Will Airlines ever say enough of this crap?

[boestar]

Re Overbooking.  Several times I have flown from LHR to YYZ on a flight that was over booked by as much as 25 seats.  Every time the flight left with open seats.  This is why overbooking happens.

AC is probably one of the best at managing it.  Sure I have seen several cases where passengers had to be bought off but not nearly as often as I have travelled on overbooked flights.  Sure it is a gamble but for the few (relatively) that are inconvenienced the good outweighs the bad IMHO.  Sure if you draw the short straw life sucks unless you play the game right.  Leave yourself a couple of extra days and enjoy a most expenses paid vacation on the airlines tab.

 

Re Obese Passengers.

I fall into this category.  I am a big guy.  6'4" and over 300lbs.  I always choose the aisle seat so I can give the middle passenger room.  I am very concious of my size and ensure that is does not make my seat mates uncomfortable.  Many are not so polite.  Just today I was placed in 32C on an A320.  The middle seater had plenty of room.  Fortunately I was upgraded after takeoff so It was even better for her in the end.

 

[mo32a]

On 5/7/2017 at 7:32 AM, Vsplat said:

l.

I think it is long past time for frank discussions.  You don't like the seat pitch or width, then don't buy the fare.  You don't want to have the risk of gate seat assignment, ditto.  You want to pay 50% of the going rate by travelling in a high density cabin, then understand your 60 kg roll aboard is not rolling aboard with you. 

I fully get that some of the passengers that have been displaced lately did pay a full fare, we can assume for argument sake that they had all of the protections promised but denied.  Being punted off an airplane in those circumstances is wrong, unfair and should be illegal. I fully agree, airlines can and should be held accountable for denying the product they sold to their customers, but this is not a one way problem, and it sure as heck is not going to be a one way solution. And given that these policies are almost all driven by passenger expectations set by chasing a price point, the solution is going to wait until passengers learn that you can't fly for less than a bus ticket and expect something more.

Sorry for the rant....

Vs

On seat width/pitch I agree, the first thing I do after getting a list of flights that I could choose is compare both parameters.

Overbooking - I don't like it at all. If I am on a flight website and see that 8 seats are available at XX price if I buy one of those seats I expect it is mine.

If the airlines overbook they should list the flight as fully sold but you can put in a "standby request" and pay YY dollars, and if a seat becomes available you get it in the priority with which you purchased your ticket. That way the standby guy gets a cheaper fare for his inconvenience, all the while knowing he may not get on that flight. 

The person that paid XX knows that his seat is available for his use and won't get dragged off the plane.

For those passengers that have to get somewhere - pay the full fare and show up.

For those passengers with more leisurely schedules, buy a standby ticket and hope for the best, you could buy them for subsequent trips and eventually you will get where you are going.

This solves the problem of getting pulled off a flight and ever increasing number of people standing around hoping for  compensation to agree to be left behind.