One In Three Ryanair Passengers Vote for 'Fat Tax'

Noangel72

......you can vote on the Ryan Air website.........is this a joke or are they for serious?....what's your view on this?

WithCheesePlease

PR stunt I'm guessing. But there's a good chance it could come in - already has for a few airlines in the States but only if the passenger spills into another seat and can't fit with the arm rest down. Passenger then has to buy a second seat at the price they already paid for first. Fair enough really I suppose.

But in fairness - if my bag's 2Kg over and they go to charge me extra, even though the person behind me is 10Kg heavier than I am where's the fairness in that?

Noangel72

.....if it's already legal and implemented in the states then, considering the rate of obesity in Ireland, RyanAir could be looking at big money!

.....I suppose a tax would simply represent additional money for the airliner, it's a different matter if that person gets to pay and occupy 2 seats .....more comfy for him/her and for me..........but lets say he/she is obese due to medical reasons.....what then?

The Orb

The awful thing is that I think this will be introduced and Ryanair can say that the public voted for it thereby enabling them to wash their hands of any accusation of being discriminatory fascists. Where does it end? So if there is a 6'6" 17st passenger and a 5'4" 17st passenger ( I am neither!) in theory the 5'4" passenger may have to pay more even though in technical terms they each contribute equally to the overall weight of the aircraft. Granted the weight limits they are talking about are large but what next? They have the gall to say that “The revenues from any such fat tax will be used to lower the airfares for all Ryanair passengers" but they don't tell us how. Does anybody else find this horrifying? And what will be next? Last year I swore never to fly with them again, their continuing quest to utterly screw the consumer while claiming it is done to further drive down fares is sickening. And where is O'Leary these days?

Famous45

Disgraceful behaviour.

Should be ashamed of themselves putting something like that on their site, I notice they don't have an option to tick no charge. What a serious bunch of losers, flown with them once but never would again. Guess this just shows how little respect they have for society. All they want is money and more of it.

Noangel72

.....that's my point! If the goal is to make more money, then it's wrong and they could end up loosing a lot of customers....but the point should really be the fact that an over-obese person taking up a seat and a half would be limiting any other person's right to seat comfortably on a plane......would this be fascism or a protection of anybody's freedom?

TheInquisitor

The Orb wrote: »

The awful thing is that I think this will be introduced and Ryanair can say that the public voted for it thereby enabling them to wash their hands of any accusation of being discriminatory fascists. Where does it end? So if there is a 6'6" 17st passenger and a 5'4" 17st passenger ( I am neither!) in theory the 5'4" passenger may have to pay more even though in technical terms they each contribute equally to the overall weight of the aircraft. Granted the weight limits they are talking about are large but what next? They have the gall to say that “The revenues from any such fat tax will be used to lower the airfares for all Ryanair passengers" but they don't tell us how. Does anybody else find this horrifying? And what will be next? Last year I swore never to fly with them again, their continuing quest to utterly screw the consumer while claiming it is done to further drive down fares is sickening. And where is O'Leary these days?

Yes but for a 6'6'' person the weight would be evenly distributed and they wouldn't be taking up anyone elses room . For a 5'4'' person the weight as usual would be all around the mid area and they could impact on other passangers

See below as an example. I am 6'4'' and just under 14 stone.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/article815167.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

havana

Is this about weight or fitting in the seat? If its the latter and a fat and skinny person travel together can the get 2 seats between them:-) and are they going to weigh people at check in or what? Like weightwatchers. And if I've lost weight since booking do i get a refund?

cozmik

gearoid_healy wrote: »

PR stunt I'm guessing.

+1

me_right_one

They're dead right to introduce this, I hope it goes ahead! Why should an average sized person pay the full amount for their seat only to have half of it taken up by someone else? If you wanted an extra large supersized happy meal in McDonalds, you would have to pay extra for it!:mad:

Noangel72

....maybe the best solution would be if the aviation authorities enforced new minimum seat dimensions....this way everybody would be travelling more comfortably.....I have to say that the way it is now I wouldn't feel very sympathetic towards an obese person were she/he to be seated beside me on a plane..........it happened to me on a long flight, he wasn’t gigantic but still his arm and ass invaded my seat, the flight attendant wouldn't do a thing about it and I would have killed the poor man if I could……..

