UC Toilet...or not

[RichardMannion]

I can see why it may be deemed as elitist but then the prinicple can be applied to many other factors.

Why do Economy passengers have to stand in the long queue for check-in, when there is a much shorter one at Premium or Upper?

Why can't I go in the Clubhouse when I am flying in Economy - i've paid for a ticket on the flight?

Why won't the AA come and fix my car at my house, if I have only taken out the Remote cover? It would be the same AA van that would come and recover me.

In every aspect of life, there are different levels and benefits associated. It may be deemed as elitist, but its not really the case - one normally has paid for or earned the benefits.

Thanks,
Richard

OK so now I'm considering not flushing[:p]

Come on guys lighten up it's only a toilet and you wouldn't see anyone in y complaining about someone from UC using the toilet that they have paid good money to queue for.

People might think you're being almost as anal as I'm contemplaiting being in UC[:o)]

Miopyk

Originally posted by miopyk
OK so now I'm going to have a dump and leave the seat up[:o)]


Miopyk

Miopyk, if you do this then you will be in good company. Everytime I went to the loo on my last flight the seat had been left up by the last man who used it[}:)]. At least they had bothered to lift it up rather than peeing all over it as my son does. I wish someone would invent a pedal on the floor that lifts and lowers the seat.

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by lilyjosh0


At least they had bothered to lift it up rather than peeing all over it as my son does.

Oh, you've got one of those too? I thought I was the only one

Actually honey lamb, I'm quite grateful if he manages to hit the seat - it's the floor and wallls that really annoy me[:$]

Personally I think there is a lot of reverse elitism goes on along the lines of, I got my ticket cheaper than you so there attitude.

Or this attitude,

I am working class so that gives me the right to discriminate against rich people or people who are a success, but at the same time I want as much as possible for as little as possible and you should kiss my butt cheeks as well. And just because you paid £1000 quid more than me
why should you be treated any better lets face it I have just as much rights as you whatever you paid even if it subsidised my cheap ticket that I brag to everyone about cause I am so much cleverer and posher than yaw.

But then we can take a walk down the back and have a quite giggle at the rat run the kids use whilst the parents are ballanceing thier pints on their laps whilst their knees are round their ears.

Me an elitist never.

This is one thing that does concern me - it's not just a case of I've paid UC and I want my own loo, I am a really nervous flyer and if I could stay strapped into my seat for the whole flight without moving I would (I know it's not good for DVT), unfortunately my bladder often has other ideas and if I need the loo I really don't want to find when I get to my UC loo there's a line of PE or economy passengers waiting to use it as well. What do the cabin crew do in such circumstances? Do they give the UC passengers 'priority use of the loo'?

OK sensible reply.

I don't think you're wrong to think that if you pay for a level of service and the facililties that go with it you should expect that these shouldn't really be used by people who haven't paid for them. Some people however will consider this elitist and that is their opinion.

I do think however that it's up to the supplier of these services to manage these facilities in line with their customers expectations. For example, I suspect a number of us at one time or another have used the loo in a pub without stopping for a drink (unlikely for some of us I know [:I]). Do the paying customers get upset? Probably not, but I bet the landlord would.

I think the issue is that most of these passengers just want to use the loo. They don't care where it is and as it isn't always made clear that the UC area is really for UC passengers. Having said that I accept that there will always be the exception to the rule who either wants to poke their nose or as easygoingeezer says is operating under the inverted elitist rules.

My original point though was based on the fact that unless this activity is having a direct impact on your enjoyment of the UC experiance your complaints can only be based on the fact that you feel these people are taking advantage of a facility that they haven't paid for and you are loosing out.

What I was trying to say is that in the grand scheme of things this is really not that important and if you are getting upset about it you might want to think about why. If it's that important to you raise it with VS so that they can make these things clearer to the cattle down the back.

Most of all though is not to take things people like me say too seriously because there are more important things in life than me having a dump in the toilet you rented for a few hours, leaving the seat up and not flushing[8D]

Miopyk

Perhaps people should use their own loos, if they have them!
Y has loos, unfortunately often not enough.
UC has loos, ususally enough.
PE, whose pax may be paying 3 or 4 times that of the cheapest Y pax, sometimes have NO loos!
When the A340s were new, in the early nineties, one of the advantages being touted by the Airbus sales and technical people was the ease of changing the location of the lavatories! Seems to have been lost on VS!

Isn't it a simple issue that paying a higher fare means you are paying for convenience (forgive the pun) and comfort. Convenience of being first off, having access to a better standard of facilities on board, not having to queue for a pee or to brush your teeth early in the morning etc. If your access to convenience is hindered by people who demand it (by going out of their zone) but won't pay for it, then that can be what causes the offence?

Here's an old Oscar (not quite quote) that might be pertinent - when you are rich the necessities of life become luxuries, when you are poor it is the luxuries that become necessities. Perhaps we poor UC pax are operating similarly

It doesn't matter how many announcements you make, how much signage is put up or even if you tell passengers individually......because although the majority will comply with the request to use the toilets within their own cabin there will always be a hardcore minority who will do as they please.

