:faint: If they are going to charge extra...then the seats should at least be comfortable! If your overweight and have to fly a lot could you please post some tips and ways to survive the flight?!? How to book...where NOT to book....

Southwest is the absolute WORST! My husband and I had a very humiliating experience with them. They pulled us out of the boarding line to get on the plane - and demanded my husband pay for an extra seat. They did this in front of everyone in line to board. We have never had that problem with them before or with any other airline for that matter.

United, Frontier (A+++), and Northwest, and American have always been so nice and went out of thier way to be accomodating at no extra charge.

We usually request to be reseated (prior to boarding) if we are in a full three accross seat - sometimes that is possible. Other than that we always book an aisle seat for my husband.

This is one reason why I won't fly Southwest. It would be one thing if they were discrete about it, but they seem to take delight in humilation.

I hate the whole rush to your seat thing, and when they kicked off the woman for wearing a "Bush Sucks" tee-shirt... well, not gonna fly them...

I hate the whole rush to your seat thing, and when they kicked off the woman for wearing a "Bush Sucks" tee-shirt... well, not gonna fly them...

What??? That's interesting. I have seen people fly (not on SW) wearing some really outlandish clothing. Most recently a very pregnant woman with gauchos worn under her belly and a shirt barely covering it.

Because my DH and I fly free, we are required to conform to a dress code. While not as stringent as in years past, it's still no denim (in first class), athletic shoes, sweatshirts, shorts, flip flops, etc (even in coach). We joke that you can always tell the non-revs because we are the best dressed people on the plane.

What is first class? The planes I fly on don't have first class. But someday I'm going to go somewhere in first class. I don't know where, maybe to Oklahoma City, but I'm going. I'm always in the sardine can class.

I used to always book as early as possible, (I fly once a month or so), usually American, and always shot for last row isle. American is pretty good even if the flight is pretty full about allowing you to move once the door has been closed to whatever, or wherever a seat is available.

Thats actually what pushed me to the surgery. I had been looking into it for a year or so, when one day while boarding, the flight attendant said to me, "You may need to purchase an extra ticket", someone behind me muttered "Good thing they don't charge by the pound". I felt about three inches tall. Well, that was fifteen months ago. Since then, I have lost 200 pounds, and am at goal. I went from a 54 BMI to a 24. Life is all good now.

What is first class? The planes I fly on don't have first class. But someday I'm going to go somewhere in first class. I don't know where, maybe to Oklahoma City, but I'm going. I'm always in the sardine can class.

Hah! Flying overseas in economy these days is always a torment. The seat is narrow and there is no leg room. I am not particularly tall, only 5ft6, and I have trouble stretching my legs. Anyone taller than me, and that means most men, is in for a nasty journey. I'm not allowed to smoke anymore but the cabin air is dirtier than ever and I usually leave the plane with a brand new virus. The best flights that I have had recently have been in third world countries. They have purchased our old planes - the ones with the seat room!

I hate the whole rush to your seat thing, and when they kicked off the woman for wearing a "Bush Sucks" tee-shirt... well, not gonna fly them...

They want you to believe that BuSh never did Coca Cola (with a straw), I guess!

What??? That's interesting. I have seen people fly (not on SW) wearing some really outlandish clothing. Most recently a very pregnant woman with gauchos worn under her belly and a shirt barely covering it.

Because my DH and I fly free, we are required to conform to a dress code. While not as stringent as in years past, it's still no denim (in first class), athletic shoes, sweatshirts, shorts, flip flops, etc (even in coach). We joke that you can always tell the non-revs because we are the best dressed people on the plane.

As someone who has flown as a "non-Rev" for 40 years and had to conform to the dress code, I am also glad that they have eased up. For coach, regular shoes and no ragged clothing. First class still requires slacks for men and dresses or skirts/blouse for women.

As someone who has flown as a "non-Rev" for 40 years and had to conform to the dress code, I am also glad that they have eased up. For coach, regular shoes and no ragged clothing. First class still requires slacks for men and dresses or skirts/blouse for women.

Which airline are you retired from TOM? For some reason, I thought it was AMR, which, thankfully, does not require that females wear dresses/skirts, even in first class. They have followed the rest of the world into the 21st century and now allow us to wear slacks.

You are right. I meant to say slacks for men and slacks, dress or skirt/blouses for women.

