Travelling with luggage?

You have probably been experiencing or hearing about how low cost airlines have been saving money by either eliminating services or charging passengers for services which used to be supplied free to travellers on full service airlines when they travelled.
Typical of the savings were:-

- Charges for check-in luggage or discounts for traveller’s carry-on luggage only. (Lower fuel use, quicker check-in and turnaround)

- Charges for travellers using the toilet. (Most of the toilets can be removed and replaced by seats, however only satisfactory on flights up to about 3 hours.)

- Nil or negligible catering. All catering for travellers charged for (less cabin staff, less weight, an ensured profit on all catering).

- Charges for airport check-in

- There is talk of stand-up travellers but this is unlikely to happen.

Well here is the latest news for travellers.

Low cost carrier Spirit Airlines, based in Miramar Florida, flies mainly to the Caribbean and Latin America.
Spirit Airlines has begun charging passengers for carry-on bags. Passengers will pay $30 at check-in for any bag that’s too big to fit under the seat in front of them. At the gate, you’ll pay $45.

Well, what do you think of this?

Personally, it does make me more likely to travel with Spirit. Have you ever watched the luggage lockers in your aircraft when you hit a little turbulence? If you have, you will agree that they seem very flimsy the way that they bounce around.

Here is a photo of a luggage locker after a heavy landing. I have been shown by senior airline executives, in confidence, quite a few photos of aircraft that have had a rough landing or a small accident such as an excursion onto the grass at the end of the runway. In each case the remains of the luggage locker and their contents are strewn around the cabin.

Ever since seeing these photographs, I have been concerned about theamount of luggage I have seen carried on board and stored in luggage lockers. I don’t think the airlines in the past have enforced their rules regarding carry-on luggage. The discount airlines that charge for check-in luggage but allow carry-on luggage are really loading their luggage lockers to the limit and possibly well beyond the design load.

Make the most of free carry-on luggage allowance where you can. Certainly you can expect other airlines to follow this lead.

The big picture – Obese passengers

With the tightening in airline operating costs there has been a significant improvement in airline yields, ie more fuller flights. At the same time there has been an increase in obesity in nearly all Western countries.

A recent survey found that two thirds of men are now too broad-shouldered for their neighbours’ comfort in 16-inch aircraft seats, the standard size in economy on many aircraft, whilst one woman in seven was too broad for a seat.
The research found that between 1951 and 2002, the average female has put on 1.5 inches around the hips.
This has created problems for airlines in how to deal with passengers who can’t fit into a normal economy airline seat. Apart from the safety aspect such as the strength of seats and seat belts, there has to be a consideration of whether any rules are interpreted as discrimination.

Several US airlines already oblige very obese passengers who spill over into neighbouring seats to buy a second seat in some cases. Recently United Airlines said it would do so for travellers whose size made them “infringe on another guest’s seat”.

Recently United Airlines admitted that it will start charging overweight passengers more, if they cannot fit into conventional economy seats. Passengers must be able to put their arm rests down and fasten their seat belts (even with an extension) or they will be asked to pay for an extra seat, if available on the flight, or on to a later flight. Alternatively they could purchase a Business Class seat.

The Australian airline Qantas and its budget low-cost subsidiary Jetstar do not have a stated policy but basically follows the same lines on a case by case basis. It is expected that they will formalise a procedure in the near future.

Air France-KLM, one of the world’s biggest airlines, has been forced to defend its practice of asking obese passengers to reserve two seats instead of one after anti-discrimination campaigners denounced it as unfair.

In what the airline insisted was an attempt to ensure passenger safety on its flights, people too large to fit into a single seat have been encouraged to pay for the extra space, for which they are charged 75% of the standard rate.
A spokesman today announced the airline’s intention to begin reimbursing obese passengers the price of their second seat on flights that were not full.

But while Air France-KLM was keen to stress the advantages of the system to customers “with special requirements”, campaigners against obesity discrimination said the policy was unfair in principle.

“Air France must take into account the individual needs of its passengers,” a spokesman for the Allegro Fortissimo campaign group said. “A passenger should only have to pay for one ticket.”

Nadine Morano, the French junior minister for the family, criticised any policy that resulted in passengers being charged more because of their size.

“If people have to pay twice because of their illness, I find that shocking,” she said.

(isn’t this infinitely more shocking?)

Contrary to earlier reports, which said Air France-KLM was introducing a mandatory two-seat charge for obese customers, the airline insisted the two-seat rule was a “recommendation”, not an obligation.

Under the modified policy, passengers would be reimbursed “in 99% of cases”, a spokesman said.

But he admitted that, on flights with no free seats, a passenger who was too large to fit into a standard seat and could not fasten their seatbelt could face being turned away.

“An aircraft has to be evacuated in emergencies within 90 seconds. If you have difficulties sitting on your seat … it could have a serious impact on security,” he said.

