Covering 10 markets across Asia, the survey found discourteous invasion of personal space as the number one pet peeve for fliers
In a candid exploration of the less glamorous side of air travel, digital travel platform Agoda has released a list of top in-flight annoyances. The Singapore-based firm says in its Travel Bugbears Survey 2023 that from overly chatty neighbours to lavatory hoggers, even the smoothest flight can have its ‘bumps’.
Covering 10 markets across Asia, the survey found discourteous invasion of personal space as the number one pet peeve for fliers. People from South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan are most offended by personal space invasion, be it the war on arm-rest territory or the production of bodily noises and unpleasant smells from uncovered feet. The survey was conducted by independent market research firm, YouGov, in July 2023, with online interviews of12,065 respondents who have been on holiday at least once in the past year.
According to the survey, flight delays come in second on the list. The patience of travellers from the Philippines especially reaches a tipping point when it comes to flight delays as they rank it their top bugbear, a sentiment echoed by travellers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The survey says that for Indian respondents also, delayed flights as their main source of irritation, with loud travellers and discourteous behaviour tying in second. The infamous armrest war takes third place.
Agoda survey also found that flight delays are the top source of annoyance for Malaysian travellers, with almost a quarter of respondents rating it as the ultimate in-flight bugbear. This is followed by discourteous behaviour of other travellers, with disturbance by loud passengers and people being rude to airline staff tying in third.
Close to a third of travellers from the Philippines mention delayed flights as their main concern. The report adds that other sources of annoyances are their fellow travellers, namely passengers who are rude to service staff and those who displayed discourteous behaviour.
It goes on to say that for Indonesian travellers as well, flight delays are the leading source of frustration, with close to a quarter of respondents rating it as their biggest bugbear. This is followed by discourteous passengers and excessively noisy travellers.
For Thailand passengers, discourteous behaviour of fellow travellers is the number one bugbear, with close to a quarter rating it as the prime annoyance. While flight delays come in second, travellers also express disdain for passengers who are rude to service staff or are too loud.
Agoda says that chief irritant for Vietnamese travellers is a delayed flight, followed closely by discourteous behaviour of fellow travellers. Loud passengers round off the top 3 for Vietnam, whereas South Koreans are annoyed by discourteous behaviour of fellow passengers, with the next biggest irritant being disruptively loud travellers. The ‘seat recline dilemma’, referring to passengers reclining their seat without checking, is the third most mentioned concern among Korean travellers.
Interestingly, the survey finds that Japan is the only market where passengers being rude to service staff is the primary source of flight annoyances. Discourteous behaviour by fellow travellers comes in second and loud passengers take third place.
Liyana Jamil
Discourteous behaviour from fellow travellers is the number one bugbear for Australian travellers, says the Agoda, adding that around a fifth of respondents rate it as the prime annoyance. While flight delays come in second, Australians also dread the thought of sitting near a crying baby.
Reflecting the same trend, Taiwanese travellers also rate discourteous behaviour and with loud passengers are the most annoying. While flight delays come in second Taiwanese also dread the thought of sitting near a crying baby.
“For many of us, the holiday fun starts the moment we board a plane. But while flying is generally an enjoyable experience, it sometimes comes with minor grievances. There are over a 130,000 bookable flight routes on Agoda, and I hope that the findings of this light-hearted survey create awareness, increase consideration, and make the in-flight experience on any of these routes even more enjoyable,” says Liyana Jamil, Vice President of Global Partner Services, Agoda.
