Flying fat people (airline seating help)
 

My girlfriend is starting to make a lot of noise about going on a cruise this month or next which means I am going to have to get on airplane. The problem is I am both tall (6'4"-6'5") <B>and</B> wide (325lbs). I know there's some other big boys and girls on this board who might be able to lend some advice. I've been looking through airline seating charts and what the fuck is this 17" seat bullshit? I can get 20+ inches width and a 34" pitch if I want to buy $2,000 first class tickets, but screw that; I am not paying $4,000 to fly to and from Ft. Lauderdale.

So, if you can recommend an airline that has seats real people can actually fit into, let me know. I can use the advice.

Check your fat jokes at the door, I just want the information.

Thanks,
SpaceAce

Call the airline and put up a fight, ask for a supervisor and they may bump you to first class at no extra charge.

Worked once for my cousin on a Continental Flight.

She has to fax in a note from the Doctor stating current weight prior to them giving her the booking, but it did work.

Two $300 seats would be a better deal than one $4000 seat.

Some of the airlines have wider seats. Southwest and American I think are a couple of them. Also, American has planes (777?) that has business class and many times they use them to fly w/in the states.

Contact a travel agent and have them find you what you want. :)

For $4000 you can get a discounted liposuction. Seriously, if you buy 2 seats make sure they are reseved, very often when you buy an e-ticket seat they can change it right before you get on the plane.

just buy three seats (row)

:321GFY

I'm a tiny person, but have respect for those that are larger. We all come in different shapes and sizes and you my friend should watch who you piss off. This is not a good way to make new business contacts.

i've flown economy on pretty much every airline in existence. they are all tight (i'm not very wide, but i'm tall - almost 6' 3").

my thing is to always check in early, and get exit row seating. tons of room for people with long legs. not sure how much that would help your situation though.

i suppose you could buy 3 econo seats, 1 for your gf and 2 for you.

Thanks, angel, I was thinking of something like that but I tend to shy away from it because it isn't really their fault I'm fat :1orglaugh I'd feel like a bit of a jackass making trouble for them.

SpaceAce

Yes, that's true of course but I'm not really fat enough to need two 17" seats, either :) I am more of a 19" across kind of guy. I could squeeze into 18.5, I just need to find an airline that has them.

SpaceAce

Just let me know when you are flying and what airline so i dont have to sit next to you.

Cindy XX

Thanks for the defense, but I don't think he really meant any harm. I think he's just making the point that $4,000 is a lot to spend for extra butt room :)

dnsmonster, you're right about the cost. I was thinking along those lines, anyway, and I see a couple of people suggested it. I'd still like to find an airline with a single seat big enough for me, though. Oh, well.

SpaceAce

The exit row seats are actually about 1" narrower in most cases, I think. Leg room is a problem, but the flight is less than three hours. I am as worried about the people around me as my own comfort; I don't want to be crammed so tightly into a seat that I am pushing on some poor schmuck who gets stuck next to me.

SpaceAce

Space..if you do decide to opt for the 2 economy seats... Make sure you ask if the arm things go down. Up until this year, I thought they did on all planes. They don't. I just took a trip and the aircraft I was on had stationary arm rests.

Being larger and flying sucks, we started driving everywhere. If its in the states I would rather drive much more enjoyable. I would rather drive 15 hrs then sit in a too small of a seat cramped against two other people for two hours.

Someone mentioned putting up a fight to get a first class seat. I am not sure I like the idea that people should get special treatment because they are, frankly, obese. If you don't fit in one seat, buy two.

You don't ask Ford to give you a Taurus for the Price of a Fiesta because you can't fit in a smaller car, right?

i agree - exit seats rock.

From one big guy to another....I feel your pain. I fly first class everywhere for that exact same reason...I have always said that I do not want to make me and at least one other person miserable for the whole trip.