*Honey*

Digusting behaviour.

What are they going to do about it? You book online, check in online... what do you have to get your doc to check your weight online too? How would it be managed?

Really really really stupid idea that I find disgusting.

Will they charge a pregnant woman twice too???

earth mother

That's it. I've had enough.
I've threatened so many times not to fly with Ryanair again, but now - if this introduce this - I will never, ever fly with them again.
I think it is an insult to human dignity.
On Easter Monday, I flew Ryanair from Birmingham to Dublin. At the boarding gate I witnessed the inhumane way the female gestapo-like Ryanair ground staff checked the size of people's carry-on luggage. I saw old women put on 2 jackets out of their bags, kids screaming cos they had to leave their easter eggs in the airport. I myself removed a book from the front pocket of my case to enable it to fit in. Then, as soon as it had been approved, I put the book back and after handing in my boarding card, and going through the Gate, I took my handbag out of my bag - in full view of anyone who wanted to look.
If they plan to check people's size in this way, I think someone should take them to the Court of Human Rights.
It is not about the other people's comfort. It is about Michael O'Leary's bank balance.
Who says all these people voted? Where are their names, addresses, email addresses.
What's next?
A smelly tax? An ugly tax? A pregnancy tax? A black person tax? A small willie tax? A hairy tax? A wooden leg tax?
Oh. And by the way. I am not overweight.

LivingDeadGirl

I agree with it tbh. There's nothing worse than sitting between two fat people on a long flight, the discomfort as their extra weight spills over onto your seat taking up half the room! Ugh.

me_right_one

earth mother wrote: »

What's next?
A smelly tax? An ugly tax? A pregnancy tax? A black person tax? A small willie tax? A hairy tax? A wooden leg tax?
Oh. And by the way. I am not overweight.

A smelly tax might be a good one on a plane. The rest are irrelevant. But being too big for your seat is nOt irrelevant

The Orb

TheInquisitor wrote: »

Yes but for a 6'6'' person the weight would be evenly distributed and they wouldn't be taking up anyone elses room . For a 5'4'' person the weight as usual would be all around the mid area and they could impact on other passangers

See below as an example. I am 6'4'' and just under 14 stone.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/article815167.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

Yes you have a point, but I find Ryanair's ethos appalling, on one hand they claim to want to drive down fares but on the other hand they are trying every method possible to wring more money out of people. They treat passengers like dirt, unapologetically. They are no frills, that's fine, but they are also no dignity, that's not fine. I loathe them.

earth mother

The Orb wrote: »

Yes you have a point, but I find Ryanair's ethos appalling, on one hand they claim to want to drive down fares but on the other hand they are trying every method possible to wring more money out of people. They treat passengers like dirt, unapologetically. They are no frills, that's fine, but they are also no dignity, that's not fine. I loathe them.

Thank you, 'The Orb'. That is my point entirely.
There IS no such thing as dignity on a Ryanair flight. The seats are so bloody narrow, that I don't believe that an extremely over-weight person would fly with them anyway. I did recently travel to England, in the inside, windowseat, with two extremely large coloured ladies beside me. I wouldn't have liked to travel to America like that. But. Hey. I was flying for an hour and it was perfectly possible to stand it
I really believe that - if they bring in this 'Fat Tax' - they will find some terrible, public way of weighing or measuring.

*Honey*

1 out of 3 passengers isn't a majority so I would imagine it's purely a cynical marketing ploy on behalf of Ryanair (surely not I hear you say!!!!!).

