Trip Advisor survey shows that travellers complain about airlines but still participate in frequent flyer programmes

Airline Industry Information, Nov 2, 2005

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

TripAdvisor's travellers want to go to Australia, Italy and Hawaii this year, according to a recent survey of more than 3,000 travellers from around the world.

The results reportedly show that these are the top three most desirable travel destinations in the next year. Christine Petersen, senior vice president of marketing for TripAdvisor, said that some other surprising findings were the apparent ambiguity among travellers when asked to select best and worst airlines.

According to the respondents, the top airlines are British Airways, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. However, American Airlines was also one of the three least favourite airlines, and British Airways was overwhelmingly the least favourite among travellers from the UK. The survey also showed that while Delta Air Lines was the least favourite airline, nearly 40% of those who chose Delta as least favourite participate in the Delta SkyMiles programme. US Airways and American Airlines tied for second least favourite airline but 36% of those who chose them are still enrolled in US Airways' Dividend Miles and American's AAdvantage programmes, respectively.

TripAdvisor said that the top considerations for respondents choosing their favourite airline were friendly and helpful staff, and sticking to schedules. Best fares and comfortable seating tied for the third most important consideration.

TripAdvisor.com is a global travel information and advice site that reportedly has more than 2.9m unbiased reviews and opinions, covering more than 200,000 hotels and attractions.

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