Canadians talk rudeness ahead of the holiday travel season

Travelocity.ca News Release

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By now, most Canadians have already made their travel plans for the hectic holiday season. Flights are booked, cars are rented, and accommodations have been reserved. But no matter how organized the plans are, most Canadians have not prepared for the frustrations they may face getting to their holiday destination.

According to Travelocity.ca's Air Travel Tolerance poll, 97.5 percent of Canadians say that they expect to sometimes or always experience travel delays, either at the gate, on the tarmac, or in the air. Naturally, when people are faced with unforeseen travel delays, tempers fray and emotions can erupt. The bad news, according to the poll findings, is that Canadian travellers in this heightened-security world are not getting any more patient when it comes to handling such situations. Thirty nine percent of respondents believe that their travelling cohorts are less polite than in years past.

"Travelling doesn't always bring out the best in people," Jennifer
Gaines, Contributing Editor, Travelocity.ca, said. "Everyone has their own idea of what constitutes rude behaviour and not all Canadians will be thrilled by their fellow travellers. It's important to prepare for crowds and delays, and keep your cool if things go wrong."

Chatty neighbours and a less-than-cordial flight crew are the biggest annoyances for travellers, with 44 percent indicating that these factors would make for an unpleasant flight experience. It seems that Canadian travelers are more annoyed by behaviour than by environmental factors. Dirty or malfunctioning bathrooms (16 percent), poor air circulation (15 percent) and not getting a preferred seating assignment (12 percent) were all deemed less bothersome for travellers. Although many complain outwardly about the lack of food on flights nowadays, only five percent flagged this as the most annoying element when flying.

When Travelocity.ca's poll dug a little deeper, Canadians divulged the specific air travel behaviours that they find to be rude:

- Kicking the back of the seat - 98 percent
- Loud talking or swearing - 97 percent
- Excessively loud music or movies - 91 percent
- Another passenger hogging the armrest - 86 percent
- Reclining the seat all the way back - 73 percent
- Taking off shoes - 19 percent

The polls showed that what is classified as rude or unacceptable behavior differs between some groups. For example, while 17 percent of passengers with children of their own were bothered by crying or uncontrolled children, 30 percent of those without little ones of their own found the behaviour to be "very rude".

The Travelocity.ca poll was conducted from Sept. 27 - Oct. 2, 2007. The survey obtained information from travellers who booked air travel within the last 12 months. For complete survey details, go to www.travelocity.ca/airtolerance.

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