Buying extra seat when flying

Hi All,

I'm going to be flying for the first time in 12 years.  My 10 year old daughter and I are flying together and she has never flown before.  I'm afraid I'm going to be asked to buy an extra seat and someone else is paying for our tickets.  I won't have ANY money to buy an extra seat when I get to the airport!  Im afraid MY "dimensions" won't fit the seat dimensions the airline gave me over the phone.  Has anyone ever had to buy an extra seat?

Thanks,

Kandy

Kandy,

When I last flew I weighed 340ish and even though it was extremely tight, I fit.  Now saying that, I think it really depends on the airline you are flying with. I've flown with Northwest, Aer Lingus, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and United and never had a problem.  What airline are you flying with?  Maybe others might have experiences with that specific airline and can guide you.  You may want to call the airline back and let them know your "dimensions" and that your daughter will also be flying so you could "borrow" a little of her seat.  When my sister and I flew together (both large girls mind you), we made sure to keep the seatrest up so we could "share" the load.

Melinda

Flying was a definite lesson in humiliation for me.  The last time I flew coach I realized that it was a tight, uncomfortable fit so.. it cost me a fortune, but I alwaya flew first class.  The seats are much bigger and only two in a row.

With points and stuff I think people generally do that reasonably.  My flights were more often than not last second... ie:  made my reservations on the WAY to the airport... so usually it was about $1600 round trip from Sarasota to Newark.  If a first class wasn't available, I'd ask to be next to an empty seat and the people at the desk kinda laughed about it..  One agent told me not to worry about it.. no one else does.  I said "Well, I'm worried.. I insist on having an empty seat next to me, I want a window or I want first class."  It worked out...
Maybe you could ask the airline what their policy is.

It's funny reading these because I've always been the same way.  But I've always been too apprehensive to ask anything to the workers because I didn't want to draw attention.  Afraid they might "find me" that way and charge me an extra ticket.  

There is a website, I THINK it's seatgaru...not sure.  Do a search for it and it will actually tell you the dimensions of the seats on every plane.  I use to look at this site a lot.  If I remember correctly it even gives the length of the seat belt.  I've seen some pretty big people getting on the planes and even seen them ask for extensions without a problem.  Maybe you should do a search on weight issues with the particular flight your going on.

I think it also depends where you hold your weight the most on how you will fit in your seat. I've heard people way over 300 pounds and do just fine.  But I for one am very bottom heavy and I was  snug at 290 when I went on the plane.  If I weighed any more I would have had to have an extender on that plane.

Good luck!