the fact that she got defensive and accused OP of body shaming her when she never mentioned her weight means she was well aware of what she was doing and that she was causing a problem she should have paid for an extra seat the airline should have said something at check in

I will never understand this. If you are a larger sized human being and you intend to fly coach, you know you will not fit properly in your seat and that you will inconvenience the person next to you. You can talk all you want about bodyshaming, but that doesn't change the fact that people will be impacted by your size through no choice of theirs. People are not required to have to fold into themselves just to avoid spill-over on your side. Why not just opt for making things agreeable for both parties? Book a second seat if you don't fit into one.

This is BS. I was morbidly obese, myself, and I dreaded flying across the country to help a friend move back. Luckily I was in the bulkhead row and didn't have to sit next to anyone, but it is 100% your own responsibility if you are that big. I made sure to shower extra well, wore plenty of deodorant, and hoped for the best. I cannot stand the people that blame everyone but themselves when they can't stop eating and refuse to move around. My weight was due to trauma and a mental health disorder, but I wanted to change. That's it. You have to want to be better, you can't wallow in it and blame the world.

I’m a bigger person, but I’m also self aware. I would feel horrible if I was causing someone else to feel uncomfortable and I would do whatever I could to accommodate. I think they should have some sort of sample seat like they do the bag size things and if you can’t fit you should be required to get a second seat. Your weight problems shouldn’t have to be everyone else’s problem too.

What the hell was this quiz? Should plus-size passengers be required to purchase a second seat without additional cost? Should the airlines offer the second seat without an additional cost? Or should the plus size traveler book one for the standard cost? Anyway, poor OP was so polite in this situation!

As a plus sized person the biggest Ahole is the airline - cause they make the seats smaller and smaller and closer and closer together. Second Ahole - the woman - she KNEW exactly what she was doing. She was gaslighting you. Big people know they are big, we know when we can't fit in/through something. She did not want to pay. And i get that, Plane tickets are expensive and again - if their airlines weren't trying to shove more people into each flight like sardines, less people would have to purchase that second seat.

Honestly, being overweight is a medical issue as much as a social issue. My mother has PCOS and has had it the majority of her life, obesity is a symptom due to insulin resistance. By treating it as a medical issue they should be accommodated like any other medical condition when flying, i.e. they should be granted a second seat without paying for it. This would honestly solve everyone's issue.

I'd have more sympathy with the other party had she not said it was up to OP to get an extra seat, not her, even though she was obviously the one who needed it. I think the airlines need to address the issue. They should have plus sized seats at a slightly higher charge available. And if a person is too large for a regular-sized seat (and these seem to be getting smaller and smaller) this needs to be addressed. I had a long flight recently and a similar problem, though the large person was nice and did their best. But there was no way to use the armrest or to sit without being squished against them. Neither of us was comfortable, and there really should be better options.

NTA, I'm obese myself, but also quite muscular, so my shoulders need sometimes more space than a seat can provide. I will always try to give the person next to me all the space they deserve and that works out fine. I don't get how people can be so oblivious to the amount of space they take up (or so entitled they ignore it).

As someone who spent most of her life overweight, none of what OP did was rude or offensive IMO. The obese woman knew she was in the wrong and just didn't want to admit it, from the sounds of it.

My husband and I are tall and have to pay for extra leg room so we don't poke passengers in front of us with our knees. If you're too wide for a single seat you have to pay for an extra. Yes airlines should in general provide more room and comfort for all passengers, but this is not the currently the case, and it can never be ogte passengers problem that a standard seat won't fit us. And no, flying isn't a human right.

Legally, if you butt goes over he seat, in the US, you must purchase 2 seats and the airline must accommodate the other passage first, as they are taking up their single seat. And I am speaking as a person with a 34 BMI, and overweight, I luckly fit, barely, in my own seat.

If it was me, when she started making accusations of body shaming that would be the point were I snapped. "I haven't been body shaming you before this. But I'm sure as hell going to start now!" I don't believe in body positivity, but I'm in support of body neutrality. I'm never going to see a morbidly obese body as beautiful, but I can and do feel nothing about it. As long as it doesn't affect me directly why would I care how big another person is? But in this case their size IS directly affecting another person.

Immaterial if it was body shaming or not. If your a*s can't be contained by the footprint of the seat, you buy two seats. Or eat a few less cheeseburgers, your choice.

Her A*S personality was bigger than the a**e she sat on

The real AH is the airline. For all we know the lady did buy two seats and the airline overbooked. But even if that’s not the case, I’m old enough to remember when an obese person could fit in one airline seat, even while flying coach.

I disagree with the person that it needs to be like how tall people pay for extra legroom. The extra legroom is not the cost of a whole other ticket. I do agree that very large people need another seat on a flight though. That's why Southwest has a person of size policy where large people get the seat free, bit only when checking in so they see you're not trying to get a free seat for someone or something. Heck, for other airlines, I think even offering half cost of the ticket would help so they can afford to pay for another seat. I do agree this large lady was at fault. She clearly knew how large she was and got overly defensive. I'm in a plus sized travel group and I know most plus sized people truly try to take up the least space possible and it's super embarrassing. The difference the people in that group actually think about how they could be affecting others and try to lessen their impact.

The overweight woman definitely handled this badly - I'd feel terrible squishing someone like that and then trying to put the blame on them. However, the airlines have become so money hungry that they have continued to make seats smaller and smaller, even as Americans have become larger and larger. Flying is a big expense and having to buy two seats is just too costly for most people. However, airlines could make a couple rows with wider seats that don't have the amenities of first class so it would cost more than regular economy/coach, but far less than first class.

I really feel for larger people on planes these days. I'm not a small or a huge person, I'm rather middle-of-the-road in size, but even I am "squished" on airplane seats. I do think airlines should offer a second discounted seat to larger persons who need to buy 2. It can be confirmed at boarding it's for them and only them. But you really do have to fit in your own space, because other people have the same right to their space.

The thing about plus size, is that it's a range, starting around size 14. Size 14 is very different than, say, size 30. I am size 18/20 & can fit in the seat just fine, and plan accordingly. WHy should I have to buy a second seat?

Coach seats are 18” wide. It’s awful. And she knew full well she wouldn’t fit in 18”. We need closure - did she end up sitting next to some other poor passenger? Go up front only to realize it’s a window seat?

I am a larger person who you used to get embarrassed when asking for a seatbelt extender. Never again as I take my own :-)

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I am afraid that fat people are body-shamed so much, especially on flights, you can't blame her for assuming OP was also body-shaming. Obesity is often caused by BED (Binge Eating Disorder) and is no way the fat person's fault. Even if they don't have BED, it is virtually impossible to lose weight once you have reached a certain size as the body then has metabolic disease and will "fight" weight loss. So fat people are here to stay. Body-shaming them will not make them lose weight it will make them feel like s**t and they will probably eat. So if you do that you are part of the problem and are kicking someone who is already on the floor. Don't. If you feel like you want to then you are suffering from Fat Phobia and the problem is yours not theirs. Body -shaming is bullying.