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I'm a bit shocked about the responses to this comment. There is literally nothing you can do to become shorter and even though HN is very American I didn't expe

by foepys 10y ago

I'm a bit shocked about the responses to this comment. There is literally nothing you can do to become shorter and even though HN is very American I didn't expect this line to solidarity to be drawn this early. From my European (and maybe more solidarity-orientated) standpoint I can understand a surcharge for very obese passengers but not one for one just being born different than others.

gragas 10y ago
It sucks but it's absolutely reasonable. It's shocking to me that you think firms shouldn't be allowed to charge more to cover greater costs.
- k-mcgrady 10y ago
  I think the idea is not that they shouldn't charge to cover their costs but that they should raise all prices and spread the cost out over all passengers. You shouldn't be punished for being born a certain way. If you choose to be a way that costs extra then it is reasonable to charge you extra but not if there's nothing you can do about it.
  - Veratyr 10y ago
    I think either way punishes people for the way they're born. Making everyone pay the average cost means shorter people are paying more for fuel than they're costing. Heavier people are paying less than they're costing. So the shorter people are subsidising the larger people.
    - k-mcgrady 10y ago
      Tall people will spend more on food/pay for leg room upgrades. etc. My point being you could argue about this for ever. At the end of the day the decision is would you pay an extra couple of $ per flight so that everyone can afford to fly or would you rather save a few $ but a number of tall people can't afford the ticket now? And even for the ones who can do you feel like the result is just/fair? There's no right or wrong (unfortunately).
snovv_crash 10y ago
As a tall person you have a higher earning potential. Surely that offsets the slightly more expensive airline tickets?
jawbone3 10y ago
I think the americans here are more on the ayn rand end of the spectrum, so the entire country isn't as vindictive as this. There truly exists a humanist tradition in the US, though obviously not in this thread.
tspiteri 10y ago
A surcharge for obese people because they are obese would be punishing people for their life style. A surcharge based on weight no matter what or why is not nearly as intrusive, and is only making you pay for the resources you use.

by foepys 10y ago

gragas 10y ago

It sucks but it's absolutely reasonable. It's shocking to me that you think firms shouldn't be allowed to charge more to cover greater costs.

k-mcgrady 10y ago
I think the idea is not that they shouldn't charge to cover their costs but that they should raise all prices and spread the cost out over all passengers. You shouldn't be punished for being born a certain way. If you choose to be a way that costs extra then it is reasonable to charge you extra but not if there's nothing you can do about it.
- Veratyr 10y ago
  I think either way punishes people for the way they're born. Making everyone pay the average cost means shorter people are paying more for fuel than they're costing. Heavier people are paying less than they're costing. So the shorter people are subsidising the larger people.
  - k-mcgrady 10y ago
    Tall people will spend more on food/pay for leg room upgrades. etc. My point being you could argue about this for ever. At the end of the day the decision is would you pay an extra couple of $ per flight so that everyone can afford to fly or would you rather save a few $ but a number of tall people can't afford the ticket now? And even for the ones who can do you feel like the result is just/fair? There's no right or wrong (unfortunately).

snovv_crash 10y ago

As a tall person you have a higher earning potential. Surely that offsets the slightly more expensive airline tickets?

jawbone3 10y ago

I think the americans here are more on the ayn rand end of the spectrum, so the entire country isn't as vindictive as this. There truly exists a humanist tradition in the US, though obviously not in this thread.

tspiteri 10y ago

A surcharge for obese people because they are obese would be punishing people for their life style. A surcharge based on weight no matter what or why is not nearly as intrusive, and is only making you pay for the resources you use.