Tripadvisor, world’s largest travel website which features reviews and advice on hotels, restaurants, flights, vacation rentals, vacation packages and city travel guides reveals “Flyer Preferences And Annoyances In Annual Air Travel Survey”.
This air travel survey comprised of more than 2,000 respondents and comScore media metrix of Jan 2013 for tripadvisor worldwide sites were used to draw following conclusions.
Highlights from the Air Travel Survey:
- 91% (American travelers) are planning to take domestic flight at least once in 2013, as compared to 86% air travelers last year in 2012.
- 67% (American travelers) planning to fly internationally in 2013, as compared to 56% travelers in 2012.
- 37% believed in “more legroom” to improve the in-flight experience by airliners.
- 51% of travelers believed it’s important to check for “airline brand”, when making a booking decision,
Top 5 air travelers complaints:
- Uncomfortable seating/ limited legroom
- Costly airline fees and ticket prices
- Unpredictable flight delays
- Long security lines
- Other passengers (e.g. loud children)
Air travelers are reluctant to pay a premium for benefits like:
- 44% have never paid extra for better seating experience on airplane.
- 58% travelers said (if given a choice),they would take an aisle seat, 42% would choose the window seats,& 4% preferred to book the middle seats.
- 81% would go without in-flight entertainment for cheaper flights.
- 63% travelers will not be interested in paying, if airlines offered secluded “quite section” on
- airplane, while 23% said they might pay less than $25 (for a quiet air travel experience).
- 85% travelers believed in paying less than $25 (for a seat upgrade) on domestic flights and 81% said they might pay less than $50 for international flights.
Top 5 airline fees, that travlers hate most are:
- Checked baggage
- Carry-on baggage
- Seat selection
- Printed boarding pass at airport
- In-flight amenities
Flyers seek special treatement in exchange for thier loyalty to overcome air travel challenges :
- 87% of respondents participate in a frequent flyer program.
- 73% have exchanged points for a free or discounted flight.
- 26% have successfully used points for seat upgrades.
It was also found that mobile devices and better amenities like “free wi-fi” are of great importance to flyers.
- 56% travelers use smartphones to check flight status – (10% increase from 2012)
- 38% travelers use mobiles devices to check-in for flights – (8% increase from 2012)
- 36% travelers market research for best flight price – (6% increase from 2012)
- 37% travelers believed in carrying their iPad or tablets
This study announced by tripadvisor reveals alot about air travelers/ frequent flyers mental model about changing travel trends for 2013. Hope this leaves enough for travel marketer imagination, as to how to win customers.
Author: Jay Scott
Media Mosaic is world’s first fully integrated ZMOT (Zero Moment Of Truth) digital marketing agency, specializing in creating unique campaigns, to help brands WIN@ZMOT.We bring an extensive knowledge of buyer demographics and their buying behaviorsWe achieve the defined objectives, by mounting research based and interlocking, Branding, Content,Search and Social Media marketing activities
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