Airfares Cost By Total Weight

Good information...thank u for sharing.

If I arrive at the airport with too much luggage I have to pay an unknown amount (or I weigh before and find rates). Same applies if I buy loads of heavy stuff whilst away (where I might not even have access to scales).

I see the "mechanics" of charging pretty straightforward. I'm sure there are many solutions but e.g. you have a base ticket price plus a weight charge (based on everything of yours on-board, luggage plus yourself). When you book your ticket you could have the option to pre-pay the weight component (based on your stated weight) that might be subject to extra charge/refund when you fly if things have changed.

I think people have just got very used to paying by the seat with airlines that they find t difficult to perceive of anything different. But there are other forms of transport where you have no idea what your journey will cost even when you board your conveyance (e.g. taxi across London). But in those, people are used to variable costs and don't question it.

{quote:title=lucapal wrote:}{quote}
Then...where does it stop?

Heavier people should pay more for taxis,buses etc?...same argument on fuel as on planes...

Tall people should pay more at the cinema..as they have a better view than the rest of us?

I think in the case of buses and taxis, the cost for the operator does not vary according to how heavy somebody is so there is not the same justification. Same in cinemas - it costs the cinema the same to screen the film irrespective of the people viewing it (tall/short/heavy/light). It does seem to me that basing the ticket cost on the operators costs is fair - so you cause the operator higher costs (through your weight or your luggage weight) then you pay more for your ticket.

Of course the cost varies....if the load is heavier,you need more fuel to move.A plane,a car,a bus....even a camel needs to eat more if it has to carry a 'size challenged'' individual!

Marichel, I wish you were in charge of the airlines, I love your idea for the Fat Zone!

The Samoan Airlines story was all over the papers and talkback radio here in NZ with such a huge (excuse the pun) number living here. [Heres|http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10875041] an example why they're seriously considering it. And they are talking of fat seats to accommodate.

And here on Planet USA it was on the morning show CBS and went directly to the discrimination aspect of it, with consumers interviewed saying its discrimination because you can't help the way you are/look/weigh. At that point I changed the channel.

'When emotion comes in the door, logic goes out the window.'

That's a saying I have long beleived in. It is impossible for an emotional person to discuss something logically. Clearly, obese people cost more in fuel and clearly they impact other travellers due to their size vs. the size of a seat. Those are facts and not arguable.

To say it is discrimination is also true. So what? We discriminate every day. No one argues that it is discriminationt to charge for excess luggage. But in fact the airline is discriminating against the passenger who packs more stuff. Discrimination as and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Things do differ and so discrimination is normal, acceptable and inevitable.

The issue of obese people on planes has always been an issue. The only argument against charging them more has always been 'discrimination'. The assumption is that discrimination is UNFAIR. Define fair. Is it fair to the person sitting next to them to have to suffer?

It's like a criminal who has 'human rights'. The vicitim's rights however are often overlooked. I'm not suggesting being obese is a crime but being the victim who sits next to them is being a victim. So yes, a 'fat section' makes perfect sense to me. We NEED to discriminate for the good of all passengers. Isn't that what law is supposed to be about? You don't get to speed just because you want to. Why should you get to take up MY space?