What Are Your Top Air Travel Pet Peeves? The 2013 Edition
Jun 17, 2013, 9:05 pm
#1
Moderator: Hilton Honors forums
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Marietta, Georgia, United States
Posts: 24,997
What Are Your Top Air Travel Pet Peeves? The 2013 Edition
Please click here for the article and poll results.
_______________________________
Upon boarding an airplane, you look forward to a smooth, comfortable, quick and uneventful flight, but — as a frequent flier — you know that that does not always happen, to say the least.
The man seated next to you is coughing and sneezing without covering his mouth. A child seated behind you kicks the back of your seat incessantly while the passenger in front of you reclines her seat, which only aggravates the limited and cramped legroom available to you in your dirty seat — and the recline functionality of your seat is broken. The bag you carried aboard the aircraft with you will not fit in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you, so it had to be checked by a rude flight attendant who otherwise ignored you throughout the entire flight...
...and let us not even attempt to discuss how putrid the odor emanating from the lavatory near your seat, offending your olfactory sense.
FlyerTalk — the largest Internet travel community in the world with a rich base of travel knowledge — has collaborated with Frequent Business Traveler magazine on the third of a series of polls pertaining to “pet peeves” of air travel, restaurants, hotels and technology. Frequent Business Traveler will provide the poll; FlyerTalk members — yes, you in particular — will provide the opinions.
This poll is the 2013 Air Travel Pet Peeves Poll, which will be active through July 15, 2013. Many FlyerTalk members spend quite a bit of time on airplanes traveling all over the world — and any airline can potentially foster issues and situations which can drive you absolutely insane.
The primary purpose of this particular discussion is for you to opine, elaborate on your thoughts and relate your experiences as an airline passenger — most likely, more often than you would prefer.
Results of this poll will be announced both on-line in the magazine and here on FlyerTalk. Here are the discussion and the results from 2012.
So — what are your “pet peeves”? Please vote today and let everyone know!
_______________________________
Upon boarding an airplane, you look forward to a smooth, comfortable, quick and uneventful flight, but — as a frequent flier — you know that that does not always happen, to say the least.
The man seated next to you is coughing and sneezing without covering his mouth. A child seated behind you kicks the back of your seat incessantly while the passenger in front of you reclines her seat, which only aggravates the limited and cramped legroom available to you in your dirty seat — and the recline functionality of your seat is broken. The bag you carried aboard the aircraft with you will not fit in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you, so it had to be checked by a rude flight attendant who otherwise ignored you throughout the entire flight...
...and let us not even attempt to discuss how putrid the odor emanating from the lavatory near your seat, offending your olfactory sense.
FlyerTalk — the largest Internet travel community in the world with a rich base of travel knowledge — has collaborated with Frequent Business Traveler magazine on the third of a series of polls pertaining to “pet peeves” of air travel, restaurants, hotels and technology. Frequent Business Traveler will provide the poll; FlyerTalk members — yes, you in particular — will provide the opinions.
This poll is the 2013 Air Travel Pet Peeves Poll, which will be active through July 15, 2013. Many FlyerTalk members spend quite a bit of time on airplanes traveling all over the world — and any airline can potentially foster issues and situations which can drive you absolutely insane.
The primary purpose of this particular discussion is for you to opine, elaborate on your thoughts and relate your experiences as an airline passenger — most likely, more often than you would prefer.
Results of this poll will be announced both on-line in the magazine and here on FlyerTalk. Here are the discussion and the results from 2012.
So — what are your “pet peeves”? Please vote today and let everyone know!
Last edited by Canarsie; Nov 7, 2013 at 12:08 am
Jun 18, 2013, 5:04 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,638
my pet peeves are:
1. air travel polls that leave out major air travel issues, rendering the poll both skewed and meaningless. what's so magical about "experiences while aloft rather than those before or after the flight"?
2. "direct" flights. the travel industry needs to abandon this terminology. stops make the trip longer and more frustrating, so i try to avoid them. and on some airlines (e.g., delta), you cannot be upgraded on the second leg of a "direct" flight.
3. boarding zones that aren't enforced. every airline has a boarding pass scanner that beeps for exit row passengers. configure the thing so that it beeps whenever someone tries to board ahead of the currently boarding zone, and make them wait.
4. if i'm flying in F and you can take my coat when i board, you can keep it in the closet until we land. it's particularly foolish on short flights - what's the point if you give my coat back halfway through?
1. air travel polls that leave out major air travel issues, rendering the poll both skewed and meaningless. what's so magical about "experiences while aloft rather than those before or after the flight"?
2. "direct" flights. the travel industry needs to abandon this terminology. stops make the trip longer and more frustrating, so i try to avoid them. and on some airlines (e.g., delta), you cannot be upgraded on the second leg of a "direct" flight.
