My story is relatively tame, or appears to be so until you put yourself in my shoes. I was on a transatlantic flight from the Middle East to the USA with a layover in Germany.
Right after I boarded in the Middle East, some guy weighing at least 300lbs and the hairiest guy I have ever seen sat right next to me; of course he was overflowing his seat into mine. I was wearing a T-shirt at the time.
Although I immediately gave up on retaining the use of my left seat handle (I had a window seat), I assumed leaning as far into the window as I could would get me away from him. This only worked until my arm started going to sleep,so I had no choice but to sit up straight. The disgusting part was feeling his copious hair brush against my arm the entire flight.
Every time I would go to sleep it seemed he would move slightly and it would feel like a thousand little bugs crawling on my arm. That would wake me up immediately.
Needless to say, as soon as we arrived in Germany, I got a long sleeved sweatshirt since I wasn’t sure a regular long sleeved shirt would be enough to do the trick. By the end of the flight I had probably sweated off 3lbs but at least I got a good flight’s sleep.
John Doe
Tagged as:
portly
My GF and I were returning from LA to NYC on a Jet Blue flight out of Burbank.
Prior to boarding, we learned we had been “Randomly selected by the computer” for a bag check. Whatever, nothing like having your dirty undies strewn about for some TSA agent to rifle through, but I digress.
The flight looked fairly full while we were boarding, but I was happy to see the aisle seat was empty in our row (GF and I had middle and window seats). As is the norm, after everyone was seated, they started letting the stand-bys on. I glanced up and noticed a rather large woman with a rear end that resembled two hippos fighting under a blanket, sauntering down the aisle. “Please don’t sit here, please, for the love of god don’t sit here” was all I could think…
Of course, the flight attendant led her directly to the aisle seat of our row. As she wedged herself into the seat, it became apparent that she was not fitting without raising the arm rest. So, they raised the arm rest, and the majority of her ample rear fell onto my leg. I had no choice but to put one of my cheeks on to my GF’s lap. I could see a look of apology on the FA’s face, but she seemed more intent on getting everyone seated so we could take off.
For 5+ hours I sat with one of my cheeks on my GF’s leg so that this woman could occupy not only her seat, but half of the seat I had paid for. Additionally, my GF and I have flown Jet Blue many times, and were aware that there is no real meal service. So in anticipation, on the way to the airport, we stopped at a Trader Joe’s and bought small, easily eaten healthy snacks. We also chose the snacks that would be LEAST offensive to our planemates (no peanuts or smelly things). Apparently, the person next to me not only decided to occupy more seat than she paid for, but also decided to purchase her own “Snack” prior to boarding. It was a gigantic, smelly (onions and some foul sauce) submarine sandwich (at least 12 inches long) that she pulled from her bag about half-flight. She sat and devoured that thing with no concern for our comfort.
I give my GF grief from now on whenever she suggests Jet Blue.
Tagged as:
flight attendant,
food & beverage,
jetblue,
odor,
portly,
seats,
security
Every non-obese flier has a story about the obese person who ruined their flight. I’m a normal sized woman who flies on lots of transatlantic flights.
Recently on a flight from Paris to Atlanta, I was seated in the center seat of the three seat center section of a 767. On either side of me, in the aisle seats, were a husband and wife of very large stature. The center arm rests were up and I would say that there was probably about 3/4’s of a seat left in the center. I sat down and started to have a pleasant conversation with them. Sure, it was crowded but they were the nicest people you would ever want to meet. They apologized for their size and I said it wasn’t a problem. They offered to let me lie my head on their shoulders if I wanted to sleep. They had just finished their second honeymoon in Paris after 35 years of marriage.
I had a nice nap on the plane, did not get cold and could not have asked for nicer seat companions. Sometimes, you have to make the most of a difficult situation. I’ve certainly had a lot worse experiences with my fellow passengers.
Tagged as:
portly,
seats
Upon boarding an Alaska Air plane for home from Seattle to Los Angeles just after Christmas of 2008, I sat in my aisle seat and put my belongings away ready for take-off. A husband and wife came along to take their seats in my row as well, whereupon it took the very, very large woman a very long time to get her big self seated right next to me in the center seat, her slim husband in the window seat. She fished and fished around for the seatbelt while I seemed to be helping her try to do everything. It came as no surprise that the seat belt, fully extended, could not fit around her girth and she kept raising her hand trying to get the attention of a stewardess. Every time she raised her arm, a stench would engulf our area. The flight crew brought her an “extension belt” and we were off.
She poured-over half way into my seat the whole flight and even more so when she fell asleep, snored and relaxed. I at first felt sorry for her and her situation, but soon that wore-off. Clearly she needed to have purchased two seats just for herself and that HAD to be obvious to the whole crew as she boarded. They know when someone will not fit properly into a seat. Instead she used half of my seat and her skinny husband’s and stunk all the way home. Geez, I was miserable but the plane was full and I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there, holding a napkin over my nose trying not to breathe her stench through my nose, pushing her off of me and clearing my throat loudly to try and wake her when she fell asleep on me. Never again; next time I will find a way to tell a steward and pray that they can do something for me.
Tagged as:
alaska airlines,
holiday,
odor,
portly
