What’s The Worst Thing About Business Travel?

What’s the worst thing about business travel?

Plenty, but rude hotel staffs, intrusive airline security and “steerage-like treatment on crowded planes” are the worst offenders.

So says a study by Vitesse Worldwide, an executive travel firm.

A whopping 86 percent of executives in the study said airport security screenings were the worst thing about travel, while more than two-thirds ranked tiny and dirty commercial planes and impersonal treatment by hotel staffs the worst.

"What comes through loud and clear is that an executive traveler isn't asking for high-priced service as much as high touch," said Shawn Abaspor, chief executive of Vitesse Worldwide.

Hotel rates and airfares have been climbing for several months, with travel demand on the rise and airlines cutting capacity by eliminating routes and retiring older planes. And those prices are likely to keep rising.

Average airfares and hotel rates should jump as much as 5 percent in 2012, according to a survey of more than 300 travel managers by the Global Business Travel Association, a Virginia trade group for travel managers.

By David Wilkening

(Source: Travelmole.com)