Charging for CARRY-ON's and for TOILET VISITS are actually not the Air Lines most lucrative ideas..(

[Mira]

Stahler takes it to the next level.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. ...

:scared:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. I only travel on the airlines that have free wine

[CTyankee]

8. On every trip I have taken to Europe I have had free wine.

And they come around for seconds and thirds and some have after dinner drinks. The airlines I have traveled on offering this are Air Italia, TAP, Lufthansa, and Iberia. The worst food of those was TAP...inedible...

[Rage Inc.]

13. Those are the SINFUL countries!

In Uhmericuh, we pay for our transgressions! Unless we're Republicans!

[CTyankee]

Not only THAT, they sit around in cafes drinking at all hours of the day and night!

They should just be getting hammered every weekend on beer like regular Americans!

[uppityperson]

30. SAS has really good service, or they did. Good food flying home too.

wine, beer, smoked fish on dark bread for breakfast. Yum.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

42. BA is good too

[Initech]

33. KLM gave us free Heinekens on the way to Amsterdam

:beer:

[gmoney]

3. But they don't charge you for pissing on the floor in front of your seat

[Gin]

4. where can we buy astronaut diapers.....beat em at their own game

pee in your seat/diaper and never have to get up.

[Mira]

5. My favorite trick - so you can maybe avoid a person

sitting beside you - is to carefully fold a little moistened toilet paper and lay it in the vacant seat.
(these days they are so overbooked that you don't often get away with it)

[rfranklin]

11. A GREAT TIP: before placing toilet paper...

eat a square of drak chocolate and use the toilet paper to wipe your hands.

[Mira]

21. Been there... but did not want to talk about it. No further text.

[pipi_k]

28. I prefer the pile of fake plastic dog poo trick

Not really...I've never even been on a plane.



But if I ever did, I would put a poo on the seat. :7

[wolfgangmo]

14. Try one of these.

http://www.stadiumpal.com/

But there are consequences to such devices. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBdymtyXt8Y

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. That youtube is hysterically funny.

But then, David Sedaris usually is.

Recommend viewing it.

[FiveGoodMen]

20. No, in that case you'd be charged with terrorism.

Yes, really. I'm pretty sure.

[jpljr77]

6. This is whining, plain and simple.

I shudder to think how people would react if the airlines did what they actually need to do: raise fares by a good 50% or more. Airlines are not currently making any money because they believe -- rightly, imo -- that Americans are obsessed with low fares.

[Toucano]

10. I think you're wrong.

I think most consumers prefer to know the bottom line price for anything they purchase. Now more than ever, perhaps.

No reward points, miles, fine print, asterisks, mail-in rebates or other gimmicks. A square deal, plain and simple.

The airlines took federal bailout money, too. They should be re-regulated.

[madamesilverspurs]

7. Yeah, well they'll rethink that toilet fee

when they figure out the cost of reupholstering after every flight. . .


-

[mainer]

9. Toilet fees are discriminatory against elderly and women

Any men with prostate problems, any hypertensives on diuretics, and any pregnant women should be able to claim discrimination.

[Mira]

19. How do you prove a bladder infection?

Just askin'.

[mainer]

22. Doctor's note? At least pregnancy should be pretty easy to demonstrate.

And I think that any man over the age of 70 should be given a bathroom pass.

Who do these airlines think they're carrying, anyway? Certainly not human beings.

[pipi_k]

29. Not to mention menopausal women

Or this one, at least...


There are days when I'm in the bathroom every 20 minutes. I have to change my undies at least twice a day. It's no fun traveling, even by car.

[Liberal_in_LA]

31. We are going to let you sit in the aisle seat

[Liberal_in_LA]

32. Folks are going to hold the door to let the next person use the toilet for free

How are airlines going to stop that?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

40. Also discriminatory against people with bowel disease. That's ADA stuff there

and I would have no problem inviting them for a little discussion with my lawyer.

[DefenseLawyer]

12. Gerard Finneran won't stand for this. n/t

[Spike89]

15. It's pretty simple really

It is a disguised fare hike, but in most ways it is more beneficial to the passengers this way. All airfare is relatively highly taxed, so to gain $20 in gross revenue, the price to consumers would be around $25 and there would be no way to avoid it. With the baggage fee, there is no tax, it goes straight to the revenue line so it can be a smaller hit on the consumer. Even better for those of us pinching pennies, we can try and fly without checking bags.
It may not be "honest" but I guess I prefer being "tricked" than paying extra for honesty.

