Airline Eyes Charging for Toilets

Find tickets, new flights, even lounges

(NEWSER) - Every air traveler armed with a smartphone should load up on these five apps, says the Travel section of USA Today:

• SkyScanner (Free): This app will hunt down the best price for your ticket. It scans not only all of the airlines' websites but all of the online travel agencies (Expedia, Priceline) as well.
• Next Flight ($2.99): Yeah, it's relatively pricey, but worth the cost when needed. If your flight is canceled or delayed, or you just plain miss it, the app provides a list of all available flights from all carriers over the next two days. If none are there, it searches for hotels and car rentals.
• Priority Pass (Free): This app supplies a list of all the lounges at your airport. You can look through photos and amenities before deciding whether to shell out money for a pass.

They're trying to convince Boeing to let them install more seats

(NEWSER) - If you’re flying on Ryanair, remember what dad always said and do your business before takeoff. Europe’s biggest airline, ever on the cutting edge of new ways to squeeze money out of its flights, had been considering charging passengers to use the bathroom on its flights, but now it’s decided to instead just remove two of the three bathrooms on each plane entirely to make room for more seats, the Independent reports More»

They raked in billions more in reservation and change fees

(AP) - You may want to take a deep breath before reading this one: Airlines collected a whopping $3.4 billion in baggage fees last year, up 24% from 2009. Reservation and change fees accounted for an additional $2.3 billion, down 3% from the year prior. The add-ons are one of the few bright spots for an industry that is caught between rising fuel costs and customers who expect rock-bottom airfares. Analysts say without the fees, the industry would be losing money. More»

Couples can book a row and sleep

(NEWSER) - It’s not “economy” seating—it’s “cuddle class.” That’s the genius innovation cooked up by Air New Zealand, which is fitting its Boeing 777s with new “Skycouches,” rows of three regular seats that can convert into something vaguely resembling a bed. (Aol has a picture here .) Buy out the row—paying full price for two seats and half price for the third—and you should have room for two adults and a small child to sprawl out and nap. More»

Instead, extra flight attendants!

(NEWSER) - Co-pilots? We don't need no stinking co-pilots. And it would certainly be cheaper to fly without them, so that's what Ryanair CEO (and infamous cost-cutter) Michael O'Leary intends to do—or at least try to do. O'Leary, whose company has already rolled out the genius ideas of charging passengers to pee and offering standing-room-only tickets , tells the Financial Times he's asking aviation authorities for permission to operate short flights with only one pilot aboard, and replace the second-in-command with ... flight attendants. More»