fresh on the heels of florida-based spirit airlines announcing it will now charge its customers $20 to $45 for items they place in the overhead bins, another budget airline is considering charging them for using the lavatory.
ryanair, an irish airline that bills itself as "europe's first and largest low fares airline," is mulling a plan that would require travelers to pay either 1 euro or 1 british pound (about $1.33 or $1.52) for using the bathroom on flights lasting one hour or less. the carrier said it is working with boeing to develop a coin-operated door release so that when nature calls, passengers would need to deposit the change before being able to use the facilities. the idea is to encourage people to use restrooms in airport terminals before boarding.
as part of the plan, the airline is also considering removing two of the three lavatories on some of its planes so it could squeeze in up to six extra seats. the move would help reduce fares by at least 5 percent.
how would it fly with passengers? one hint of how americans may feel comes from an informal poll posted on tripadvisor.com last summer in which one-fifth of the respondents said they would fly on an airline that charged a fee to access the bathroom; 78 percent said they would not. the idea may be less shocking to travelers in europe, where it's not unusual to pay a small fee to use a public restroom.
my point, and i do have one...is COME ON!!!
what is your point?
Where does the consumer draw the line? If there was a super cheap airline in America (like they have in Europe) would people be okay paying to use the bathroom or a estimate on how much air they breathed? There are choices when we fly but we all know they react to each other and as soon as one has a new fee they all do.
ReplyDeleteThis is getting ridiculous! Charging for use of overhead bins? Really? And I do not want to pay to pee!!! Come on these airlines & other corporations are already bleeding the consumers dry. BOYCOTT.
ReplyDeletemy point is that you are amazing at pr robin, but i think ryanair got you on this one. i've read before about this "new policy" that ryanair is "looking into" but from what i've read, it's really just a pr stunt. i think that ryanair was just looking to get some free publicity (which they have definitely accomplished) and reiterate that they are "always looking at ways of making air travel cheaper." this is exactly the type of thing that you would have come up with robin! i had not heard of ryanair before hearing about this "stunt" - so they did their job very well! i'd be willing to bet one toilet usage though that this never actually happens...
ReplyDeleteIn answer to Billy....read the following...
ReplyDeleteSpirit Airlines announced Tuesday that it will charge its customers $20 to $45 for items they place in the overhead bins.
The cost depends on whether passengers are members of the airline's ultra-low fare club and whether they "pre-reserve" their carry-on bag in advance.
Each passenger will still be able to bring one personal item that fits under a seat for free, such as a purse, briefcase, backpack or laptop computer. They also won't have to pay extra for items such as diaper bags, pet containers and cameras.
So.....this was no stunt...and once one airline does it...so go the rest!
When I was in italy we had to pay for toilet paper in most public restrooms. Sitting in front of every bathroom entrance was a dumpy angry looking bathroom antendant with a stack of dinner napkins and a "tip" jar...the better you tip the more sheets you get...our solution was to start carrying our own in our purse...the question to the ryanair issue really is...whats the solution to this? carry your own little plastic pee pee cup?
ReplyDelete