Airplane Info..Help

Hi Everyone: I am pre-surgery and I just found out I am going to Hawaii! I wi**** could be after surgery but no such luck! This may be my one and only chance. I am scared to fly because I have heard that overweight people have a hard time on planes? I have never been on a plane! I am about 350 pounds. Do any of you have tips or experiences to share! I am worried I will not fit in the seat or the seatbelt wont fit. Please share your wisdom with me. And have any of you been to Hawaii at a large size? Is there any airline that is more accomodating for heavier people. I know these questions are a bit silly and off topic but I am truly very nervous about it and I can just see myself backing out of the whole trip if I dont actually hear from someone who knows how I am feeling right now. My sister said I am being a nut but my worst nightmare is that I get on the place all excited with my 7 year old daughter standing right beside me and then they tell me I cant fly! Jen

Jen: When you board the plane, ask the flight attendant for a seat belt extension. I recently made 2 differint round trips to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was happy to find out that I did'nt need one for the 1st time. I was so excited. It is nothing to get embarassed about, sometimes, it depends on what airline you fly, they make a larger person purchase an extra seat. I have had to do that once or twice before also. Peggy

I recently went to Hawaii and flew direct on Northwest Airlines. Highly recommended. If you go during the week and maybe take the red-eye home, the plane may not be so full and you, like us, may have the whole row to yourself. My husband had a row and I had a row. It was great! The flight was about 5 hours. 350 lbs is nothing in an airplane compared to the amount of baggage and people they carry. Ask for a seat belt extender igf you need one. Some planes have shorterr seat belts than others. I fly a lot and can tell you this is the truth. Have a great time in Hawaii! tee

Hi Jennifer, My husband and I are both pre-ops, and we flew to Maui last May ( I was on the beach a year ago today, actually...sigh...) We are both very heavy, and we flew on the little united shuttle from Medford to San Fransisco then on a big jet from there to Hawaii. The little plane kind of sucked for us to sit together on because we are both heavy - he's 380+ and I was about 320. If your husband isn't heavy it should be lots easier. On the big jet, we were assigned seperate seats and we asked to change seats as soon as we got to the ticket counter to check in. The lady at the counter was very helpful and compassionate, and told us to always ask to sit in the very front row where there is no one in front of you, or an emergency exit aisle which is more spacious. It made it a lot more comfortable in every way. I'm a nervous flyer anyway, so sitting in the front row I didn't feel trapped. (I also took a half a Xanax, which probably really helped , too!) When we boarded the plane, and they checked ourr seat number, my husband told them very matter of factly that he needed a seatbelt extender. He says he doesn't see any reason to be apologetic or be ashamed, he has a disease just like someone who might be in a wheelchair. They were very matter of fact, and that's all there was to it. No one made a big deal out of anything, so all my worries were for nothing. Next time I wouldn't bring more than one small bag to stow as a carry on, though. I felt like I had a multitude of things to stow going everywhere. Anyway-that's how we handled it. I really hope that you should be fine. Please don't feel like a nutcase, I agonized over going on the plane for the whole 8 months before we left. Don't let your weight rob you of something else that is really, really fun! I hope you enjoy yourself to the fullest and have a wonderful time. The pineapple is truly out of this world there! Oh- on a side note, I personally couldn't stand any clothing that wasn't all cotton. I didn't bring much of that because it wasn't very cute, but the clothing to buy over there in plus sizes is really sucky. At least where we were. A 6x there fit me like a 22 would here. In other words, not at all. They must have gotten their size charts from an alien world or something. The humidity made everything with poly or rayon stick like crazy. It could've just been me, though. I remember wishing that I had brought some plain cotton tee shirts instead of the cute rayon blend hawaiian ones I brought with me. Oh well. Here's to a wonderful trip for you and your family...Wish you all the best. Mahalo! Kim

I flew to Oklahoma preop,at about 320lb i was worried just like you... everything worked fine, though. I sat in a row with my two girls who are 7 and 3, so we all had plenty of room. there were four flights total, and on the very last one, I sat down and could NOT buckle my seat belt.. I shot my wife a panicked look... then the flight attendant announced that this type of plane had very short seat belts and asked if anyone needed an extender... half the hands on the plane shot up. LOL What a RELIEF. all my worrying had been for nothing. relax and have a great time! Joe