Would you pay for an empty bladder?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Aaron Hotfelder votes “Yes!” for Ryanair‘s pay-to-play approach to in-flight urination. I go with more of a “maybe,” as I tend to support anything that helps airlines bring in a bit more cash – after all, they need it. But, I can see why the average passenger wouldn’t be too thrilled about popping a few coins in the slot. Apparently, there are plenty of people out there with opinions.

TripAdvisor just conducted an online poll; 5,300 people responded. The results are as predictable as you’d expect. An overwhelming 78 percent of respondents are not interested in shelling out cash for the privilege of flushing. Can you blame ’em? When you stroll down the aisle toward that green light (i.e., “vacant”), you have one thing on your mind, and it isn’t the change in your pocket. Another 19 percent feel that pay-to-pee is reasonable … if the flight is cheap enough. The remaining 3 percent would be willing to pay regardless of the cost of the flight.

Thankfully, Ryanair tends to stay short-haul, so if you hit the bathroom before you board, you should be fine until landing.

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More crazy stories from the skies

Vote for America’s best bathroom

by Sean McLachlan on

It’s a room we visit several times each day, but the humble bathroom (john, head, bog, loo, etc.) is rarely celebrated in its true glory. Cintas Facility Services, a leading provider of bathroom supplies, wants to change that with its America’s Best Restroom Award. Check out their website to see the nominees and vote for your favorite. A good bathroom is the traveler’s best friend, and should be appreciated.

But we here at Gadling are too well traveled to get all starry-eyed about the glories of the garderobe. We’ve dealt with squishy Asian squat, public lavatory putrescence, and outhouse odor. So let’s hear your votes for the world’s worst bathrooms. Here’s my nominee:

In 1996 I left the Iranian border town of Zahedan and entered Pakistan. My first stop was Taftan, a miserable hole if I ever saw one. The streets were nothing but sand. Trash blew between bare concrete houses. Moneychangers swarmed around me like flies. Flies swarmed around me like moneychangers. Then disaster struck–I had to go to the bathroom.

The public toilet next to the bus station was an area about ten feet to a side enclosed by a concrete wall. There was no roof. There was no door, only a blind turn before you entered a sandbox that looked just like the street except that it was covered in crap. The flies here were so thick that I put my bandanna over my nose and mouth so I didn’t inhale any. There was no escaping the smell. I picked my way through a minefield of human waste until I found a clear spot for both my feet. The flies were relentless, and I had to fan myself constantly so they didn’t get stuck to my business end.

Like everywhere in South Asia, foreigners get stared at in Pakistan, and they make no exception for foreigners squatting with their pants down. A small crowd of other squatters stared at me with undisguised curiosity as I did what I needed to do and fled as quick as I could.

I only stayed in Taftan an hour until I could catch a bus for Quetta, but I will always remember the bathroom there, and the fact that I got pick-pocketed. They only got about five dollars worth of Iranian rials, but it’s the thought that counts. The thought of some guy’s hand in my pocket. I hope, I pray, that it wasn’t one of the guys watching me in the bathroom.

Think you can beat that? Give it your best shot.

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In-flight bathroom bandit strikes deal

by Tom Johansmeyer on
All Joao Correa wanted to do was go to the bathroom. He ate something bad and needed to get it out of his system … we’ve all been there. A beverage cart stood in his way, but that wouldn’t deter the spirit of this passenger. He asked to use the first class lavatory: denied. So, his only hope was on the other side of that cart – which didn’t move for several minutes. The chain of events that followed would result in an encounter with the legal system. Thanks to a deal with the feds, Correa will be able to put all this behind him.

Correa claims that the flight attendant raised her arm to block him and that he grabbed that appendage to keep his balance. She, apparently, didn’t agree. Nonetheless, a pilot was called back from the cockpit, and he allowed the passenger to reach is mid-flight destination. He was arrested when the plane landed.

Now, Correa’s a free man. He completed a three-month pretrial diversion program and is no longer a “danger” to flying society.

One bit of advice Correa: don’t eat before flying! Hell, that’s advice I’ll probably follow, too.

Flight attendant blocks man from using bathroom – has him arrested

by Scott Carmichael on

We’ve probably all heard the stern warning at the start of our flight telling us to use the bathroom in our own cabin.

The separation of the classes means only business class passengers are allowed to use the business class bathroom, and coach passengers need to use the smelly porta-potty in the rear of the plane.

But what do you do when you really have to go? Like after a meal you had in Honduras that isn’t sitting too well with you?

This is the dilemma faced by Joao Correa on his Delta Airlines flight back home last week.

The coach bathroom was blocked by a drinks cart, and when he politely asked a flight attendant if he could use the front bathroom, he was told “no”.

He tried to hold “it” in, but when things got too much, he sprinted up front and attempted to enter the bathroom. It was at this point when the flight attendant/bathroom cop stuck her arm in front of him and blocked the door.

The rest of the story has become part of a federal investigation, Mr Correa claims the flight attendant put her hand on his shoulder, and that he grabbed her arm to keep his balance, her side of the story claims he pushed her arm down and twisted it.
The flight attendant then called the pilot, who probably rolled his eyes and told her to let Mr. Correo just use the bathroom. He then returned to his seat and was quiet for the rest of the flight.

Upon landing at Atlanta airport, he was arrested and locked up for 2 nights before appearing before a judge.

Mr. Correa says he is “devastated’ by the whole incident, and I can’t blame him, it’s one thing to keep your plane secure and prevent people from walking into the wrong cabin, but when the other bathrooms are clearly blocked, and one of your passengers really has to go, you just let him go.

To actually put your arm in front of the bathroom door and block a passenger is pathetic, and I hope Delta Airlines realizes this. That said, if Mr. Correa really did injure the flight attendant, he should face the charges, but I’d say that 2 nights in jail is about the extent of what he should be punished with.

What do you think?

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Alaska Airlines made fun of paid airplane bathrooms long before we did

by Scott Carmichael on

OK, so the whole Ryanair paid bathroom thing was probably just a hoax by the Ryanair CEO, or another of his cheeky ways to create some free publicity for his low cost airline.

But it turns out that we here at Gadling were not the first to make fun of the concept of a paid airplane bathroom – Alaska Airlines beat us to that way back in 1987 with this hilarious vintage commerical.

And is it just me, or does the passenger at 0:06 into this clip look like a young Andy Dick?