Hey, you already pay to use the bathroom on flights: In defense of Ryanair's proposed "pay to pee" scheme

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-08-2009 @ 10:47AM

Aaron H said...

Scott, you say: "I'm fine with adding NEW services and charging for them (like inflight WiFi), but to make people pay the same as they always have AND charge for stuff that used to be free is a slippery slope."

I mostly agree. But the fact that people are paying the same prices as they always have does not mean they aren't paying less than they otherwise would without the a la carte fee. If Ryanair DOES enact "pay-to-pee," this will certainly make its ticket prices lower than they otherwise would be, in the same way that charging $50 for checking a second bag makes ticket prices cheaper than if the second checked bag were "free." Note that this does NOT necessarily make ticket prices cheaper than some previous time-- only cheaper compared to what they would otherwise be.

In the end I think it's nice to see an airline experiment with some different pricing schemes. If people hate Ryanair's idea as much as I think they do, it won't last long. They'll vote with their dollars, err, Euros.

6-08-2009 @ 11:06AM

Scott Carmichael said...

*IF* they really do lower their prices, then they'd probably be the first. Airlines have a bad habit of lowering their own costs, but conveniently forgetting to pass the savings on to their customers. Just look what they did with the fuel surcharges...

Thing is, airlines like Ryanair are clever - and in many ways they are an industry leader, so in 5 years I'm guessing a pay toilet will be common on many airlines.

Just like the thought of paying for food on your flight seemed like an insane idea a decade ago, people will get used to it.

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