Angry Traveler: Survey shows we’re not mad, just irritated

A new survey shows American travelers were not quite as cranky in the last quarter of 2007 as they were in July, August and September.

A poll by Access America, a travel insurance company, shows the hassle factor at 3.9, down from 4.1 out of a possible 10. The survey, taken Nov. 26 to Dec. 6, asks questions about costs, service, security, safety, trip booking, labor and weather.

Not coincidentally, perhaps, in statistics released Jan. 3, the number of reported airline delays, flight cancellations and claims of mishandled bags dropped …

in November from October and improved over November of the previous year. The information is available from the Air Travel Consumer Report by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

So it’s all good news for travelers, right?

Well, not completely. Despite my own efforts to look at the positive side in a recent year-in-review piece, I also know there’s still a lot of work to be done. To wit:

— That same DOT report says that two of LAX’s biggest carriers, American and United, had the worst on-time arrival rates.

— About 55% of respondents cited airline or airport service as a source of travel-related frustration in the Access America survey. The only thing that irritated them more was the cost of gasoline.

— And 41% of respondents are frustrated with security and safety issues. That’s really no surprise given that a recent poll, commissioned and reported by the Associated Press, indicated that the Transportation Security Administration was among the most disliked agencies in the U.S. (though it didn’t rank as bad as the Federal Emergency Management Agency — you know, the folks who brought you the post-Katrina debacle). To its credit, TSA was rated as “very good” or “somewhat good” by 53% of respondents, the AP poll found.

So welcome to the new year. We may not be fuming and furious, but there’s still a bur — and a big one — under the saddle.

— Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

[Image: Victoria Roberts / Special to the Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 4:54 pm by Catharine Hamm and is filed under Angry Traveler, Frequent Flier, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.