This is not the first time Air France’s policy on overweight passengers has come under scrutiny. In 2007, it was ordered to pay damages of €8,000 (£6,935) to a 160kg Frenchman forced to pay for a second seat.

Not content with plans to scrap check-in desks, charge passengers for using toilets and clobber customers with a £30 charge if their duty free won’t fit into their hand luggage, Ryanair has hit on a new scheme for increasing revenue: a so-called fat tax for overweight travellers.

Ryan Air, has polled its passengers and have 30% in favour of an obese passenger surcharge.

In what appears as much a ruse to gain publicity as a serious policy, the Irish-based budget carrier said today it would impose an as yet undecided extra levy on passengers who weigh considerably more than average.

The charge, which could fall foul of discrimination laws before it ever takes effect, was proposed following a poll of passengers on the airline’s website. It attracted more votes than other ideas, including a €1 levy to use onboard toilet paper, which would have the face of the airline’s famously pugnacious chief executive, Michael O’Leary, printed on it. The fat tax gathered nearly a third of all the votes.

The airline now plans to poll passengers on how the charge should be calculated, with ideas including a per-kilo levy for all men weighing more than 130kg (20 stone) and women more than 100kg, or a fixed penalty if a passenger’s waist touches both neighbouring armrests at the same time.

“In all cases we’ve limits at very high levels so that a ‘fat tax’ will only apply to those really large passengers who invade the space of the passengers sitting beside them,” said Stephen McNamara of the airline.

“These charges, if introduced, might also act as an incentive to some of our very large passengers to lose a little weight and hopefully feel a little lighter and healthier.”

Airline polling finds that their passengers believe that most obese passengers have control over their obesity and don’t deserve any sympathy for problems that are self imposed.

Those of us who are tall have to live with a lack of leg-room, however we have no control over how tall we are. Our only option for more legroom is to travel business class or first class, which is generally infinitely dearer than a second discounted economy seat.

What do you think is the correct approach to the problem of obese passengers?

HOW TO BE TREATED AS A KING

Ever wished you could lie back on a beautiful tropical beach and be treated like a King in your own Kingdom?

My wife and I were fortunate to have the opportunity to stay at Turtle Island Resort in Fiji. This has to be one of the most luxurious small resorts in the world where you have absolute privacy.
Turtle Island’s Owner and Managing Director, Richard Evanson, made his fortune in cable television. In 1972, he escaped the hustle and bustle of the corporate world and purchased Nanuya Levu, a 500-acre barren, uninhabited island in the Yasawa Islands where he arrived with little more than a generator, refrigerator, and tent.
He had to remove the wild goats from the island and planted some half a million trees to restore the damage made by the goats.
In the late 1970s, film producers who had searched the world for the perfect location to remake “The Blue Lagoon,” starring Brooke Shields, approached Richard to use his island. When the project finished filming, Richard realized how much he enjoyed having people on the island who appreciated its beauty as much as he did, so he decided to open the property to guests.
In 1980, the Richard opened his first bure (Fijian style beachside accommodation) and over time built this up to 12 bures, with no intent to build more in respect of the integrity of the island. Only when he turned a regular guest away because he was fully booked for the Millenium did he agree to build another bure, known as the Millenium Bure, to be paid for by the regular guest!

The Millenium Bure

Millenium window and a small snack

Richard has done much for the local community and the surrounding islands including building a secondary school (otherwise students would have to move to the main island for their secondary education)

Having a chat with the school students

Now to the Island experience.

Firstly, about a week before your arrival you will be rung and asked what is your favourite champagne, spirits and wine and these will be added to the bar in your room before you arrive.
There are international flights to Nandi on the West coast of Fiji. Transfer is usually by Seaplane, but occasionally by launch.
Upon arrival you are welcomed ashore and, Once you arrive at Turtle Island, you will be offered a delightful cocktail and you will meet your “Bure Mama,” who is your personal liaison to island life. Your Bure Mama is there exclusively for you, and will make sure you have everything you need and want for your entire stay.

Your welcome and your welcome cocktail

The first evening you will enjoy a lovely dinner where you meet all of the other guests. After that the meals are often romantic and just the two of you. You can leave before sunrise and ride horses at dawn on the beach then have a lovely champagne breakfast on the shore, no staff in sight.

Horse riding before breakfast

Some Turtle meals

In the evenings there are a number of places to have a candle light dinner: on the end of the wharf, on a floating pontoon, on a beach, or at a lookout at the top of the island.

Dinner on the pontoon

Lunch can be a hamper on a deserted beach or a number of alternate destinations.
The fruit and vegetables are fresh and beautiful as they are grown in a four-acre hydroponic and organic vegetable garden. Local seafood abounds and only the best meat is brought to the island.
The bures are fabulously furnished and most comfortable. They include a very large spa pool indide the bure.Try the Lomi Lomi massage by two Fijian ladies – the best I have ever had!

Saying farewell

Rates for Turtle Island are not cheap, but they are certainly good value for what you receive.

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