Ryanair solicits ideas more ridiculous than pay toilets

by Alison Brick on

Remember that little brouhaha that Ryanair stirred up a few days ago about pay toilets? (Also known as “The Most Ridiculous Thing I’ve Ever Heard.”) Seems as though they’re riding that train (or low-fare airline)…and seeing how far they can go.

The latest in their busy week of announcements: a competition. Yes, they’re asking travelers to suggest other “ingenious, wacky, and creative ideas” for discretionary charges (if not pay toilets, which the company has admitted it was “only joking” about). Among the ideas listed as examples are charges for using the oxygen masks and emergency exits.

Can I just say: thank goodness we’re finally getting to the culmination of what’s turned out to be a PR stunt…so we can potentially forget that it was suggested. After the past few years of charges so strange that you’d expect them to be fake, we wouldn’t want airlines to get any crazy ideas, right?

But anybody wanting to play along can submit ideas for the contest by March 30th. €1000 cash is the prize for the winning idea.

Will Ryanair charge passengers to use the toilet? It might.

by Jamie Rhein on

It might be a good thing that drinks are more scarce when you fly these days if you consider that Ryanair may charge people for using the toilet.

Scott thought this might happen when he wrote his post about the check-in desks at Ryanair becoming a thing of the past. Knowing Scott, he was taking a tongue-in-cheek approach, something we’re fond of here at Gadling. But, Scott, as it turns out, has a cracker jack mind.

Just this morning, two articles came to our attention right as dawn broke. Both of them, this one from Gadling reader Neil, and this one from our own pilot extraordinaire Kent indicate that Ryanair is seriously considering adding a coin slot to their toilet doors as a revenue generator. You have to pee–or you know, the other; you have to pay. According to Ryanair cheif executive Michael O’Leary, everyone who flies Ryanair has coins to use for a toilet so this shouldn’t be a problem.

But what if it is? What about that one person who really has to go, but forgot about the fee and, feeling a bit dry mouthed, bought a pack of gum in the airport using up what little change was left after a night out on the town? What about that person Mr. O’Leary? Will you install change machines just in case? Then that adds to weight which adds to fuel costs which is a real slippery slope when you think about it.

I hesitate to say this, but they could also charge for toilet paper. Flight attendents could sell squares during the flight. Depending upon how much you need that toilet may determine how many squares. I’ve gladly paid for toilet paper at toilets before. Ryanair executives, I’m just kidding. Don’t be ridiculous. [RTÉ News and Reuters]