Airline Pain Index reveals what travelers hate the most about flying
Whenever I meet someone who claims to actually enjoy flying, I can't help but assume they're some sort of masochist, or quite possibly a figment of my own imagination. I'm apparently not alone in my thinking, as insights company Qualtrics recently found. The Provo, Utah based company surveyed 520 adults in the United states who had flown in the past year and asked them what they found the most annoying about flying. Their discoveries – dubbed the Airline Pain Index – were unsurprisingly dismal (at least from the airlines' perspective), with 1 in 5 passengers reporting that they'd had such a poor experience, they'd opted to switch carriers.
What could happen that's bad enough to make you never book through a certain airline? Where do we even start? According to Qualtrics' results, 1 in 3 passengers cited lost luggage, hidden fees and unfriendly flight crews. The top all-around flier complaints involved some of those same gripes, including lost luggage (88%), hidden fees (80%) and canceled flights (78%), although only 45% of respondents cited delayed flights as a reason to swap airlines (although maybe they flew Delta and were wooed by the free pizza).
The survey also looked at all the ways other passengers can annoy us, with the top complaint being bad hygiene (45%), followed by someone kicking their seat (35%) (which was mentioned as everyone's least favorite thing on Expedia's 2015 Airplane Etiquette Survey) and sitting next to a drunk person (35%).
Do you enjoy networking while you fly? Just 30% of respondents said they don't mind chatting with their fellow flier. This number isn't exactly high, meaning you may want to have a strategy for networking in the sky, like taking part in Delta Innovation Class or KLM’s Meet & Seat Program.
While flying isn't luxurious for most of us (unless of course you're a VIP), there are ways to make it suck less, whether that's choosing the airlines that offer the most legroom or finding the right in-flight entertainment, whether that's a Spotify playlist, a TED Talk or a meditation app. Packing everything in a carry-on so the airlines don't have the chance to lose your luggage probably helps too.
How do you make flying suck less?
Jessica Festa is the founder on the solo and offbeat travel blog, Jessie on a Journey, and the online responsible tourism and culture magazine, Epicure & Culture. She's constantly searching for local experiences beyond the guidebook. You can follow her travels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.