[progressoid]

16. I don't have a problem paying for extra bags but the PEE FEE is a little over the top.

[Mira]

17. Are you aware this is the CARRY ON bag? they want to now charge for.

[customerserviceguy]

18. They're quite ham-handed in their approach to fees

Because I've seen the mess that checked-in baggage fees are causing in the cabins, I have limited support for carry-on fees. But that support is predicated on a reasonable fee structure that charges $X for one carry-on (handbags and laptop cases still free, of course), one-half of $X for the first checked bag, and one-quarter of $X for the second bag, limit of two.

That will mean that the business crowd flying first-class who get to put their travel costs on their expense accounts will be paying the most to avoid the waiting for the luggage rack, and the folks who have more time than money will save a buck. It will also make cabins safer for everyone, especially flight attendants who get asked to lift these behemoths that some people carry on.

I support charging for meals, the food I buy on Alaska airlines is infinitely tastier than the free mystery meat sandwiches they give away on Continental. And there's no law preventing me from bringing my own snacks aboard the flight.

One neglected area where they can make money: stop letting lap babies ride for free, and stop charging only half price for little kids. At the very least, have a "family" section in the back of the aircraft, and go ahead and charge me 10%-15% more for my ticket in front of coach AWAY from the little screaming seat-kickers.

[mrs_p]

23. pay to pee?

do we know which airline(s)?

[dixiegrrrrl]

26. I read yesterday it was an Irish airline

but you know once one does it, the rest will follow.

[pitohui]

37. ryanair which no one flies anyway so the whole discussion is silly

to even fly ryanair you would have to actually live in some remote area 2=3 hrs further outside of london than gatwick or heathrow

i have no idea how anyone even finds the airport for ryanair and once they do they all leave trip reports about how much more it cost them to fly the free fare and pay to pee, check a carry-on, etc. than it would have cost to just hop on the underground and then hop onto some plane flying out of gatwick -- ground transport for an hour's cab fare in the uk. costs about $200 in usa dollars or it did for me and hubby on a business trip in 2009...2-3 hrs cab fare to get to a remote airport in the middle of unknown nowhere and you've already paid more than you ever spent on a plane ticket if you're a good shopper

spirit airlines in america hopes to go the ryanair model but does ANYONE ever fly spirit or are they some kind of money laundry? in america if they would do this for a real airline people would just get in their car and drive, by the time you drive 3 hrs to wait 3 more hrs in a security line you're halfway across texas even

[mrs_p]

41. thanks for the info!

[guyton]

25. total weight

I suspect we'll soon be standing on a scale, with our bags, and getting a
bill for the total weight.

Which I'm fine with -- especially if I can just fly naked.

[SmileyRose]

27. I paid to pee in European train stations decades ago.

Well, OK, not really, the women all held the door for each other to get around it.......... but I did pay for the TP.

[Initech]

36. That's one thing about Europe that I couldn't get used to.

They charge you for water, and then they charge you to use the public toilets.

[jmowreader]

34. Al Jaffee is the smartest man in America

Al Jaffee, who helped found MAD Magazine, did an article in the 1970s on "future no-frills air travel gimmicks" where he discussed things like selling ad space on the seat backs, setting fares by weight of the passenger, charging per bag and selecting equipment based on the tickets sold--400 fare paying passengers put a 747 on the route, one passenger got a biplane.

They haven't started pulling out the biplanes yet, but they've done everything else.

[DemoTex]

35. As a retired airline captain, I'll tell you the profit center: EtOH

Beverage ethyl alcohol.

[pitohui]

38. oh i have a theory the liquid bombers were in the pay of jack daniels

hee hee

[DemoTex]

39. Much truer than you think ..

I was in recurrent training about 12 years ago, the two hour block where they merge pilot and flight attendant classes. The company guy was up there telling us how we had been fined $100,000 by the FAA over a drunk boarding incident on a flight from Las Vegas to Charlotte. Then he told us more nightmare stories about alcohol-related problems on our airline flights. All horror stories!

Leave it to old Captain DemoTex. I raised my hand. "Why don't we just quit serving alcohol if it causes so many problems on-board?"

Instructor: "Don't ever go there!"

[Canuckistanian]

43. Oh shit.

I just got an email from United. Thanks, Mira :banghead:

[Mira]

44. Thinkin' of goin' somewhere? N/T