Ryanair’s toilet charge: it’s enough to make me sick
Here my husband Terry writes a guest post on his experience of being taken ill on a flight and why Ryanair’s pay-for-the-loo plans are a concerning move.
So Ryanair is going ahead with plans to charge for using the toilets on board their planes. They really do intend to charge £1/€1 to spend a penny! And no I’m not writing this on April 1.
Well for me there is low cost, then low standards, and I think they’ve just hit rock bottom.
I can only see an increase in air rage as people without a coin have their dignity trampled on when nature calls. Cabin crew could be turned into toilet police as they try to stop passengers holding the door open for the next user in a bid to avoid the payment process.
And what of the crew? Will they have to pay as well? Forcing your staff to pay for a call of nature would surely be a new low for Ryanair, an airline which already charges crew for essential training and uniforms.
Are we really to believe that a passenger with no money will be refused access to the toilet? In a desperate situation will the preferred policy be to allow passengers to mess themselves? What if you’re taken ill while onboard?
My personal experience makes me fear for us all. While on holiday in Greece some years ago, Sarah caught a projectile vomiting bug the day before we were due to fly home. Although of course we didn’t know it was a contagious bug at the time and she was feeling better by the time we left for the airport. Unfortunately the same could not be said for me. I still wince as I recall the look on an old Greek lady’s face as I vomited uncontrollably into her garden from three feet away. Not my finest hour.
And I thank God I wasn’t on a pay-for-the-loo flight. My visits were too many to count as I unfortunately was sick most of the way back. What would have happened if I’d run out of money? I would likely have just stayed in the toilet for the majority of the journey as it would have been cheaper. But if I was on one of these Ryanair flights with just one toilet on board (oh yes, they’re planning to remove the other two toilets to get in extra money-making seats) could I have been ejected from the cubicle for overstaying my time?
There is the old adage that you get what you pay for. But do any of us really deserve this?
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Andrew Sanger
4/13/2010
Ryanair really are the pits, aren’t they? Their commercial success shows there is indeed a market for such a ‘rock-bottom’ product. In my own case, though, I decided some time ago that if the only way to get to a place is with this atrocious airline, then I just don’t go there.
Sarah Lee
4/13/2010
Absolutely. What Terry didn’t say is that we don’t fly with Ryanair unless we have to (more an issue for me – he’s far more easy going! But their ‘service’ makes me irate so I figure it’s best to avoid them).
Perhaps in time we’ll see all those airports that scrambled to get Ryanair to fly there less inclined to do so, if people stop visiting because they’re the only airline available.
John Malathronas
4/13/2010
It’s going to end up like the football terraces of yesteryear when men were urinating in bottles and hid them under their seats. Expect a distinct ammonia smell to permeate all Ryanair planes.
“Is there a doctor on board?” The good, bad and ugly of in-flight illness | Sarah Lee travels - the blog
6/22/2010
[...] I was right to sit next to the loo – I was in and out countless times making me wonder how a Ryanair passenger would cope with a similar [...]
Garelli
6/28/2011
What if I feel like a having a bowel movement but can’t and didn’t have one? Will I get a refund?
What if I just want to fart to not to annoy my neighbor?
I don’t blame Ryanair. I blame cheap pathetic passenger who choose to fly Ryanair and complain.
Fly civilized. Fly Swiss Air.