There is no denying that more people are travelling today than ever before. It is estimated the average person takes five flights per year and spends 14 nights in a hotel, so it’s no surprise they have strong opinions about the journey. We’ll all agree on the top three things most people can’t stand; seat kickers, barefoot passengers and excessively chatty or loud travelers but Expedia has compiled a long list of other things people find annoying.
“Whether you’ve been on one vacation or 100, you’ve likely experienced some form of annoying behavior while traveling,” says Nisreene Atassi, Global Head of Communications for Expedia brand. “At Expedia, we want to ensure that every leg of a traveler’s journey is enjoyable. Our goal with this study is to better understand travelers’ biggest pet peeves and offer tips to help them maximize comfort and minimize annoyances.”
For the fourth year in a row, more than half of global respondents identified the passenger who constantly kicks, grabs or bumps their seat as the most annoying. Planes are getting smaller and leg room is definitely not what it used to be so this one is something everyone likely experiences on each flight.
Expedia(and your) top 5 crappy passenger traits:
- The Seat Kicker/Bumper/Grabber (51 percent)
- The Aromatic Passenger (43 percent)
- The Inattentive Parent (39 percent)
- Personal Space Violators (34 percent)
- Audio Insensitive (29 percent)
It also comes as no surprise that more 90 percent of agreed it’s not ok to be barefoot during a flight.
Also, almost 70% of Americans would rather sleep than talk to other passengers. Seventy-seven percent of Americans dread sitting next to someone who talks too much.
Carrying a pair of headphones or earplugs is a great way to cancel out unsolicited chatter on a flight.
Top Hotel Pet Peeves?
- The Inattentive Parents (45 percent)
- The In-Room Revelers and The Hallway Hellraisers (41 percent)
- The Complainers (29 percent)
- The Party-goers and The Bar Boozer (27 percent)
To avoid baggage fees more Americans are stuffing as much as they can into carry on suitcases. In addition,
- 75 percent of travelers deem freebies such as Wi-Fi, breakfast, resort credits, free parking, and room upgrades as very or somewhat important when booking a hotel.
- Twice as many Americans would volunteer their seat on an oversold flight in exchange for a free voucher compared to other countries.
- Only one in four travelers would pay to upgrade their seat, while even fewer would pay for in-flight Internet access.
Other findings include:
- Across the globe, it’s no surprise travelers are most annoyed to find bed bugs, a used condom, cigarette smoke or foul smell upon checking into a hotel room – while dirty surroundings are the main reason travelers request to switch hotel rooms, more than half rarely or never sanitize items like the remote and phone, or wear shower shoes to protect their feet.
- Travelers typically recline their seats for two reasons – only if it’s a long flight, three hours or more, or when going to sleep. A quarter of Americans said they never recline their seat because it’s rude. Europeans tend to be more likely to ask fellow passengers to un-recline their seat.
- 54 percent of people agree it’s ok to wake snoring passengers – and when it comes to passing a sleeping passenger, most don’t hesitate to wake them and ask them to move. 20 percent say it’s ok to just climb over with your back to them.
- Online and mobile check-in are taking the world by storm, just over a third of travelers still check-in at the airport – 50 percent of Americans check-in online for their flights. Meanwhile 72 percent still print a boarding pass and less than 30 percent use a mobile boarding pass.
- Hotel habits – most travelers admit to hiding valuables from housekeeping and taking items from a hotel room.
