Some new insights have emerged surrounding the eternal question of when is the best time for passengers to fly if they hope to enjoy the best possible air travel experience.
When you’re deciding upon which day you ought to book your upcoming flight for, you should try to make a Wednesday work, say the results of some new research.
According to a new customer feedback analysis conducted by HappyOrNot, the company behind those push-button, smiley-face terminals you’ll find installed in airports all around the world, certain days of the week and times of day really are better for flying than others.
HappyOrNot’s recent study evaluated over seven million consumer feedback data points collected by its Smiley terminals at airports in more than 30 countries around the globe during the first quarter of 2023.
Its findings showed that Wednesday, which received 83.7 percent positive feedback from customers, is the best day on which to fly, while Sunday is the worst, receiving a positive rating of only 79.9 percent.
When it comes to what hour of the day you want to fly, the best time is evidently 4 a.m. (85.2 percent positive score), with flights at other early morning hours generally producing the happiest passengers. For instance, 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. flights also scored relatively high ratings of 84.8 percent and 84.4 percent, respectively.
Conversely, late-night flights seem to be the worst possible options, as 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. flights both received a lower percentage of positive customer ratings at 76.4 percent.
According to The Sun, HappyOrNot’s CEO Miika Mäkitalo said: “We wanted to share our insights into passenger experiences within airports in 2023 so far, to help people to prepare for their journeys, and help airport operators to identify which parts of the airport experience are more likely to need extra attention at busy times.
“In 2023, the happiest time to fly might come as a bit of a shock to those of us who are not early risers, with it falling in the early hours of the morning, but it remains the case that Wednesday is the happiest day of the week to fly, which will be welcome news for anybody planning a mid-week getaway.”
The study also produced some other important observations surrounding the customer air travel experience. The company’s signature “Smiley Terminals”—which are fast, fun and extremely easy-to-use—are placed prominently inside five different areas within each airport: security, arrivals, check-in, washrooms and baggage claim. From among these five locations, baggage claim emerged as the area that garnered the most negative feedback from customers. Oddly enough, the dreaded airport security checkpoints received the least amount of negative feedback, making them the “happiest” spots on the list.
The research also revealed that the three most common complaints among customers traversing these airports related to staff friendliness, length of queues and cleanliness of facilities.
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