First they came for the fat-asses, and I said nothing; now they are after the tall.

[Blind_Io]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25539308-952,00.html

QANTAS will penalise the tall by charging passengers extra for reserving economy class exit-row seats on its international flights.

Passengers looking for more leg room will be charged an extra $160 on long-haul flights, and $80 per sector on short-haul flights to Asia and New Zealand.

The charge will net the airline more than $2500 each flight and will begin next month.

An airline spokesman said yesterday: "This will give customers greater choice and access to seats that offer more leg room."

The move follows similar charges employed by Virgin Blue across its domestic routes.

Introduction of the fee comes at the same time the airline begins forcing its uber wealthy travellers to "slum it" in business class on selected international flights.

Qantas will cut its first-class service from 42 weekly flights because of a drop in demand caused by the financial crisis.

First to be cut back will be its 747 flights between Sydney and San Francisco and Buenos Aires and the daily service from Melbourne to London.
The 14 first-class seats will be blended into business class.

This is a load of bullshit. I can kind of understand charging people who take up two seats because they never met a Twinkie they didn't like, but we can't do anything about being tall. If we work out and eat right our bones are still the same size.

Fuck you Airlines. Fuck you.

 

[MXM]

Did you just make an argument that fat people are fat by choice? Surely not all of them? I really don't see a difference here, in the sense that you, being tall, require special treatment just like fat people do, so why DON'T you have to pay for it?

 

[Matt2000]

There is a difference too. Fat people physically can't fit in the normal seats so require bigger ones. Tall people can just be uncomfortable.

And anyway, you're getting extra space so why shouldn't you pay for it?

 

[gtrietsc]

Did you just make an argument that fat people are fat by choice? Surely not all of them? I really don't see a difference here, in the sense that you, being tall, require special treatment just like fat people do, so why DON'T you have to pay for it?

Fair or not, carrying your fatness requires more fuel, and if your personage leaks over into the next seat, you should have to pay for it.

 

[Dogbert]

Did you just make an argument that fat people are fat by choice? Surely not all of them?

I'd love to meet someone who exercised regularly with a healthy diet, and was still fat enough to take up two seats on an airplane.

I hope Qantas likes not having as many passengers as they did before. Surely an extra $160 makes any competing airline more enticing.

 

[MXM]

There is a difference too. Fat people physically can't fit in the normal seats so require bigger ones. Tall people can just be uncomfortable.

And anyway, you're getting extra space so why shouldn't you pay for it?

If you're fine with being uncomfortable, that's ok, isn't it? Nobody will make you pay extra for it. The article only talks about exit row seats, so if you definitely REQUIRE those seats, you'll have to deal with extra cost.

Fair or not, carrying your fatness requires more fuel, and if your personage leaks over into the next seat, you should have to pay for it.

The issue is not weight and it's affect on fuel, the issue is reduced space.

I'd love to meet someone who exercised regularly with a healthy diet, and was still fat enough to take up two seats on an airplane.

Heh, you got a point there, the "genetically" fat ones are probably not the ones wanting two seats. However, I know people who don't exercise, eat like pigs, and still remain thin as a stick. Tough life, deal with it.

I'm not going to argue for airlines and their pricing strategy, what mainly annoyed me in Blind_Io's comment was his demand to be treated specially without extra charge. As if everyone else is required to conform to his 'short'comings.

 

[Dogbert]

And also, I don't see any thing in this article that says tall people have to pay extra, so I don't know what everyone is getting uppity about; it's just if they want extra space.

Nobody is "going after the tall". As matt2000 said, tall people can just be uncomfortable.

 

[Blind_Io]

There are very few fatasses who have fat asses due to a genuine medical condition. Most have medical conditions caused by too many Twinkies.

No matter how much I watch my diet or work out, I can't change the size of my skeleton. You might as well charge people in wheel chairs more for "wheel chair service" or the blind for being led to their seats. It's not something I can change, short of amputation.

The vast majority of people who take up two seats on the plane do so because of their lifestyle and eating habits, not because of a thyroid problem.

I don't require special treatment, but I prefer the exit row because I can still feel my feet after 10 minutes. Those are the only seats in which I am slightly comfortable and the airline knows it and wants to charge me more to sit in those seats. The airlines keep shoving more and more seats into the plane to the point that even average sized people are knocking their knees against the seat backs in front of them.

If you want to get really technical, I could call being of such abnormal height a disability. My clothes cost more, my shoes cost more, I can't fit in many cars, and I don't fit in standard airline seats. The average height in the US is 5'9", I'm 6'4". I can't find any ready information about the standard deviation for those statistics at the moment, but I would be interested in finding out if I am at least one standard deviation above the mean.

