Britons' best (and worst) holiday habits - according to Holidaysplease.co.uk

March 27, 2012 - PRLog -- An exhaustive survey of over 1,000 holidaymakers by long-haul specialist Holidaysplease.co.uk has revealed that we 21st century Brits are flirty, friendly, celebrity-obsessed and even a little soppy.  Not to mention fond of petty theft and joining the mile high club....…

Here are some of the best insights garnered by Holidaysplease.co.uk’s research:

Secrets of getting a flight upgrade:
• Flirting with check in staff is the top tactic for bagging a free upgrade with 41% of people admitting to doing it.
• 12% of travellers admit they would flirt with check-in staff of the same sex if it meant getting an upgrade.
• Pretending to be on honeymoon (34%) and being a ‘nervous’ flyer (27%) are also popular tactics.
• 6% of travellers are even willing to pretend to be going to a funeral to get an upgrade!

Breaching security:
• 30% of travellers confess to having breached airport security, with sharp objects or oversized liquids not being spotted in their hand luggage when going through security.

Sneaky packing:
• 22% of people admit to sneaking heavier items in their partner’s suitcase.
• 5% of adults are soppy enough to take their teddy bear on holiday.

Celebrity-obsessed:
• 68% of people have spotted a celeb whilst on their travels and 10% of Brits will go over and introduce themselves. Two thirds of these people will ask to snap a picture as well.
• With airline food having mixed reactions, Jamie Oliver came out as the dream celebrity-chef (37%) for in-flight meals whereas Delia Smith was voted least-favourite.
• Prince William and Kate Middleton are the golden couple with most people (35%) wanting to sit between them; David and Samantha Cameron are more popular than Elton John and David Furnish as flight companions.

Brits abroad:
• Even though other nationalities might think us Brits unfriendly and scruffy, 69% of us apparently like to make friends whilst on holiday.
• 30% of UK tourists curiously think that speaking in English in a foreign accent will help them to fit in and will allow locals to understand them better.
• There are also British members of the Mile High Club, with 6.5% of us admitting to ‘membership’.

We can’t switch off:
This is depressing!
• Over half of us (60%) check emails at least once a day while on holiday, with one in five confessing to checking emails more than that and keeping their Facebook status updated.
• A super-sad 6.5% check their emails between five and ten times a day while on holiday.

Arguments:
• The average number of arguments on holiday is 0.4 for honeymooners, 0.5 for stag/hen holidays, 0.7 for retired couples, 1.2 for married couples and 1.9 for family holidays.
• Women wailed that the most annoying habit males have whilst on holiday is fiddling with their mobile phones, whereas the majority of men predictably moaned that ladies spend too much time shopping or lying on the beach.

Petty theft:
Holidaymakers never forget to bring home a good souvenir – even if that means stealing things from the hotel!
• Top hotel items to pilfer are toiletries, slippers, dressing gowns and even pillows and shower curtains.  
• Customers think it’s acceptable to take larger value items if the hotel service is poor, so hoteliers beware!

The full survey results are at: https://www.holidaysplease.co.uk/news/2012-travel-survey-...

Holidaysplease.co.uk (0844 463 2799, www.holidaysplease.co.uk) is an online travel agent specialising in four and five-star long-haul destinations across the Indian Ocean, Far East, Caribbean and Africa.  

ENDS                                                                                      27 March 2012

The survey was carried out by over 1,000 Holidaysplease.co.uk customers in 2012

For press enquiries or photography: Please contact Richard Mellor or Julia Farish, Travel PR, tel: 020 8891 4440, email: r.mellor@travelpr.co.uk or j.farish@travelpr.co.uk

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