[mobilemidget]

I personally think it's fair if they charge by weight. The post office does it, why not airlines?

[Fernicia]

Unsurprisingly airlines imposing a fat tax is not an optimal marketing strategy.

[msgodel]

As someone who's not overweight I don't think I would care. What I really wish they'd charge for is overhead luggage. I wish they'd charge so much that no one bothers with it.

[carabiner]

What if larger sizes of clothes were priced higher, since they use more material? I wear a small in almost every case so wouldn't affect me, but man it'd be nerve wracking for a lot of Americans.

[autumnstwilight]

In most cases the cost of fabric itself is a pretty minor part of the garment price- you're paying for someone to design the clothes, assemble them, ship them, and operate a store that sells them, and those costs are pretty much the same for small and large sizes. Adjusting the price based on the amount of fabric used would probably end up being a dollar or so for the things most people wear on a daily basis.

Unusually large or small sizes can end up more expensive (and/or only manufactured in limited quantities) because they're not commonly bought and they take up space on the shop floor and in inventory which could be used for things with higher turnover. (Edit: Also at the extreme ends of sizing simply enlarging or shrinking the pattern won't work well, you have to redraft it so it sits correctly on a petite or plus-sized frame).

[owlbite]

They already are?

[gnatolf]

Some shoes (Meindl Boots) actually go up in price for larger sizes (>46 EUR, 13 US I think) due to the additional cost of material.

[rabiescow]

if you are very tall they charge a lot extra for having tall sizes... what are you talking about??

[m463]

You mean mass.

Otherwise I would buy seats for my personal helium balloons on either side of me.

[singleshot_]

Are you at all concerned the airlines will remove the air from the cabin if you try this, just to emphasize that you’re not going to get a refund this way?

Anyway I’ll be across the aisle with hydrogen balloons paying less than you either way. Enjoy your flight!

[triceratops]

> personal helium balloons

Not allowed because they're too big to be carry ons.

[histriosum]

And I think that you may mean volume.. :-)

[anal_reactor]

Moral argument: it's a sexist strategy. Yet another situation where men pay more and get worse service.

Economic argument: fat people are more likely to make use of on-board food service despite high markup, so you want as many of them as possible.

[spauldo]

Speaking as a fat person, air travel is horrible and I'll happily drive a couple thousand miles to avoid flying.

On a flight to Greenland I spent six hours smashed up between the window and a stranger (constant, sweaty, skin-on-skin contact) because they put three fat guys right next to each other on a full flight. I'd rather have taken a couple months of vacation and ridden the icebreaker in.

[joshstrange]

> Yet another situation where men pay more and get worse service.

Is this some kind of satire? In many cases (for a whole slew of things), I feel like men pay less and get better service.