3. boarding zones that aren't enforced. every airline has a boarding pass scanner that beeps for exit row passengers. configure the thing so that it beeps whenever someone tries to board ahead of the currently boarding zone, and make them wait.
4. if i'm flying in F and you can take my coat when i board, you can keep it in the closet until we land. it's particularly foolish on short flights - what's the point if you give my coat back halfway through?
Jun 18, 2013, 8:14 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: It's hot here
Posts: 4,285
Every single time I get a flight survey from Delta, I write this. It's amazingly annoying and pointless. Why even have zones if no one enforces them? Let's just fight it out at the gate. lol
Jun 18, 2013, 8:24 am
#5
Join Date: May 2012
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 506
Sum it up in two words... other passengers. 
- like the one who feels they can use my space to stow
their overflow items
- like the one who blocks the aisle while boarding to stuff
documents in their travel wallet
- like the one who blocks the aisle while boarding to obtain
items out of luggage they want while seated
- loud obnoxious folks on the plane who chatter constantly
- parents whose baby dumps a load in a diaper at the beginning
of the flight and let the baby pickle in the mess while the rest of
us get to enjoy the fumes
- passengers who jump the boarding priority and GA's who do not
enforce the priority
- those seated around me who want to borrow my pen to fill out
the customs forms on international flights... then conveniently
forget to return said pen or lend it to another passenger
- passengers who think they are "special" and the rest of us are
simply there to comply with their every wish
- like those from the back rows who refuse to let passengers in
rows ahead out of their seat into the lineup upon disembarking
- etc, etc, etc...
I need a private jet.
- like the one who feels they can use my space to stow
their overflow items
- like the one who blocks the aisle while boarding to stuff
documents in their travel wallet
- like the one who blocks the aisle while boarding to obtain
items out of luggage they want while seated
- loud obnoxious folks on the plane who chatter constantly
- parents whose baby dumps a load in a diaper at the beginning
of the flight and let the baby pickle in the mess while the rest of
us get to enjoy the fumes
- passengers who jump the boarding priority and GA's who do not
enforce the priority
- those seated around me who want to borrow my pen to fill out
the customs forms on international flights... then conveniently
forget to return said pen or lend it to another passenger
- passengers who think they are "special" and the rest of us are
simply there to comply with their every wish
- like those from the back rows who refuse to let passengers in
rows ahead out of their seat into the lineup upon disembarking
- etc, etc, etc...
I need a private jet.
Jun 18, 2013, 12:58 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: San Marcos, CA
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum ; Hilton Gold; Hertz 5*, Delta DM. Hyatt Platinum, Amtrak Select
Posts: 215
In no particular order:
* People that cannot get up from their seat without doing a pull-up on my seat.
* +1 on zone jumpers
* families pre-boarding with kids WAY over the age where they need extra time. I get it with an infant or toddler, but a 14 year old is just another passenger
* People that cannot get up from their seat without doing a pull-up on my seat.
* +1 on zone jumpers
* families pre-boarding with kids WAY over the age where they need extra time. I get it with an infant or toddler, but a 14 year old is just another passenger
Jun 18, 2013, 3:25 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: IND
Programs: UA MP Silver
Posts: 9
I'll also add:
--people who don't respect the headphone barrier (I'm looking at you, random seatmate on my recent PEK-ORD flight
)--people who think that I won't notice when their feet wander into the space underneath the seat in front of me...I'm tall too
--airports/terminals without lots of power outlets
--traveling companions who get testy when I opt out of the scanners at security
Jun 18, 2013, 4:40 pm
#9
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: The Far, Far North
Programs: Alaskans fly everywhere on any aircraft going there!
Posts: 1,262
How about writing some instructions on how to get out of a window seat without touching anyone else's seat? Or even an aisle seat? I would appreciate knowing the technique!
Jun 18, 2013, 5:23 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota,USA
Programs: UA, NW
Posts: 3,752
1) Lack of leg room in coach. I fly UA specifically because it's easy to buy up to E+. I stopped flying NH when they went to 31" seat pitch and came back to them when they returned to 34".
2) Charges for checked baggage that induce the majority of pax on any given flight to try to cram their rollaboards into the overhead bin, slowing both the boarding and deplaning processes.
3) Domestic flights that are as long as international flights but have no food service in coach, only buy on board "snacks" that are full of sugar, salt, and transfats. I'm looking at you, ORD-HNL! (compare and contrast, JFK-LHR).
