I looked up the official policy and it says:
So how does ‘Pay-by-weight’ work?
Well, its simple really:
Step 1. Select ‘Make a Booking’, and choose your flight
Step 2. Enter your details, including your estimated weight(s) of passengers and baggage
Step 3. Your airfare is then calculated using your weight.
Step 4. You travel happy, knowing full well that you are only paying for exactly what you weigh… nothing more.
Still unsure? Read on…
Booking a flight with us is as easy as inputting your approximate weight into our online booking engine (don’t worry, we will weigh you again at the airport) – you then can prepay your ‘guesstimate’, guaranteeing you that much weight is allocated to you for that flight. Take as many or as few bags as you wish – and avoid the exorbitant excess baggage fee’s [sic]! With Samoa Air, you are the master of how much (or little!) you air ticket will cost.
I’m so glad they said that, I was totally worried that they weren’t going to weigh me again at the airport. Holy crap. This is such a bad idea that many people online thought it was an April Fool’s joke. It is not. In fact, it has been touted as “the only fair way to price tickets.” I disagree with that, and think it’s a bad idea on many other levels.
First of all, the idea that “You are the master of how much” your ticket costs is ridiculous and not just because dieting is shown to fail long-term for almost everyone. This also penalizes people monetarily for being tall, or for being more genetically likely to put on muscle, for weight training, for being on life-saving medications that cause weight gain, for having health conditions that cause weight gain. But I’m getting ahead of myself…
First of all, I think it would be great if the airlines would clarify the problem they are solving. As Deb Burgard once pointed out to me, the airlines try to have it both ways: When they bump us from flights because they’ve sold more seats than they have, they tell us that they didn’t sell us a specific seat, they are only selling transportation from one place to another. When we take up more than one seat, they tell us that they aren’t selling transportation from one place to another, they are selling us a specific seat. That’s mighty convenient. but it leaves me with some questions.
I’ve seen the CEO of Samoa air quoted as saying that this is about charging heavier people more because they require more fuel. Let’s examine that situation. Forbes writer Emily Stewart’s research found that it takes about a gallon of jet fuel to fly 100 pounds on a domestic flight. The industry average is $3.05 per gallon. So I cost $6.10 more to fly than a 100 pound person, but my ticket costs up to $96 more. That’s quite the mark-up.
Also, the most common complaint I hear is that fat people should pay more because we take up more space. Instead of blaming the airlines for shoving more seats on smaller planes, anonymous people take to the internet to wring their collective virtual hands at the thought of having to touch a fat person – omg the horror, THE HORROR! For now I’ll ignore the fact that I’ve only ever seen it suggested that fat people pay more - not people whose wide shoulders or long legs cause them to encroach on other passengers. I looked all over Samoa Air’s website and I could not find anywhere that this is addressed. There is nothing explaining what I would get for paying 3 times as much as a 100 pound passenger. Do I get three seats? Am I paying 15 times more than a 20 pound child but getting the same amount of space that they do? If I pay three times as much as the person next to me (my six bucks in extra fuel plus an 89.90 markup) and I’m still crammed into a tiny seat and they are still bitching about sitting next to a fat person, I’m not going to be a happy camper.
Even if I get three seats, there are other problems with this. First of all, Samoa Air is a tiny airline so maybe they have time to weigh everyone at the airport and adjust their fees, but can you imagine the kind of time this is going to add to major airlines? I travel all the time and I routinely get stuck behind people who haven’t sussed out that keys are made of metal, and so have to go through the x-ray twice, how early am I going to have to get to the airport to deal with this bullshit?
Also, I often book trips months in advance and, while I’m an organized person, I don’t typically pack my bags months in advance and so don’t have a precise weight for them. So let’s say that I want to be a good guy so I overestimate. According to their website “In the event that a pre-estimated weight defined by the customer is greater then what travels on the day, it is at the sole descretion [sic] of Samoa Air as to whether a refund for the weight difference may be offered.”
Ok, so if I don’t want to take the chance at losing money because I am not a luggage psychic, I underestimate. Then maybe I don’t get on the plane – again according to their website “Pre-purchased weight is given priority over weight that is purchased at a later date (for example: Online, prior to day of travel vs. at the airport on the day of travel).”
Ok, so if I overestimate I might lose my money. If I underestimate then I might not be able to get on the flight. I’m sure this system wasn’t created to get people to overestimate and give the airline more money.
What happens when someone has underestimated by more than the money they have available to pay? Does the airline lose the entire fare? Do they keep the money but not allow the flyer onboard? What happens when someone overpaid and wants their money back?
Yeah, this definitely won’t cause a massive clusterfuck at check in.
What about people who need medical equipment? Power wheelchairs can weight more than 400 pounds, do people who use those chairs have to pony up an extra two hundred bucks every time they fly? Then there are people who are on medication that causes weight gain, and who have health conditions that cause weight gain? They are being asked to pay extra for what is clearly a medical condition.
What about people with eating disorders who are told not to weigh themselves because of how triggering it can be?
Many women retain water each month. Forget that ovulation calendar, we’ll have to track water retention so that we know how much to estimate for our airline ticket.
Doesn’t this set up a scenario where people may do unhealthy things to “make weight” for their airline ticket?
Also, of course I would never suspect them of anything shady but who is verifying that the scales are correct? According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from 2012, about 1.75 million passengers fly every day. If the airlines add just 2 pounds per person at $0.50 per pound that’s more than a half billion dollars in extra profits every year.
Meanwhile, Chris Langston, Chief Executive Office of Samoa is trying to get credit for “raising awareness of weight” because we know that the job of the airlines is to make our health their business, and absolutely nobody is talking about weight. No wait, that’s wrong – people cannot shut up about weight and the job of the airline is to fly my ass safely from one place to another. Sorry, no extra credit for you Chris.
Even if this isn’t thinly veiled fat bigotry it’s still a horrible idea for all of these reasons and more. (For more on this topic, I recommend this blog by Jay Solomon.)
Like the blog? Here’s more of my stuff:
Become a member: Keep this blog ad-free, support the activism work I do, and get deals from cool businesses Click here for details
The Book: Fat: The Owner’s Manual The E-Book is Name Your Own Price! Click here for details
Dance Class DVDs: Buy the Dance Class DVDs – Every Body Dance Now! Click here for details