Now, with that said, if you are looking at it from a financial position, some arilines offer real cheap upgrades to first class at the time of departure (usually begins one hour ahead). I know Delta does, America West does, and I am sure others do, as well. Buy a coach ticket and then upgrade it at the gate...usually costs $50-$150 tops (but be sure you have the right Fare Code...some of the *really* cheap tickets cannot be upgraded)

Or...you can do what I do....buy EVERYTHING with AMEX....and I do mean EVERYTHING. Then convert your AMEX points to first class tickets 40,000 each. I haven't bought an airline ticket in so long I don't really know what they cost :)


Hope these tips help....


--T

Greedy fat lazy people should be banned from airlines until they make themselves more environmentally friendly

Well,

i'm a european airline pilot so i can't recomend any US airliners as i don't know them that good.
I can recomend what type of aircraft you should look for.
Call the airline companies and ask if they have any "wide body" aircrafts flying to your destination.
Good seats:
B-777, B-767, B-747, Airbus A340, Airbus A3XX
Very bad seats:
B-737, B-727, Airbus A320

Ask for a seat at the door, they'll ask you to operate the emergancy exit handle but you probably won't need it :-)

Another solution is to try to get a hold of a "jump seat"... mostly in larger aircrafts, it's a seat in the flightdeck.

Whatever you do, try to keep away from the tail section, the further you go to the back of the aircraft, the worse the seats are.

Hope this helps.

Did I sit beside you on my flight to Europe?

10 hours I sat beside a heavier person. He was in the middle seat I was on the outside, my girlfriend at the window. I asked him if he would like to sit at the outside (figuring it would be more confortable for him, not so squashed, hell I am not the smallest person in the world, neither is my girlfriend)

He got totally upset with me, the flight was 11 hours and after he played with his laptop a little and read a magazine he went to sleep. When my gf and I had a conversation he actually told me to not have that conversation because he wanted to sleep. He went to sleep about 1 hour into the flight.

It was the worse flight I had, he didn't even have a personality.

One of my kids is 6'5" tall and weighs 350lbs. When he flies he requests the emergency exit seats and the outside seat. It seemed to work well for him. He also says that he is a bit larger than average and that if all possible they might want to consider leaving the next seat to him free.

So far it has worked 90% of the time when he flies.

Try that!

ex-travel agent and fellow wide (though certainly not tall at 5ft2) person....first thing is don't be afraid to ask for a seat belt extender. Just ask a flight assistant and they will be descrete about giving it to you.

Secondly, if you call and make a huge fuss they are often less likely to upgrade you because the last thing they are going to want to do is put a pushy, difficult person in with the people that paid the big bucks.

The person that mentioned making sure you have reserved seats if you buy two is correct but keep in mind that even if you have reserved seats they are not gauranteed. So, make sure you tell your travel agent or the airline why you are buying two so they put it in the notes of the booking. Yes, I know it could be embarassing to have everyone who reads your booking see it but they will guess when they see you anyway and it will hopefully save you fighting about it later.

I used to hate sitting on the aisle because I didn't want to feel like I was trapping in the person next to me so I would sit next to the window and then they could get up and down with free will. However, I have recently discovered an asile seat in one of the middle sections serves me better. If it is in the last row even better because there is no one behind me so I can slip my chair back without worrying.

I already said I didn't want to do that for just that reason. Sorry, though, "frankly, obese" is bullshit. Anyone over 200lbs is going to have problems and anyone 6'4"+ (like me) is also going to have problems. It's a pretty ridiculous myth that airline seats are only too small for obese people. Go to the airline websites and have a look at the seating configurations: 17" is about standard. Go ahead and measure out 17" and see for yourself.

SpaceAce

Hey, Tony, thanks for the reply. I don't mind driving, myself. In fact, I have made the Cleveland-Florida trip many times. My girlfriend is scheduling her vacation time for this, though, and 3-4 days of round trip travel is a bit much.

SpaceAce

I hadn't heard that you could get first-class upgrades so cheap at the gate. Do you have specific airlines you've done that on? I would pay $300 to upgrade two tickets to first class. Any advice on the proper way to go about it?