4) However, flying UA internationally has a downside as well: darkening the cabin right after the first meal service, even if that is at 11AM. (Who naps at 11AM?) (NH does this to, but they let you have more hours of natural light than UA does.) When flying trans-Pac, having natural daylight (as airlines used to permit) is extremely helpful for adjusting to the time change. I've been flying to Japan long enough to have experienced the switch from natural lighting to darkened cabins, and there's no question: darkened cabins aggravate jet lag.
5) The corporate claim that passengers are interested only in price. This is actually a situation that the corporate pooh-bahs created themselves. When the LLCs came into being after deregulation, the majors tried to drive them out of business by matching their fares but maintaining their full services. (It never seems to have occurred to them to let Laker and People Express serve the kettles while they kept the experienced travelers.) Of course, maintaining full service at Laker/People Express prices was unsustainable, so the goodies disappeared one by one. Now pax have no motivation to seek a higher fair, especially when flying domestically, since the experience is at Greyhound Bus level unless you can afford F, and even that isn't as good as it used to be. It's a classic race to the bottom.
2) Charges for checked baggage that induce the majority of pax on any given flight to try to cram their rollaboards into the overhead bin, slowing both the boarding and deplaning processes.
3) Domestic flights that are as long as international flights but have no food service in coach, only buy on board "snacks" that are full of sugar, salt, and transfats. I'm looking at you, ORD-HNL! (compare and contrast, JFK-LHR).
4) However, flying UA internationally has a downside as well: darkening the cabin right after the first meal service, even if that is at 11AM. (Who naps at 11AM?) (NH does this to, but they let you have more hours of natural light than UA does.) When flying trans-Pac, having natural daylight (as airlines used to permit) is extremely helpful for adjusting to the time change. I've been flying to Japan long enough to have experienced the switch from natural lighting to darkened cabins, and there's no question: darkened cabins aggravate jet lag.
5) The corporate claim that passengers are interested only in price. This is actually a situation that the corporate pooh-bahs created themselves. When the LLCs came into being after deregulation, the majors tried to drive them out of business by matching their fares but maintaining their full services. (It never seems to have occurred to them to let Laker and People Express serve the kettles while they kept the experienced travelers.) Of course, maintaining full service at Laker/People Express prices was unsustainable, so the goodies disappeared one by one. Now pax have no motivation to seek a higher fair, especially when flying domestically, since the experience is at Greyhound Bus level unless you can afford F, and even that isn't as good as it used to be. It's a classic race to the bottom.
Jun 18, 2013, 7:27 pm
#11
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Ottawa
Posts: 77
1) Having someone tapping too hard on the touch screen at the back of my seat.
2) Loud passengers
3) the front passenger who's seat is too reclined.
4) when it's boarding time and passengers who think that they will get away with it by joining the priority boarding line.
5) zone jumpers
2) Loud passengers
3) the front passenger who's seat is too reclined.
4) when it's boarding time and passengers who think that they will get away with it by joining the priority boarding line.
5) zone jumpers
Jun 18, 2013, 7:46 pm
#12
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,268
Ahhh... summer in the Deep South, where outside air temperatures go quickly upward just past daybreak, and where the terminals think that they need to address exterior heat concerns by setting their AC to somewhere around 62F. Houston Hobby, I'm looking at you.
Jun 18, 2013, 9:20 pm
#13
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 23
In no particular order:
1. People who bring a carry on, personal item and a large shopping bag on board - what part of "one carry on and ONE personal item" don't you grasp???
2. Parents who allow their children to scream/kick the seat/etc. etc.
3. People who can't sit still in their seat when they are sitting next to me.
4. Snippy flight attendants.
5.People who stop in the middle of the concourse to check their phone, their ticket, whatever - if you are going to stop, pull over!
6. People who sit right next to the outlet and aren't charging a device and won't exchange seats with me when my phone is about to die.....
1. People who bring a carry on, personal item and a large shopping bag on board - what part of "one carry on and ONE personal item" don't you grasp???
2. Parents who allow their children to scream/kick the seat/etc. etc.
3. People who can't sit still in their seat when they are sitting next to me.
4. Snippy flight attendants.
5.People who stop in the middle of the concourse to check their phone, their ticket, whatever - if you are going to stop, pull over!
6. People who sit right next to the outlet and aren't charging a device and won't exchange seats with me when my phone is about to die.....
Jun 19, 2013, 5:11 am
#14
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: AA Lifetime PLT , BA Silver , BD RIP , HH Gold, SPG / Marriott PLT , EF Subscriber
Posts: 6,702
Jun 19, 2013, 5:24 am
#15
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 599
How do you stand up from any other seat on earth without a chair in front of you? You have two arm rests, and presumably the middle seat and aisle already had to get up to let you out, so you can even side-saddle it if you need to. I'll never understand how this is difficult.