What annoys you the most?
What do you find most frustrating about flying? Is it the sight of a fellow passenger's 'builder's bum'? It proved to be the biggest bug bear for 28% of respondees in a Skyscanner poll on their biggest gripes about other passengers. Whilst in a survey done by TripAdvisor asking people what their biggest frustration about flying was - the top answer was unruly children. If you've ever sat in front of a child who proceeded to kick the back of your seat for the duration of the journey, you're likely to agree with the 22% who listed that as their biggest gripe. Some of those responding to the poll directed their frustration to the parents who didn't control their kids. Moreover, the survey found that a whopping 37% of people responding would be willing to pay extra for a child-free flight. Although I suppose that depends on how much more you might have to pay!
It's not all about kids though - other people surveyed said that inconsiderate seat recliners caused them the most frustration. Something that isn't a problem on a flight with a budget airline as the seats don't recline at all!
Ain't no misbehaving here...
Child-free zones
One airline, Malaysia Airlines, have already banned infants from its first class cabins following complaints from passengers. July also saw them start operating a child-free zone on their Airbus 380s where children under 12 are restricted to the lower deck. The new seating arrangements will operate on flights between London and Kuala Lumpur and Sydney and Kuala Lumpur.
Another Malaysian airline, AirAsiaX, also plan to create a 'quiet zone' that's child-free. Serving destinations within Asia and Australia, AirAsiaX will operate the quiet zones from February 2013 at no extra cost - other than the standard booking charge for selecting your seat. The zone stretches between rows 7 and 14 and includes ambient lighting.
I'm not sure what my biggest frustration is with flying - and I fly a lot! To be fair, if I had a kid (or an adult!) kicking or pushing against the back of my seat, I'd be pretty annoyed too. Perhaps I've just been lucky… Noise is less frustrating for me (I count my iPod as a travel essential). Actually, for me it would not be so much be something on the plane but queues within the airport that frustrate me the most!
Well, we'll just have to see how much of a difference the child-free zone seating with these too Malaysian airlines pan out… and whether other airlines will follow suit.