Large passengers who believe that they have made cheap travel plans through the purchase of cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms or cheap vacation packages, need to carefully check the policies of their airline in order to avoid unpleasantness and additional expense at the gate or on the plane.
Unfortunately there are no federal regulation guidelines airlines handling of obese passengers who have difficulty fitting into a single seat. A review of major airline policy concerning the handling of such passengers shows an extreme lack of uniformity.
Some airlines expect larger passengers to purchase two seats in advance if armrests cannot be lowered because of their size. Other airlines attempt to find a second, open seat if available and when available provide this second seat at no extra cost.
Airlines sometimes ask larger passengers to shift to another flight where open seats remain. Still other airlines expect a larger passenger at the airport to purchase another ticket at the lowest available price at the time, which is usually quite costly.
Select airlines that require larger passengers to purchase a second seat if they cannot fit in a single seat will refund the cost if there are open seats immediately prior to departure and the passenger can be accommodated. Other airlines do not follow such a policy.
When a second seat is not available often the passenger is not able to fly.
Experts recommend that oversized fliers contact their airlines ahead of time and ask where on their websites they can be shown their policies regarding extra large customers having to purchase as extra seat. If the information available is not clear, then further details should be requested.
Oversized passengers should know if they are required to purchase an extra seat whether they will be required to give up that seat so that a standby passenger can fly. They should also find out if their flights are not full and they have purchased extra seats if they can get their money refunded.
With the holidays approaching and planes flying fuller than any other time of the year, it is important that extra large passengers are fully aware of what to expect from their airlines.
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