 

[DanRoM]

you're getting extra space so why shouldn't you pay for it?

The difference is: people who are so fat they need two seats reduce the capacity of the aircraft by one passenger. People who like - or need - more legroom don't, they can (and should, if they want) just get the seats that have that extra space for safety reasons anyway.

 

[Dogbert]

The airlines keep shoving more and more seats into the plane to the point that even average sized people are knocking their knees against the seat backs in front of them.

On the contrary, I find most airlines are still on a "MORE SPACE FOR YOU LOL" kick.

 

[MXM]

The difference is: people who are so fat they need two seats reduce the capacity of the aircraft by one passenger. People who like - or need - more legroom don't, they can (and should, if they want) just get the seats that have that extra space for safety reasons anyway.

I like extra legroom too, how about they book these seats just for me on ever flight I use? For no extra charge? My disability is that I don't like sitting in discomfort.

EDIT: Hell, walk into a Merc showroom and demand an S class for the price of C, because you have a disability and don't fit on rear seats well.

 

[Blind_Io]

Yeah, because the marketing departments have never exaggerated or spun new regulations or necessary configurations to make them appear as "amenities" before.

Domestic airline seats are between 17.2 and 18 inches wide (a typical econobox car is 22 inches wide). The "pitch" or distance between rows can vary since the FAA only mandates minimum space on exit rows. Pitch is measured from the back of one seat to the back of the next one (so it includes the thickness of the seat) and the industry standard is about 30 inches. The average male (5'9") has a femur length of 17 inches - and that does not include the patella, pelvis or tissue (muscle). It also assumes the knee is held at an acute angle so the feet have room on the floor - as someone with size 14 US feet (48.5 Euro), I can tell you that is very uncomfortable.

EDIT:
I'm not asking for them to reserve exit row seats for me, or reduce my fare, just don't charge me more and let me get a fair shot at the seat I want. I book early for that very reason.

 

[Shawn]

The way I understand the deal, it's not really an issue.

If you want a seat with more leg room you have to pay for it... nobody is forcing you to take the seats with extra legroom because you are tall. If you are tall and you want the added convenience of extra legroom, then pay for it.

I'm guessing previously the emergency exit rows were randomly given out like on other airlines, so if previously as a tall person you got a normal economy seat you were stuck there. Now at least you have the option of ensuring you get a seat with more leg room.

Some airlines like BA have a premium economy class that's basically economy with more legroom and a tiny bit more seat width. This is similar I guess.

 

[ViperVX]

Don't wanna go into detais, but a few years back when i was fat, mostly because i was spending way too much time in McDonalds in 5-7th grade, i was told by a number of doctors that the genetically modified stuff in fast food and other junk not only makes you fat, but also greatly affect further generations in yet unknown matter.

Getting rid of the fat if you are just fat is pretty easy, takes 2 weeks of diet and regular exercises for about a year, gained quite a bit of muscle too.

If you start digging there're a number of independent research groups, including a few here in Russia, who got fascinating results by testing genetic soe, crops, and other stuff on rats, results include 50% infertility, over 50% weakened or dead newborns in 1st gen, over 75% in 2nd gen and so on, the whole nine yards. Results of these "negative" studies are available all over the internet.

And yes, if one is too fat to fit in the seat and needs a bigger one of two, paying extra is completely justified.

 

[watto]

Meh, this won't stop me flying with QANTAS. You only pay the cash if you WANT an exit row seat... Normal economy tickets aren't any more expensive so, whatever.

 

[TC]

I think they're just getting greedy. They raised rates and charged extra for baggage when fuel prices sky rocketed last year. But when the fuel prices dropped back down.... airline prices stayed the same. And now they want to charge more for seats that they never use to charge more for? They obviously just want more money.

 

[Redliner]

As a tall fat-ass, I am screwed...

 

[Top Geek]

Hold on a second ... you are getting something extra by selecting an exit row seat, I can't see anything wrong with this. They're not forcing tall people to buy exit row seats, so it has nothing to do with being tall; heck, I'm 5'-7" and 140 lbs, and even I prefer exit row seats.

If you are so disgustingly obese that you take up two seats, I see no problem with being charged two seats either.

 

[MXM]

I think they're just getting greedy. They raised rates and charged extra for baggage when fuel prices sky rocketed last year. But when the fuel prices dropped back down.... airline prices stayed the same. And now they want to charge more for seats that they never use to charge more for? They obviously just want more money.

I'm sorry, you haven't realized thus far that airlines aren't a public service? Seriously, who's American here, who should know better how capitalism works?

 

[katwalk]

uppity

Don't say that word on the internet! It is very offensive to some people who are idiots and make everything racist :?