Personally I prefer air travel over other methods even with it’s hassles, long lines, security, delays and all the other problems. Once I get to my destination then I relax and try not to think about the return trip. But it does continue to get worse and worse.

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There are advantages to flying, cruising, or driving. Our town sees the vast majority of tourists visiting by car, however, a new airport opened a few years ago that makes quick trips easy. For quick trips – it’s hard to say that there’s a better alternative than flying though

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With our statistics showing a steady increase in searches for flights since the beginning of the year, I can agree with you that “air travel issues” were in the media a lot, but people are not put off flying.

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just look at the moves towards rail travel on routes between capital cities on the continent. I saw a presentation by SilverRail at the ITB Berlin conference showing massive a switch.

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Spot on! Just finished our Q1 analysis and, comparing the bookings, it does actually show an overall drop by 17% in 2011 over same period in 2010.

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The UK is definitely on the up – domestic hols are up 11% over the last two years whilst outbound trips are down 21% (6% 2010 vs 2009) (source: IPS) – the worst fall in over 30 years, and it looks as if air travel has suffered more than other modes. Domestic terminal passengers at UK airports were down 9% in 2010.

Here’s an old blog post we did which shows the long-term annual change:

Even though rainfall in summer 2009 and 2010 was above average it does look like Brits are defying the rain!

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Hey Darren,

We are not seeing this trend at all. Bookings on flights are up and March is set to be our biggest month ever. And people are buying, not just browsing, as sales are increasing at a higher rate than visits. A good portion of our clients are in Iceland however, and they have no choice but to fly and this may skew our statistics a little.
Another interesting statistic for you is that if we take the UK and Sweden for instance, they are searching for domestic flights about 3-to-1 over international flights, but are still booking.

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I fell out with flying for leisure a few years ago now. I still fly far too much on business but I don’t subject my family to the same and besides, flying alone is a lot less hassle

But what I have found is that it is cheaper for me to pack up the car and take the Euro Tunnel to the continent where I can get better weather, better service and simply more for my money than in the UK.

Our summer holiday near Cognac is costing half of what it would cost to have the same type of holiday in the UK plus I will get a better holiday.

It’s a shame because the UK has a lot to offer but we seem to think it’s OK to screw tourists (be they from the UK or not) out of every last penny and then some.

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It will take more than conversion data from only a handfull of sites to cement the sort of opinion expressed in this post. It’s not as simple as looking at whether bookings are up or down, you’ve for seasonality, trends in destinations and whether this is infliencing more short haul bookings over a fix period. You’ve then got visibility and traffic to the sites youre talking about. Can their drop in conversion really be down to customers alone??

Lots to think about here

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This was an interesting read because I have the same dilemma: should we fly, when we have to be at the airport three hours before departing or travel by ferry which is much more relaxing. Many of you have mentioned airlines but I think the airports have a big part to play in this and that they need to make the experience much less stressful for holidaymakers.

Paul

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Have you tried flying with a family lately? It is a nightmare. We arrive at our holiday destination stressed which is not a good start.

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I work with Leger Holidays, one of the UK’s leading escorted tour operators, and they have noticed an increased number of people wishing to avoid air travel over recent years. Obviously if travelling to some far flung destinations air is really the only quick, practical solution, but certainly within Europe it’s so easy to get around by coach. And it takes all the stress out of travelling – you can get picked up close to home, there’s no ridiculous baggage allowances, there is a tour guide there on hand to worry about any hold ups or practicalities of the journey – you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery! Plus during the ash cloud and bad weather last year, all the tours could operate as usual, so no cancellations and no holidaymakers stressing about whether their break would actually go ahead.

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found this post on facebook and felt i had to put in my two pence worth. Travelling by air now is sooooo stressful especially if you have 2 kids to entertain. Why the need to be at the airport 3 or 2 hours before departure??? We have just booked a cruise with P&O on the North sea ferry to Rotterdam and will drive to visit family in Germany, rather than fly. It has got that bad.

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This sounds so familiar and was where we were at.

Not only do the tour operators demand you arrive hours before your flight but they add insult to injury by having a flight at some stupid time in the early hours of the morning to start with.

So you are awake at 3am (or even don’t bother going to bed at all), at the airport for 5pm to then get treated like a terrorist by airport security and cattle by the check in staff. To then be herded onto the plane where the staff are more bothered about how many scratch cards they can sell than safety. To get to your destination and after waiting ages for your bags to appear (in one piece if you are lucky) hunt down your coach that seems to deliver to 10 other resorts before yours. Where you then get abandoned by your “rep” to check in with instructions to been in the bar at 8am the following morning for an introduction to your holiday and an hour long sales pitch for excursions etc etc etc.

And then you have to get back home again.

Doing all this with young kids means by the time you get home, you need a holiday to get over the holiday!

As has been posted in this comments thread, it’s not just the flights but the whole experience.

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I guess, like flying, coach travel can be at many different levels of luxury! Was it a bit of an ‘economy’ service you felt you got when you travelled by coach, is that why you didn’t find it relaxing? Certainly Leger’s Silver Service coaches are made with comfort in mind – extra leg room, individual climate control, on coach entertainment – even a rear lounge! And something I also meant to mention before is coach is a ‘greener’ way to travel than flying or individuals making car journeys. I’ll see if I can find any stats on the increase and let you know if I can.

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First- I flew about the same amount this time as usual but found it very annoying. I am not sure if airline service getting worse or if I am less patient as I get older.
Second – If I had other options I would certainly be going that way. I miss living in Europe and having access to the great train systems.

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Last time I was on an airplane, my family was going to Disneyland in California during he summer of 2001, though I haven’t been on a plane since then (I usually go on road trips when going places).

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Flights booked in October with Air Maroc for a holiday in April were changed 10 days before we left the consequence being that our onward legs incurred additional costs to change – £140 for four of us.

Travel insurance did not cover this, is this common and does anyone have a view on this?

By the way a positive rant as a result of our trip – go to to Dar Saffrane in Fes if you like the idea of a Riad and use Water by Nature if you fancy trying white water rafting!

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