I think if any airline insists that larger people buy two seats, then the people should get the benefit of the 2 seat purchase including the second seat's worth of FF miles. If this happens on other airlines as well, this should also include getting two meals.

Why don't the people get miles for the 2nd seat? Doesn't seem right.

Particularly if they run the risk of being hit up for a second ticket on their award flight...

Not a good idea. He'll need 3 seats on the return.

Does Southwest humiliate all of it's passengers, or does the show just make it look that way?

I agree that it seems unfair that the second empty seat would not earn FF miles, but I think that the rationale is that there is still a single person making the travel. If they awarded FF miles to the empty seat, essentially a non-existent person, then I think this would open the door to violas being able to earn miles or, people flying might buy another seat to get double miles and theoretically a person who may have paid more for the seat could be bumped due to claims on available seats. I think that FF miles are an incentive to continue to fly the airline, and I would hazard a guess that the airlines don't feel that the empty seats are deserving of incentive.

[This message has been edited by CozumelJen (edited Mar 25, 2004).]

AA clearly has no policy to charge COS's for an extra seat....I wouldn't be surprised if they start charging $5 to rent seatbelt extenders though.

Don't any airlines allow you to have a second separate frequent flyer account for your cello so both of you can fly free when the time comes, but you cannot combine the miles and get a free trip for just yourself sooner?

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

I've heard of that with the cello.
Do you think it would work to have a separate FF account for "Laptop"?

FWIW - At Alaska Air, the extra seat is not refundable, but you do get double mileage. And yes, you can have an FF account for your cello or your laptop, should you choose to purchase a full price seat for it.

Yes, it was on the show, though I don't remember which episode. (I don't fly WN, didn't know about the refund policy, but remember that it was explained to one passenger on the show.)

I think the funny/sad part of their policy is that it isn't uniform. On one of the shows, they showed two passengers of size being checked out on the plane. The larger of the two was able to fit, the smaller of the two had to pay for an extra seat. (It looked like the fact that he needed an extender was what made him have to pay up, which doesn't seem like part of the policy. The other guy would have needed an extender also, but they didn't make him buckle up .. all he had to do was to show that he could lower the armrest without infringing too badly on the seat next to him.)

-David

A couple of people have mentioned that airlines besides Southwest (AA in particular) don't have this policy. I keep seeing the following text in AA routings, though:

RULE 6020 DFR3 PASSENGER OCCUPYING TWO SEATS APPLIES

Of course, the closest thing I can find through Google about "rule 6020" is some sort of youth soccer regulation.

As a person of size myself, I try to be sensitive to other passengers that might be seated next to me -- I always book aisles, take seats in the back of the plane (even on a Super 80 )so I can get an open seat next to me, and ask to move if I'm seated next to another PX and can avoid it somehow. And I'm trying to make elite now so I can start getting upgraded to seats that fit me.

There's only so much maneuvering possible, though, and here I think the airlines are partially to blame. While I am admittedly overweight -- although I can still sit in fixed-armrest exit seats -- I'm also 6'2" with a big frame. No matter how much weight I were to lose, my shoulders would still be several inches wider than a coach seat -- and that's what ends up being the biggest problem for me. If I'm seated on a full flight, I end up spending most of the time leaning sideways and getting jabbed by the drink cart so I can avoid elbowing the person next to me.

Americans are, on average, several inches taller than they were when a lot of these planes were designed, and yet seats keep getting narrower. I'm not sure what can really be done about it, but it seems like there ought to be a solution of some sort. If any airlines implemented something like MRTC or E+ with extra space between the seats, I'd switch my allegiance overnight.

d.

I really don't think coach seats are getting narrower. Boeing's narrow body fleet all have the same cross section that was originally designed for the 707 in the late 1950s. While many airliens originally operated these aircraft in a five abreast layout, the change to six abreast happened decades ago. Since then, there has been no reason to make the seats more narrow. Newer planes, like the 777 actually have wider seats, upwards of 18 inches, in coach.

People are getting wider, seats aren't getting narrower.

Legroom is, of course, a different story.

It's not well publicized, but WN does allow credit for the second seat. If you take the credit, you forfeit the refund of the second seat (assuming the plane wasn't full).

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85350