Passenger comes up with clever hack to quench thirst for free in flight that charges $3 for water

Access to safe drinking water is a basic human right. It shouldn't be charged in the first place, let alone be overpriced (louder for the airlines at the back!). One woman on a flight came up with a clever hack to beat this dystopian and quench her thirst without paying a dime. On June 6, TikTok user @rachealxk shared a video of how she figured out a way to get drinking water without paying for it on a Ryanair flight. The video has garnered more than 646.7k views and 36.5k likes. In the video, the passenger is seen holding a plastic cup with two large ice cubes and sipping the trickle of water accumulating at the bottom of the cup as the ice slowly melts.

"I was thirsty, but I didn't want to pay €3.00 ($3.23) for water," the text overlay explains. The creator added in the caption: "No cause why does water have to be so expensive," with a crying emoji. Viewers definitely didn't disagree with her and even added some suggestions of their own. "I did this in the club when they tried charging me for tap water because lol," shared @Chantelle Nadine. "Next time tell them you feeling sick they give you a bottle of water," suggested @Nes. "Take an empty water bottle and ask them to fill it up on the plane," added @James. "Surely having to pay for a cup of water on any flight should be illegal or a health risk," commented @xo_pablojesscobar. 

Ryanair is a low-cost airline based in Dublin, Ireland. According to the airline's in-flight menu, a 500-ml bottle of San Benedetto water (still or sparkling) costs 3 euros. According to a 2020 MapQuest article, "all drinks will cost you" on Ryanair, and readers are warned not to "even think there will be a water service." @rachealxk stated that such policies should be reconsidered, reported Daily Dot. 

"All I can say is water is a necessity to human life and it should be free on airplanes, especially due to people who suffer from motion sickness and cabin pressure," she said. "People can be on the plane for hours and a 500ml bottle of water that is so expensive isn't enough. They don't allow us to bring our own liquids on the plane. The least they can do is make it free or bring down the cost to a price you would pay to buy it locally."

This passenger's hack definitely seems clever under these circumstances, but what if the airline itself suggested that you melt ice instead of offering you water? According to The Irish Sun, Gene Goh was stuck on the runway at Singapore's Changi Airport, waiting for a Scoot budget airline flight to depart for Osaka, Japan. He asked the cabin crew for a glass of tap water but was told that only bottled mineral water was available and that he would have to pay for it. When his flight was delayed, he was surprised to be handed a glass of ice and told to "wait for it to melt." How considerate of airlines in general to imply their cold-heartedness.