SpaceAce

your probably going to have to do this

Thanks, XSpider. I am not sure about European airlines, but most of the American configurations I've seen (I've been checking websites all day) have a total difference of around an inch's width between, say, a 737-xxx, 767 and A320 Airbuses. I've heard rumors of seats as wide as 18.5", but haven't found one, yet :(

SpaceAce

Hi, steffie, that wasn't me :) I haven't been on a plane in a few years. Do they still give seat assignments at the gate? I'd hate to try and go through that on the phone.

SpaceAce

Too bad you're not still a travel agent :) I could use someone with wide-load flying experience on my side :)

SpaceAce

Maybe you could make a deal with someone to buy you first class tickets using miles and pay them for the tickets?

For instance, I mostly fly Alaska so I have a lot of miles and a first class ticket on a partner airline like Continental is 45k miles. See if anyone has miles on the airline that you want to fly on :)

Fuck that dude, I'm 5'9" and like 175-180 and I find airline seats INCREDIBLY uncomfortable.

Heh, anyone want a copy of Thumbweasel or some templates in exchange for tickets :1orglaugh

SpaceAce

I may have been a little generous at 200lbs. I just wanted to point out it's not just us 300+ pounders.

SpaceAce

First class baby! :thumbsup You'll have much more leg space and the seats are more comfortable!

I'm 6'2, last time I took a fligth I was 210, wasnt too bad at all.

I have your answers. I'm Platinum Elite on Continental, and if you're in Cleveland, I have you covered.

First, the exit rows and bulkheads have more leg room, but they almost always have the tray tables in the armrests instead of the seatbacks or bulkheads because they can't legally have them in the exit row (it would block escape) and the bulkheads are too far from the seats. This means that the armrests aren't really armrests after all and they will not only not move but you can't fit your legs under them.

Second, if you have adjoining seats, you'll still have leg problems. They only have adjoining seats with the movable armrests in coach. The armrests don't go all the way up so you'll have one pushing into your kidney if you lean back (which you will obviously do to help squeeze your legs in).

Third, you're also going to pray that the person in front of you doesn't recline. If he does you're fucked. I've had times that he just couldn't recline because my knees are right there.

Now my solutions:

A. Get the non-exit non-bulkhead row and get two seats. Pray that nobody is in front of you. You can see Continental's seating chart when you book online. The flight is probably pretty cheap in advance.

B. Book a first class ticket. You almost certainly will NOT be able to upgrade at the airport because all the First seats will have already been given to Elites by the time you get there. Trust me on this. I'm the asshole they give them to.

C. I can book your First Class ticket using my miles. Buy an assload of my VirtuContent (Got Jizz and Porn in Public) or send me an assload of signups to VirtuBucks (try our new Hypnogirls site, it's converting like mad) and it'll be my gift to you. This would be the way I'd do it, but hurry up cuz you need to book the reward travel as early as possible. I THINK I'm allowed to do this.

Email me at Mike AT virtucon.net and we'll talk.

Wow, as tempting as that is, I don't think I need a buttload of content right now :) I might be able to do some signups, but there's not really time to get them fully into rotation by early next month. I'd try it on the Hun, but he won't take "Hypno" sites because of the "rape" theme.

I've actually flown quite a bit, it's just been a few years since my last flight. I know some of the traps to look out for but I was hoping some airlines might have slightly more spacious seating.

SpaceAce

I have a friend that takes me flying in his Tail Dragger, maybe he'll fly you, there and back. If you want I'll ask him, you'll have to tell him how much you weigh. don't think 350 lbs is too much. A real kick flying in a Tail Dragger. You're girl friend though will have to fly an Airline, both of you won't fit I know.

Don't know if this helps or not, but Delta is offering some very cheap First Class seats from Atlanta.....

https://www.delta.com/travel/sp_offe...0703/index.jsp


....but I checked and from Cleveland it is all 737's and MD88's which have smaller First Class cabins and that usually means the Frequent Flyers get them first so no matter how cheap the second leg is you gotta get from Cleveland first ;)

I will, however, extend the same offer that VirtuMike did.....if you have a need for a assload of hosting I will just buy you the tickets :) ......of course, your current host may do the same thing.

Just trying to help :)


--T