Posted by the TravelPulse, on 01 July 2023

Memo to travelers everywhere: Etiquette demands that socks be kept on during a flight.

That’s the overwhelming consensus among travelers who were polled by the search engine KAYAK, which recently took a deep dive into all things plane etiquette-related.

The platform, which can be used to search for flights, hotels, or rental cars, conducted an extensive survey about such pressing flight-related questions as whether it’s best to keep your shoes on or off during a flight? And should you fully recline that seat or no? How about standing at the gate milling about before your boarding zone is called? (Let's be honest, who isn't guilty of that pre-boarding tactic?)

The purpose of the survey was to determine what Americans consider socially acceptable versus outright annoying and rude when flying.
“Travel etiquette is one of those things that is universally acknowledged yet frequently debated,”
said Matt Clarke, vice president of North America marketing for KAYAK. “Even within our own team at KAYAK, we couldn’t all agree whether it was or was not OK to recline your seat on a flight. So, we wanted to put an end to the debate once and for all.

KAYAK developed its survey questions after scouring blog posts, social media platforms, news outlets, online forums, and other sources to identify the most hotly debated topics surrounding air travel behavior. After that, the company conducted a formal survey with aytm (Ask Your Target Market).

The results of this effort revealed that 64 percent of travelers have witnessed bad plane etiquette (not shocking.)  This figure, says KAYAK, underscores the urgent need for establishing formal travel etiquette rules, especially as we all head into the busy July Fourth travel weekend.

Read on for a closer look at what Americans deem appropriate plane etiquette.

To read the full report, visit the following link.