Invasion of personal space, flight delays, and loud passengers most likely to make travelers go ‘insane on the plane’
With travelers across the globe raring to take off on new adventures, digital travel platform Agoda unveils a candid exploration of the less glamorous side of air travel. From overly chatty neighbors to lavatory hoggers, Agoda’s Travel Bugbears Survey 2023 delves into the realm of in-flight annoyances, highlighting that even the smoothest flight can have its bumps.
The survey, covering 10 markets across Asia found discourteous invasion of personal space as the number one pet peeve for fliers – and for travelers in Vietnam, the nation’s reputation for flight delays took top spot. Discourteous and noisy fellow passengers also ranked highly among Vietnamese passengers who are just looking for a relaxing journey to their next destination.
Regional irritants vary. Flight delays rank high in other nations as well, coming in second on the list of passengers’ grievances across Asia Pacific. The patience of travelers 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 travelers from Malaysia and Indonesia.
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.
Ranking as the third biggest in-flight annoyance across the region is the presence of loud passengers, like overly chatty seatmates, couples airing out their dirty laundry in public, or raucous groups broadcasting their music or games across the entire flight. Australians and Malaysians are least sensitive to noise while Taiwan and South Korean travelers appreciate more peaceful flying experiences. Japanese, too, appreciate the peace and quiet, but also are the only market that express an intolerance for disruptive passengers who are rude to cabin crew as their top grievance.
“For many of us, the holiday fun starts the moment we board a plane,” said Liyana Jamil, Vice President of Global Partner Services, Agoda. “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.”
Agoda built its global reputation as an online booking platform for hotels and vacation homes but has seen flight bookings grow popular since the introduction of flights on the platform in 2019.
Market Data
Malaysia
Flight delays are the top source of annoyance for Malaysian travelers, with almost a quarter of respondents rating it as the ultimate in-flight bugbear. This is followed by discourteous behavior of other travelers, with disturbance by loud passengers and people being rude to airline staff tying in third.
Philippines
Close to a third of travelers from the Philippines mention delayed flights as their main concern. Other sources of annoyances are their fellow travelers, namely passengers who are rude to service staff and those who displayed discourteous behavior.
Indonesia
For Indonesian travelers, 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 travelers.
India
Travelers from India rate delayed flights as their main source of irritation, with loud travelers and discourteous behavior tying in second. The infamous armrest war takes third place.
Thailand
Discourteous behavior from fellow travelers is the number one bugbear for Thai travelers, with close to a quarter citing it as the prime annoyance. While flight delays come in second, travelers also express disdain for passengers who are rude to service staff or are too loud.
Vietnam
The chief irritant for Vietnamese travelers is a delayed flight, followed closely by discourteous behavior of fellow travelers. Loud passengers round off the top 3.
South Korea
Reflecting the general trend, most travelers from South Korea are annoyed by discourteous behavior of fellow passengers, with the next biggest irritant being disruptively loud travelers. The “seat recline dilemma” — referring to passengers reclining their seat without checking — is the third most mentioned concern among Korean travelers.
Japan
Japan is the only market where passengers being rude to service staff is the primary source of flight annoyances. Discourteous behavior by fellow travelers comes in second and loud passengers take third
place.
Australia
Discourteous behavior from fellow travelers is the number one bugbear for Australian travelers, with around a fifth of respondents rating it as the prime annoyance. While flight delays come in second, Australians also dread the thought of sitting near a crying baby.
Taiwan
Discourteous behavior ties with loud passengers for first place among Taiwanese travelers. While flight delays come in second Taiwanese also dread the thought of sitting near a crying baby.
About the survey
The Agoda Travel Bugbears 2023 research was conducted by independent market research firm, YouGov, in July 2023. 12,065 respondents were interviewed online and are representative of those who have been on holiday at least once in the past year. Within their countries: Australia (1003), India (1005), Malaysia (1010), Korea (1008), Japan (1003), Vietnam (1008), Indonesia (2013), Taiwan (1003), Philippines (1009) and Thailand (2003)
About Agoda
Agoda, a digital travel platform, helps anyone see the world for less with its great value deals on a global network of 3.6M hotels and holiday properties worldwide, plus flights, airport transfers, and more. Agoda.com and the Agoda mobile app are available in 39 languages and supported by 24/7 customer support.
Headquartered in Singapore, Agoda is part of Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) and employs more than 6,600 staff in 31 markets, dedicated to leveraging best-in-class technology to make travel even easier.
