Summer is approaching, and many Americans are making their vacation plans, which means buying airline tickets. As those tickets become more individualized, with options for almost all aspects of a flight being sold a la carte, a new Harris Interactive poll shows that Americans are willing to pay more to have more space when they fly, according to BreakingTravelNews.com.
Among Americans who travel by commercial airline once or more per year, 58 percent are willing to pay for extra legroom on a long flight, defined for the survey as three or more hours, and 53 percent are willing to pay more to avoid a middle seat.
Many passengers are unsatisfied with the amount of personal space on airplanes, with a majority, at 58 percent, willing to pay more for additional legroom. Respondents even said it would be worth having a chatty seatmate to have extra legroom.
The top two amenities desired by poll respondents were a window or aisle seat, followed by extra legroom. Women are more likely than men to choose a window or aisle seat as their most important amenity, while men are twice as likely as women to select in-flight Wi-Fi as a top amenity.
Almost half of flyers say they would rather be seated in a no recline zone, with 46 percent, than in a seat with extra legroom, due to the chance of spilled drinks or smashed laptops.
The poll asked 2,276 U.S. adults online between March 13-18, 2013.
Other preferences indicated by the poll respondents included a preference for Alaska/Horizon Airlines, which was named Brand of the Year in the full service airline category. It was followed by Hawaiian Airlines and Delta Airlines.
Southwest was the 2013 Value Airline Brand of the Year for the third consecutive year, likely as a result of the company continuing to hold back from charging fees for checking bags and changing flights. The list of destinations offered by Southwest also continues to expand as Southwest absorbs AirTran, likely contributing to its popularity.
An extreme aversion to carry-on baggage fees was also a result of the poll, with some respondents willing to let a stranger sleep on their shoulder rather than pay the extra fee.
"Travelers have been dealing with increasing airline prices and add-on fees for the past few years," Mike de Vere, the President of Harris Poll, said. "We wanted to find out which amenities people were willing to open up their wallets for, and discovered that while many consider added comfort and entertainment to be worth shelling out for, nearly two in five would give up personal boundaries to avoid carry-on baggage fees."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
