Reply To: Edinburgh Airport trolleys

[Froggee]

Welcome to Edinburgh Airport. Never knowingly under-monetised.

The trolleys were brought in with a big fanfare:

Like other airports, dedicated team, state- of-the-art (I kid you not), so they can be available for those that need them

I imagine airports are legally obliged to provide toilets but not trolleys. Here’s the thing. Of course you don’t need them on a business trip. The two main groups that I can see requiring them are families with young children and frail (old) people. I’d love if someone had a crack at a discrimination lawsuit. But given that $8 is normal in the US and Edinburgh charges a fiver to drop someone off, the direction of travel is guaranteed.

And seeing as you showed interest, here’s the relevant excerpt from a recent trip report!

“We were just in time for Edinburgh Airport’s new fleet of “state-of-the-art luggage trolleys” and against my natural instincts I decided I was willing to pay £1 to obtain one. To do this involves tapping a credit card and then one of the three trolley bays turns green which means the magnetic field securing the trolleys is temporarily switched off. I had a slight problem though in that there was a fellow desperately trying to wrangle one out without paying £1. I considered tapping my card as there was a 2:3 chance that the lane he was in would not light up and I could casually remove a trolley. It would have been good for giggles. But if the lane he was in lit up, then he would get my trolley and I doubt he would be willing to hand it over given how hard he had fought for it. So I waited. And waited. Until he eventually gave up. As I took my trolley, he looked at me in consternation. “Erm, you have to pay now mate” I said holding up my HSBC World Elite card. He skulked off.”