What Are Your Holiday Travel Pet Peeves? Honeywell Has the Answer

In a recent Honeywell Aerospace Travel Pet Peeves Survey, a majority of the 1,041 American adults who responded agreed that flying during the holiday season would be a stressful experience.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, roughly 92 percent of those surveyed acknowledged that journeying through the skies this time of year is conducive to headaches.

But that’s not all the survey uncovered.

Fifty-seven percent of the respondents cited crowds as the biggest stressor when flying around the holidays, while nearly half (49 percent) attribute their irritation to annoying passengers.

As a result, many American travelers would go out of their way to avoid flying entirely this winter.

According to the survey, 57 percent would give up watching their favorite holiday parade to avoid air travel, while nearly one-third (31 percent) would sacrifice a gift.

What’s more, 27 percent would give up connecting with friends and family on social media or taking pictures during the holidays in order to escape air travel stress.

Although many Americans simply accept and put up with the seemingly inevitable stressors of traversing the skies during the holidays, the survey reveals that 53 percent of Americans would take action in order to maintain their sanity.

In the classic scenario, nearly three quarters (72 percent) of respondents would consider confronting a traveler whose child was kicking their seat.

Meanwhile, 43 percent have sought the help of a flight attendant to avoid an on-board disturbance, 40 percent have asked to move to another seat and 30 percent even admitted to sedating themselves in an effort to reduce the frustation.

While the Honeywell survey highlights a plethora of frustrations fliers face during the holidays and the lengths many will go to reduce that stress, it also emphasizes the significance of holiday air travel to Americans as none of the aforementioned pet peeves are likely to prevent them from flying this winter.

It should be noted that last week a general air traveler survey conducted by auto travel group AAA revealed that added fees and a lack of leg room caused the most headaches.