The airline gets the cash. Alternatively, the winning bidder would press a button to release the money to the one who sacrificed space -– discuss among yourselves. The “fat tax lobby” may give a bag of quarters to a thin guy. But the big guy might have a subsidy as well. It’s gonna be quite a match, folks.

How it works: There's a coin mechanism with a knob similar to a gumball machine in operation. The gears connect to a track, on which the armrest rides, along the seatbacks. There's a small gap between cushions, to allow for movement.