Originally Posted by
Amelorn
I find I get more annoyed by inexperienced leisure travelers than I do by road warriors/elites/frequent travelers. YMMV. I can definitely see how some of the more shamelessly arrogant behaviors grate, though they are rarer.
Hell to me is getting stuck while checking into a hotel behind the "why do I need to pay a deposit?!" kettle who swears this has never happened before. Oh dear God. That argument always goes in circles for 15 minutes, and I wonder when they last booked a hotel room that didn't take any deposit.
Right, so we could just as easily create a 'I hate leisure travelers' thread and complain about them. And of course, as a business traveler, I'd much prefer that everyone on the flight also be a business traveler so that they would be more aligned with how I fly. It's very frustrating when there is a delay or some issue and I hear the leisure travelers saying 'but you don't understand, I NEED to be there tonight' to the gate agents, while the business travelers are more resigned and less surprised - they just start rebooking and get it over with.
But, I don't hate the leisure travelers who make boarding and security slower, can be noisy, stressed out, etc. Sometimes, I am one of those - I fly with 2 kids regularly. And there are some people, like the original poster of this thread (ironically) who are new to flying and don't always have the same perspective of those who have been grinding it out for 20 years.
Most of the people on a flight are cool. Almost every parent of every screaming baby is doing their best to calm their kid down, and is feeling embarrassed and frustrated as their older kid kicks the back of my seat. The people yelling at the gate agent or trying to put their roller in the overhead compartment the wrong way is doing their best - they don't fly enough to know 'wheels first'. The business traveler who gets on first because they travel a lot and don't want to check their bag isn't hogging overhead' space to inconvenience those in group 4, who will have to gate-check their rollers. They are just going to work.
In every circumstance, in every population and demographic there will be arrogant, self-important people but I don't accept that biz travelers or leisure travelers are better or worse.
It would be fun to make a tread like, 'Business travelers vs. leisure travelers' and compare the two. We just need a simple thread-rule that making judgements about intelligence, arrogance, kindness, etc. is not allowed. For example, one thing I love about UA347 on a Monday morning is that it's packed with biz travelers going DEN to LGA. Probably 80% of the flight are consultants and people that are doing Monday to Thursday work around NYC - I was one of them
And wow that flight boards quickly! Group 2 is incredibly long because everyone has status
Everyone knows where their seat is. Everyone knows the roller goes wheels-first. Most of the travelers are solo so it's generally quiet during boarding. Few if any wheelchairs. Because of all this, the FA's are usually pretty calm and in a good mood. When I used to do that flight 3 times x month, I really appreciated that the boarding process was calm and quiet.
Now try a Saturday flight from BKK to HKT (Phuket) in December. It's 90% tourists, mosts dressed in flipflops and shorts. They are having fun, and excited to be there. Many of them haven't traveled in Asia much if it all. The boarding process takes forever and there are not many rollers but tons of irregular bags and backpacks everywhere - the overheads are chaos! On a flight like that, I enjoy chatting with tourists and maybe even giving some recommendations. But, if I were a business traveler on that flight I'd kinda just want to get there
Everyone has the right to be there and with rare exceptions, people are well behaved - just different.