I guess non-jeans, non-shorts could also have covered it.

First class (IMO) is only worth it for international flights or domestic flights on a few airlines. AA is not one of them. Flew their 1st class 2 weeks ago for the first time and was extremely unimpressed.

That's why I fly midwest whenever they're going to the same place as me!

First class is worth it if you want to "put on the dog".

If you have tons of money or are a non-rev, then going first class is a good idea, but for the avarage person: NO WAY.

I don't know what prices look like now, but years ago this was a typical

set of prices.

JFK to LAX round trip

First Class: $3000

Regular Coach: $1400

Discount Coach: $400

Only last minute coach bookers paid the $1400.

Most people reserved three weeks in advance, stayed over 7 days, etc., etc. to get the discount price of $400.

A little aside: Did you ever see the Polaroid commercials by James Garner and Mariette Hartley? One of the prizes for buying the product was a 50% discount on some airline. Of course, when you read the fine print, it was 50% off the regular coach price. In the example above that would be 50% off $1400 or $700. You could have paid $400 without the prize.

If Airlines Sold Paint

Customer (CU): Hi, how much is your paint?

Clerk (CL). Well, sir, that all depends.

CU. Depends on what?

CL: Actually, a lot of things.

CU: How about giving me an average price?

CL: Wow, that's too hard a question. The lowest price is $9 a gallon, and we have 150 different prices up to $200 a gallon.

CU: What's the difference in the paint?

CL: Oh, there isn't any difference, it's all the same paint.

CU: Well, then, I'd like some of that $9 paint.

CL: Well, first I need to ask you a few questions. When do you intend to use it?

CU: I want to paint tomorrow, on my day off.

CL: Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.

CU: What? When would I have to paint in order to get the $9 version?

CL: That would be in three weeks, but you will also have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.

CU: You've got to be kidding!

CL: Sir, we don't kid around here. Of course I'll have to check to see if we have any of that paint available before I can sell it to you.

CU: What do you mean, check to see if you can sell it to me? You have shelves full of the stuff, I can see it right there.

CL: Just because you can see it doesn't mean that we have it. It may be the same paint, but we sell only a certain number of gallons on any given weekend. Oh, and by the way, the price just went up to $12.

CU: You mean the price went up while we were talking?

CL: Yes, sir. You see, we change prices and rules thousands of times a day, and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. Unless you want the same thing to happen again, I would suggest that you get on with your purchase. How many gallons do you want?

CU: I don't know exactly. Maybe five gallons. Maybe I should buy six gallons just to make sure I have enough.

CL: Oh, no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy the paint and then don't use it, you will be liable for penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.

CU: What?

CL: That's right. We can sell you enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will be in violation of our tariffs.

CU: But what does it matter to you whether I use all the paint? I already paid for it!

CL: Sir, there's no point in getting upset; that's just the way it is. We make plans based upon the idea that you will use all the paint, and when you don't, it just causes us all sorts of problems.

CU: This is crazy! I suppose something terrible will happen if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night?

CL: Yes, sir, it will.

CU: Well, that does it! I'm going somewhere else to buy my paint.

CL: That won't do you any good, sir. We all have the same rules. And thanks for painting with our airlines.

That is a cute story and funny, BUT...

It misses some important points. A service industry and a sales industry are very different.

What would happen if we only paid for police when we needed them?

Citizen: There is a robbery in progress at the 1st Bank on Main Street.

Police Chief: But we only have 3 police officers on duty.

Citizen: Call the ones who are due in on the next shift to come in now.

Police Chief: Some are out of town and some are too drunk from partying last night.

So the town probably has more police officers scheduled to work than they need for a normal day, just in case.

Well, a 747 cost about a quarter of a million dollars. An airline would be crazy to schedule them to fly from point A to point B if it had no idea if they could fill them to a level near profitability far enough in advance. The can't send half of the plane from A to B and the other half from A to point C. The airline could buy two small planes, but the cost would be more than one 747 to buy and much more to operate, and the crew costs would be higher since a pilot would have to be trained to fly whichever plane was needed to fly that day, while the other planes sat on the ground.

There is a reason for what seems like a maddening price structure. The airlines with the simplest price structure also have the simplest fleet structure and route structure. SouthWest and JetBlue have one model plane each, but if either attempts international flights, things will change. And so will their price structure.