Glad to see the other 2 out of the 3 had some sense!!!

flikflak

earth mother wrote: »

On Easter Monday, I flew Ryanair from Birmingham to Dublin. At the boarding gate I witnessed the inhumane way the female gestapo-like Ryanair ground staff checked the size of people's carry-on luggage. I saw old women put on 2 jackets out of their bags, kids screaming cos they had to leave their easter eggs in the airport. I myself removed a book from the front pocket of my case to enable it to fit in. Then, as soon as it had been approved, I put the book back and after handing in my boarding card, and going through the Gate, I took my handbag out of my bag - in full view of anyone who wanted to look.QUOTE]

The info you get from them clearly states one item of hand luggage ONLY with the dimensions there for all to see - if people cant be bothered to read it then tough.

earth mother

[QUOTE=flikflak;The info you get from them clearly states one item of hand luggage ONLY with the dimensions there for all to see - if people cant be bothered to read it then tough.[/QUOTE]

Duh.
Yes I know that.
The point is that Ryanair's methods of checking dimensions of suitcases is arbitrary and humiliating. I am only using this as an example of how they will potentially weigh/measure overweight people. They are incapable of exhibiting any humanity or sympathy or tact.

flikflak

Yes, but if you have read the information you are given and your hand luggage is within the dimensions then you have nothing to worry about and I am glad they check as some people try to get away with more than one bag and also bags bigger than the specified dimensions.

Why should it bother me if they measure my hand luggage? Also regarding the weight issue if you think they are going to start measuring and weighing people at the gate then you have been sucked in by Mr O`Learys ever grinding PR machine.

TPD

They could just have the seats in kinda cubicles, with a window so you can chat to the person next to you if you want to. Then have a section without the cubicleness and with the seats slightly further apart, but they cost more. Nothing personal then, if a fat person wants a comfortable flight they pay more, and don't intrude on anyone elses comfort. And all us slim jims can chat away like normal or blank the person beside us.

NervousNude

A 'fat tax' and a physical size restriction are completey different issues. A fat tax just increases revenues for the airline, how would they show that the result is cheaper seats?! People who are so large that they infringe on the surrounding seats affect others comfort and are possibly even a safety risk. I'd have no problem with them charging these people for the seats that they spill over into. Providing the person sitting underneath their folds doesn't also have to pay for the same seat!

The logistics of implementing a fat tax are impossible, and wouldn't work with online check in. Actually, wouldn't work at all.

+1 PR stunt. Though it just makes me loathe Ryanair even more.

TinCool

The Orb wrote: »

Yes you have a point, but I find Ryanair's ethos appalling, on one hand they claim to want to drive down fares but on the other hand they are trying every method possible to wring more money out of people. They treat passengers like dirt, unapologetically. They are no frills, that's fine, but they are also no dignity, that's not fine. I loathe them.

I travel quite regularly from Birmingham (BHX) to Dublin and back again (moved to the UK in 2007). The 2 airlines that fly to Dublin from BHX are Ryanair and Aer Lingus. When booking, I always check both sites and get the cheapest flights that I can. More often than not, Ryanair wins out on price, but the odd time I do get to fly Aer Lingus.

I do play the Ryanair game though. I thankfully have a Bank Account that I shove money in to when I'm going to Dublin purely because the debit card it has is a Visa Electron card. For whatever reason, ryanair don't do you out of the £5 per person per flight credit card charge with this card. When myself and my wife fly, there's £20 saved right there.

I have found that having done this short hall flight 50+ times over the years, that Ryanair are more reliable than Aer Lingus with regard to on time departures/arrivals, but I do loathe flying with them. It's just the general atmosphere on the plane. Shoving things in your face trying to force you to buy things you don't want. Playing that god awful Euro Pop crap they play, and then the bullseye baggies.... Now they've introduced the use of mobile phones on some of their flights I've been on so then there's more plugging of this service over the PA aaahhhh. I also have found the flight attendents quite short (not in stature) on occasion.

It's the only airline I've ever been on where people actually cheer when the plane lands ffs.

/RantOver

Aer Lingus on the other hand, are far more relaxed and I do enjoy flying with them. Now that they have also introduced on-line checkin, I will try and get flights with them from now on.