Deleted]

Airlines should charge passengers according to their weight (and the weight of their baggage).

Discuss.

[snarkalicious]

I am showing my age here, but did they not used to weigh baggage 30 years ago or so when you checked it?

This current trend of charging to check any baggage has just created a logjam of people dragging giant bags on board with them

[JC]

I come with allot of baggage so me not likey that idear...

[daworm]

Airlines should charge passengers according to their weight (and the weight of their baggage).

If they were to do that, they'd better damned well have seats that people can fit into.

[ScarlettP]

Amen, Worm. Preach on.

[gridbug]

If they were to do that, they'd better damned well have seats that people can fit into.

Buy as many tickets as your butt warrants. If you don't fit in one seat then you need two, or maybe three.

[daworm]

So, the airlines start making the seats 18" wide so more people have to buy two. Then 16" and so on. Discrimination based on size is still discrimination.

[gridbug]

Just because somebody chooses to be too fat to sit in a small seat does not make it discrimination.

[LimitedRecourse]

The Brits would love it if all airline travel was paid by the pound.

[daworm]

Some don't choose to be fat.

[cadillacdude1975]

Feb 22, 2010 14:22:44 GMT -5 @gridbug said:

Just because somebody chooses to be too fat to sit in a small seat does not make it discrimination.

ask the seat its opinion after having an ass overstuffed in it for hours on end with no ventilation LOL

[Bob]

There Judge Judy was on Larry King and he asked her about a guy who filed a complaint against an airline for making him get off because he was too large.

It turns out that people that are too big for a seat must buy two, this guy did on several occasions but this once he was in a hurry and there wasn't two seats available. Seems to me that one first class seat would be cheaper than two coach seats, but I don't know.

[pictureman]

So we Fat Guys buy two seats, only to find that they're not adjacent...what a pain in the ass that would be.

[gridbug]

I do not see how airlines can not be expected to take into account the amount of weight and volume a person and their luggage constitute. They have a limited space in which to fit that volume and it takes fuel to move every pound of weight. Should it cost the same to bring a handbook or a steamer trunk?

I am not suggesting that larger people should be "discriminated" against, but in all practicality I can not see the airlines to treat people in a "one size fits all" manner, because one size never fits all.

As for the issue of seats, do you think that if your butt overflows one seat that the airline must be required to GIVE you an extra seat? That seat can't be sold to someone else so the airline loses a good bit of money. How about you squeeze into the seat and some of your neighbor's seat? How about the poor sardine next to you?

Personally I think it is too inexpensive to fly now. People expect cheap seats, driving the cost down through competition, and to stay in business airlines have to cut every corner they can. Seats used to be bigger, Cokes & peanuts were free, but it cost more to fly. Like everything else you get what you pay for.

Want more? Pay more. That's capitalism.

Personally I am unlikely to be in one of those sardine cans soon. Between the inconveniences brought by cost cutting, but even more the annoyances in the name of "security" I have become a lot more fond of road trips. It may take a while to drive a thousand miles, but it sure beats going through security at Hartsfield.

[Jay]

Feb 20, 2010 20:13:02 GMT -5 snarkalicious said:

I am showing my age here, but did they not used to weigh baggage 30 years ago or so when you checked it?

This current trend of charging to check any baggage has just created a logjam of people dragging giant bags on board with them

They still weigh your bags. Airlines typically have limits to how much a bag can weigh. If you go over it, you get to pay extra.

Feb 22, 2010 16:41:31 GMT -5 Bob said:

Seems to me that one first class seat would be cheaper than two coach seats, but I don't know.

I've seen first class seats costing over 10 times the cost of an economy seat.

[Jay]

^{i.imgur.com/kjZf4.png}

[Deleted]

"This offer expires in 4 minutes."


Oh, darn. I just missed it.

[daworm]

So, should cabs and buses also charge by the pound?

[Bob]

Feb 23, 2010 19:57:25 GMT -5 daworm said:

So, should cabs and buses also charge by the pound?

cabs and buses do pay a bit more for fuel full vs empty but the difference is in cents. In buses your seat isn't assigned, so don't sit next to the fat guy... (or don't sit at all, your choice)

[mikeydokey]

I know if they charged some of you by the size of your egos, you would never fly again.

[ScarlettP]

Ditto to what Grid Said.

It seems that all the airlines are advertising these dirt cheap tickets. But they tack on all these 'extra' charges for everything, extra bags, extra weight, a bag of peanuts & a half can of Coke, a used blanket with someone else's hair on it. Everything cost Extra!

[gridbug]

Everything cost Extra!

Not in first class

So, should cabs and buses also charge by the pound?

With a cab you rent the whole vehicle. If you rent a plane then take all the seats you want.

Buses are government subsidized cheap transportation. Not the sort to charge extra for things.

[Jay]

Feb 24, 2010 7:18:17 GMT -5 ScarlettP said:

a used blanket with someone else's hair on it.

Naaah.. They're at *least* decent enough to sell you new blankets...

[daworm]

But doesn't it cost more fuel for a big person in a cab than a small one?

The thing is, airlines can and do know the average size of their passengers. They don't weigh them all before a flight and put in just enough gas for the number of people. They know the averages, minimums and maximums, and they fuel the plane and charge the ticket price accordingly. One 500lb guy won't throw make any difference in that respect.

What's going on is they are trying to cram more and more people onto fewer and fewer flights. One of the ways they do this is by making the seats smaller and the rows closer together. Then, when someone doesn't fit, they don't blame their cost reductions, they blame it on their customer and try to act the innocent.

You may be right that its too inexpensive to fly now, and that the price pressures to keep those fares low are the driving force behind this. But to put the blame on someone who happens to be larger than average isn't the right way to go about changing this.

[gridbug]

Then I guess we should make UPS/Fed Ex/USPS charge the same for someone to ship a pillow or an anvil ?

If you fly with a baby in your lap, typically that baby does not need a ticket. Those babies need to pay full price if they are charging by the person. Maybe they just need to balance the load, make sure there is an infant for each large person.

Charging by the pound is just an easy way to do it. In the end I think it is as fair to everyone as it can be that if you take up the space of two people then you need to pay for the space of two people.

You still need to charge by the pound for luggage. A handbag and a steamer trunk are no more equivalent than Bud Abbot and Lou Costello.

Don't like it? Drive instead. That's how I'll be going, I'll smile & wave as you go by.

[gridbug]

You know, there is a silver lining to this cloud. If it's a dinner flight, two seats entitles you to two meals.

[Jay]

Yeah. 2 packs of peanuts instead of 1...