Also, just to clarify a few points about the current toilet facilities:-

On LGW/MAN based B744s the 2 toilets at the front of the main cabin are for Upper Class and Premium Economy customers.

On the A346s the toilets between W and Y can currently be used by both Premium and Economy customers. In fact on the A346 I've just flown on, the curtain on at least one side of the cabin divides the toilet out of the W cabin and into the Y cabin. Once the cabin refits are completed later this year, these toilets will be exclusive to W.

The Cabin Crew on the flight should not have allowed the W customers to use the J toilets. It was wrong of them not to say anything.

It is more of a problem on A340 with W customers coming into J. The amount of times I have been shouted at by W customers because I have asked them not to used the J class toilets.

VS doesn't help the cabin crew in this regard: other carriers have more of a physical barrier between cabins, for example a rope, which presents much more of a hint that W pax should turn back. And obviously some announcements would be good, too.

BC

What carrier has a rope? VS would never do that and the crew would not want them to that either. I dont think our customers would either to be honest. Is not VS that cause the problem its the customers and then the crew if they dont stop it. VS tell us whatto do in this situation. Its upto the crew to do as they are told in training. If they CC don't feel at ease doing it they should ask the CSS or FSm to do it. If a customer is not happy and sees W or Y customers using the J tilets then they too should make the crew aware of the situation.

Originally posted by Treelo

When me and the present Mrs Treelo take our trip in a week or so, I will place myself on Upper Deck WC Watch and report my findings back here to HQ[:o)]

I am happy to report that, during our upper deck PE experience on Tinkerbelle on 23 May in the year of our Lord 2006, I could find no evidence of non-UC passengers availing themselves of the UC washroom facilities [:p]. However, Y pax taking advantage of the upper deck PE washroom is another story [:w].

Just for argument sake and a bit of playing the devils advocate what would you do if the one toilet was out of order and the other toilet was being converted by a passenger who was not to well and spending a lot of time on the loo and you were in need of relief?
Would you

A. Wait on the passenger with the upset stomach finishing in the toilet, and join the queue after 30 minutes of that person closeting it?

B. Go use the toilet in prem which is vacant at present?

C. Sit in your U.C.S and hold it in?

Please be honest and tell us what you would do??

I'm VS cabin crew and have asked if the toilets at the rear of the W cabin on the A346 are dedicated PE toilets. I was told "No" W and Y share all of the toilets, it's just that the toilets are located in that area.
Ragardless of whether this is true or not, the crew galley is right at the rear of the cabin and we simply do not have the time or crew availablity to make sure that the toilets are only used by PE passengers. Also the passengers would have to wear a badge stating whether they are from the W or Y cabin. Can you imagine...
CABIN CREW: Excuse me madame, this toilet is only for premium passengers, Your toilets are at the rear!

PASSENGER: I AM sat in the premium cabin! How dare you! I know Richard Branson and just you wait until he hears about this!!

There is a curtain there and I always make sure that it is pulled to separate the cabins anyway, but I simply can't make sure that no economy passengers cross the line.

two words:

"swipe cards" - or even the swipe strip on the boarding pass.

Phil

Originally posted by FamilyMan
two words:

"swipe cards" - or even the swipe strip on the boarding pass.

Phil

Why not go one step further and catheterize each passenger before they board and provide bed pans. I have seen upper class passengers use the w/y toilets before and did not see the passengers in these cabins complain or make a fuss about it. The real issue is the amount of toilets on the aircraft are maybe not enough for the passenger loads. And as for the second upper deck toilet if the crew are abusing it by pulling the curtain then the curtain should be moved back to stop this happening.

VITB Sorry I dont understand what you mean. why wouldnt virgin crew or pax want a rope?
I am a VS customer and welcome the exclusivity (?SP) of the premium and Upper cabins. It makes you feel special to know that you are in an exclusive area. The same as priortiy boarding does. If we have to pay for the privilidge through the nose! then shouldnt we be treated like priviliged people!?

Originally posted by virgin is the best
What carrier has a rope? VS would never do that and the crew would not want them to that either. I dont think our customers would either to be honest. Is not VS that cause the problem its the customers and then the crew if they dont stop it.

CO, NW and a few that I have forgotten (maybe SQ -- could have been NZ/BA/QF etc -- can't remember) use a cinema style rope across the aisle at an appropriate position to separate classes. By having an obvious physical barrier, pax are far more likely to get the message and it helps the crew too. Rather sensible, in my book.

BC

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes
OP,

Sounds like urine the right...i don't like loo jumpers either. Plus, these great unwashed might discover the magical secret of the rich person's WC -- our s*** don't stink!

GJ

Laughed my a** off!

Sounds like urine the right...i don't like loo jumpers either. Plus, these great unwashed might discover the magical secret of the rich person's WC -- our s*** don't stink!

GJ

Who says this forum harbours elitism:D;)[}:)]

LMAO[:p]

VS.