Originally Posted by
SOBE ER DOC
If you are that concerned about needed to go to the bathroom on a flight might I suggest using the facilities before departure.
The timeline from going to the bathroom prior to boarding to then being on the plane, pushing back, sitting in a takeoff queue, and then finally getting to an altitude where the pilot turns off the fasten seatbelt sign to allow one to use the bathroom can be significant. Factor in if that passenger came off a short connection and had been in their seat the last 30-45 minutes during descent, landing, and taxiing in, and didn't even have time to hit the restroom in the terminal, one could be looking at a very long gap (possibly 1.5-2 hours) between (realistic) opportunities to go to the bathroom.
Originally Posted by
SOBE ER DOC
Further, unless you have an issue with incontinence, there are very few circumstances where someone cannot hold it until their turn in the line for the lav. If they want faster access to a lavatory then I suggest they purchase a ticket in F so they can have faster access to a lavatory.
But you as a passenger have no way of knowing who has issues and who doesn't, and I can understand a passenger not feeling the need to explain or justify themselves to you and not even really wanting to explain it to an FA either.
Originally Posted by
SOBE ER DOC
If pax in Y find the stress of traveling in Y to be too much to bear I suggest they purchase a ticket in F like others choose to do. when I don't want to deal with Y I buy a ticker up front.
Per my earlier comment, unless you are incontinent, having to use the lavatory is usually not an emergency. If one can't hold it for a few minutes while waiting for your turn in line then that is an issue that one needs to address and prepare for advance of commencing air travel. Also, if this is an issue might I suggest attempting to select a seat in closer proximity to the lavatory in one's ticketed class of service.
I often buy a ticket up front and don't get bothered by Y pax using the forward lav as long as they aren't loitering in the F cabin. The facilities on a plane are limited and when you have to go, you have to go. And it's not just about "being able to hold it". I prefer to get up, go, and return to my seat as quickly as possible so as to minimize the amount of time I am spending standing, unbelted in, should the aircraft hit turbulence unexpectedly (because I've been up and ubelted in on aircraft when they've hit turbulence and it's not fun). So it's not just personal comfort of relieving oneself even if one could hold it a few more minutes, it's also passenger safety to me. Minimizing the amount of time people are standing and minimizing the number of people standing waiting for a lav makes perfect sense to me thus there's little reason to deny a passenger who would otherwise be standing in line for a lav use of a lavatory that is currently vacant.