Making Room for Plus Size Airline Passengers...Plus More

Dear Sky Steward,

What is your opinion about passengers that are too big to occupy a seat without invading the space of others sitting next to them? I had this happen to me recently and it was super uncomfortable!

Regards,
Squeezed in 24J


Dear Freshly Squeezed,

The Sky Steward has discussed this issue before on the blog, but it has surfaced again since United Airlines began enforcing its policy to protect the comfort of large customers and those seated around them. The Sky Steward believes that everyone should be comfortable. Unfortunately for the larger customer, it requires the purchase of extra space either by purchasing another coach seat or buying a more spacious seat in business or first class.

The First Class Walk of Shame

From The Sky Steward

I think we can all agree that once you get used to flying in first or business class, it can be rather addictive. Once you become used to this way of traveling it becomes a virtual "walk of shame" when you have to pass through first class on your way back to your economy seat. BTW, if you are seated in coach, check out http://www.seatguru.com/ in order to find the best coach seat.

Have you ever noticed how, when your seated in first class, you almost feel sorry for the people that are walking through on their way back to coach. Well, multiply that by 10 for how sorry we feel for ourselves when we've failed to get that seat up front and we pass through the forward cabin and all of the lucky souls with their mimosas in hand. What we need to do is insure we don't have to do this walk-of-shame too often.

There are lots of ways, in addition to paying for it, to end up in the premium cabin. Here are a couple:

1. Check in at the airport between 2 and 4 hours in advance at the self-service kiosk and you may be offered an upgrade.

2. Check on the airlines web site closer to departure. If there is a special for the premium cabin on the flights you are booked, you can call the airline. They should let you pay the difference for the seat in first or business class.

The best way to be sure that you are positioned for an upgrade is to concentrate on one airline for most of your travel so that you will become one of their frequent fliers. If you want advice on how to quickly become an elite tier traveler in an airlines frequent flier program, you should check out a great website: http://www.flyertalk.com/.

There are lots of tips there to help you get the the top levels of any airline's frequent flier program (ex. gold, platinum, etc.) Then you will be able to easily upgrade from almost any fare with inexpensive upgrade stickers.


Just so you know, I've seen Jaqueline Bissett, Harry Hamlin, Penny Marshall, Britney Spears, and more do the walk-of-shame as they continued through to their coach seats. So when it is unavoidable, we're in good company.