Travel Hints: Combating Frustrating Air Travel Aggravations

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Category: Health, Wellness

Published on Saturday, 21 November 2015 18:36

Written by Janet Walker

With Thanksgiving travel just ahead of us and 24.6Million passengers expected to travel by air which equates to upwards of 65,000K extra passengers per day this year ­ a new study, from AAA, explains what consumers find most frustrating about air travel.

In its inaugural Airline Pain Index, insights company Qualtrics recently surveyed travelers to rank the annoyances they might encounter while flying, ranging from mild to ³deal-breaker.² As a result, it found that about 1 in 5 passengers have actually switched airline carriers because of bad experiences (aka a deal-breaker).

Here is a sample of the findings:

-      The Deal-Breakers: More than 1 in 3 passengers said lost luggage, hidden fees and unfriendly flight crews would make them not want to fly with that airline again.

-      Top Complaints: Most respondents said lost luggage (88%) hidden fees (80%) and canceled flights (78%) bothered them ³a lot.² Interestingly, only 45% put delayed flights in that bucket. 

-      Fellow Passenger Pains: Bad hygiene was far and away the top complaint, with 45% of respondents saying it is one of their top complaints, followed by someone kicking their seat (35%) and sitting next to someone who's had too much to drink (35%). However, about 1 in 3 passengers (30%) don¹t mind sitting next to someone who wants to talk, and surprisingly, nearly half of respondents (49%) don¹t mind switching seats if someone asks.

-      Gender Gap: Women are twice as likely as men to report being unhappy when traveling and put a higher emphasis on clean facilities and transparent pricing.

A few delays may be frustrating and while the tempers may flare, let’s all pause, and arrive early, have a good book, good music, an ample supply of what you need to get by. Book early and first flight to minimize delays.

Here’s to a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Source: AAA