Pay As You Go!

[omegaet]

.....wonder if this will actually happen or is O'Leary is just grabbing free press.


Ryanair's 1 pay as you go toilet fee takes off

By Paul Melia and Pat Flynn

Tuesday April 06 2010



Ryanair is to press ahead with plans to ask customers to pay a euro before they spend a penny.



The airline is working with aircraft manufacturer Boeing to develop a coin-operated door release system -- so it can charge customers to use the toilet on short-haul flights lasting less than an hour.



The company plans to charge passengers who travel on flights of one hour or less 1 or stg 1 (1.13) to use the toilet.



Ryanair says it will actively "encourage passengers to use toilet facilities in airport terminals before boarding".



The move comes despite the company appearing to backtrack on comments from chief executive Michael O'Leary last year, where he announced he was looking at fitting coin slots to toilet doors to boost revenue.



But the company said their outspoken boss "makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along".



However, the current edition of the airline's in-flight publication, Ryanair Magazine, outlines details of the plan and says it is working with Boeing to develop a system.



If Ryanair were to pursue the toilet charge it would have to fit coin slots on to its fleet of 168 Boeing 737-800s.

[kyshel]

If everyone had to empty their bladders prior to boarding, I wonder what would be the weight difference (average aircraft capacity) ?
An airline might save some $$?

[Mountie]

This could be a real problem, if you experienced one of those flight delays which involved sitting on the tarmac for several hours. Do you suppose the airline would offer free drinks and an open toilet policy?

[kyshel]

I do not even want to think of what "open toilet policy" would mean!!

[jsattapr2]

Both Ryanair and Boeing are innovative companies. I see a collaborative effort resulting in ATMs aboard, for those who will need to make cash withdrawals, if the toilets only take cash. Mr. O'Leary can strike a deal with credit card companies to take his split of the transaction fees and add to his bottom line.



Once Ryanair has proven this will work in Europe, then most, of not all US carriers will install pay toilets which only accept credit cards, since cashless flight seems to be the direction these days.



Could be a tight squeeze for passengers who are over the credit limit on their cards.

[jsattapr2]

omegaet, a question regarding the title you selected for this thread. Did you actually mean Pay AS YOU GO or did you intend it to read, Pay If You Need To Go or Choose To Go?

[exflygirl]

Should this take off (or is it go down) in the US, I can only hope parents will ensure their unaccompanied minors have enough change ortemporarily provide Junior with their credit cards.

[[email protected]]

I think the whole pay toilet thing is a disgrace - just another way to gouge some money out of a captive audience. I even think that having to pay to use a bathroom on the ground is a disgrace - it is one thing to have to pay an attendant a few cents to get some paper in some third world countries but enough is enough - no wonder I see so many people going to the bathroom on the street - this is a fact of nature and people should not have to pay for a bodily function!

Just my opinion

Denise

[shygirl724]

It's not just that Ryanair is going to charge for using the toilet (original price point was to be 1 euro, now is going to be 1.5 euro), but take a look at a recent statement from their company:



"By charging for the toilets we are hoping to change passenger behavior so that they use the bathroom before or after the flight," Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara tells the paper. "That will enable us to remove two out of three of the toilets and make way for at least six extra seats."



So - looks like one toilet only on each plane. I won't be surprised if the airport begins to charge to use their bathroom, since their use (and related expense) will now go up.



Oh, by the way, did I mention that they are also raising their baggage check fee 33% for the summer?



Shy ~

[Mountie]

Taking it down to one toilet on Ryaair. Well, I'm thinking there will be an increase in the order of body fluids in the cabin air aboard more and more of their flights.