The Ten Types of Annoying Passengers, According to a Flight Attendant

Do you have things in your job that annoy you? Do you notice it's the same things that annoy your co-workers? Yeah me too. As a flight attendant I get asked over and over again what is the most annoying things passengers do? I always tread lightly, because flight attendants get accused of, well, complaining too much. And, believe me we can probably complain better than most.

In fact there's an old joke:
Q. How many flight attendants does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Zero, because we'd rather sit around in the galley and bitch about it.

So, what behaviors annoy flight attendants the most? Well, besides urinating in the aisle, and other super gross activites, here are Ten Types of Annoying Passengers:

1. The Manner-less: Just a "please" and "thank you" goes a long way in our world. We hear “what ya got” and “gimme a coke” far too often. Also, if we offer a meal choice and they don't like it, it's okay to just say no thank you; only five year olds wrinkle up their nose and say "ewww."

2. The Amateur Geographer: Flight attendants don't know our exact location coordinates, especially in the middle of in-flight service. And chances are we don't know what body of water that is below us either.

3. The Pen-forgetter: Passengers that leave home without one are particularly annoying, especially on an international flight with forms to be filled out. And, yes we know you are glaring at the pen on us when we say no we don't have one. Flight attendants are required by the FAA to have a pen on them at all times.

4. The Smartphone Addict: Those who insist they're about to turn off their phones even after we've already asked numerous times usually reply, “I know! I am turning it off!" But they're not—they're texting and it's not like we can't see that. It's just as annoying for us to ask as it for them to have to comply. Just do it!

5. The Thirsties: They need a drink of water as soon as they board the plane and need to use the lav just as urgently. We understand there are close connects and exceptions, but most passengers have been sitting out at the gate area with ample time to use the restroom and get a drink of water.

6. The Headphones Wearer: We ask: “Would you like something to drink?” No response. "Would you like something to drink?" Nothing. Wave in front of face. Nothing. Wave in front of face again. Confused look. “Would you like a drink?” “What?” Motion someone drinking. "Ahh, gimme a coke." Is it possible they didn't see the bar cart coming?

7. The Trash Collector: It's super gross to be handed trash during in-flight service, especially when they blindly put it wherever, like in our ice. And let's not talk about handling dirty diapers or wiping their nose or face and then trying to hand us the tissue.

8. The Free-for-all Parent: Passengers that let their kids run wild on the plane and then expect and ask the flight attendants to watch them are of course expecting too much. This behavior often includes parents telling us to return their children to buckle up their seat belts.

9. The Dare to Barer: Perhaps this type of passenger shouldn't bother us because it's a personal choice thing, but they do. We're talking about those who use the lavatory in their bare feet. Maybe it's because we care so much about the well-being of our passengers?

10. The Coffee Snob: It's a safe bet that passengers probably didn't have breakfast with their flight attendant, so you need to let them know how you take your coffee. If they're picky and don't indicate their preferences, there's no reason to get mad. And to my people in the north east, "regular coffee" does not mean milk and sugar; it just means not decaf to the rest of the country.

By Sarah Keagle (Source: jaunted.com August 2011)

Business-class Drunk Threatened to Stab Pilots with Broken Glass

A drunken American businessman flying in business class went berserk on a British Airways flight to London, lurching around the cabin, cursing, spitting and threatening to stab flight attendants and pilots with a smashed glass.

Tim Bradley, 32, is said to have abused fellow passengers and spat at crew after he was refused more alcohol.

Reported to be a mortgage consultant from Phoenix, Arizona, Bradley knocked back several glasses of wine and beer during the 9 hour 40 minute flight from Phoenix to Heathrow.

London’s Sun newspaper quoted a terrified passenger seated near Bradley as saying Bradley stumbled around the cabin swearing and at one stage entered the galley and pushed the flight manager about, demanding to know why he couldn’t be served more wine.

Bradley is said to have staggered back to his seat holding a broken glass, muttering and threatening to stab the pilots.

He was arrested on the tarmac as soon as Flight 288, a B747, landed at Heathrow.

Bradley was charged with being drunk on an aircraft and common assault. BA issued a terse statement: “We do not tolerate abusive behaviour towards our staff or customers.”

His drunken outburst is reminiscent of the disgraceful behaviour of New York investment banker Gerard Finneran in 1996.

Finneran screamed obscenities and yelled repeatedly for more alcohol while on United Airlines from Buenos Aires to New York. Finally, after threatening a flight attendant with violence when no alcohol arrived, Finneran demonstrated his displeasure by leaping from his seat and defecating on a food trolley. Finneran, however, was not travelling in business class – he was flying first class.

The Bradley incident comes a week after a case in the UK involving a holidaymaker who bit, kicked and punched two flight attendants after going berserk on a delayed Thomson Airways flight from Manchester to the Dominican Republic.

In that incident, charity worker Carol Close, 45, became so abusive that her husband had to be moved away from her for his own safety – followed by passengers sitting nearby. Close had to be forcibly restrained and handcuffed. In court, her lawyers explained that their client suffered from anxiety and depression, leading the magistrate to spare her a jail term. Those sitting near Close may have suffered from a dose of anxiety and depression as well.

Written by : Peter Needham (Source: eglobaltravelmedia.com.au August 2011)

Readers of Hotel Reviews Have Higher Conversion Rates

People who read online travel reviews are more likely to complete an online travel transaction, according to research firm PhoCusWright.

The travel technology research firm found that in 2010, 8% of unique visitors to online travel agencies made an online booking at least once in that month, and approximately 9% of all people who visited a hotel website booked on a hotel website at least once in that month.

That conversion number jumps when the visitor clicks through to a traveler review.

About 12% of unique visitors make a booking in the same month after reading travel reviews on OTAs, and 13% after reading reviews on hotel websites.

“There is a clear case for why OTAs have invested so much in building review-content platforms,” Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright, said during a webinar revealing the findings.

(Source: Travelweekly.com 29th August 2011)

How to Vacation (sort of) Like a US President

President Obama and his family for the third straight year are on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, which is usually described as a “posh resort.” But according to tourism officials, the 58th largest island in the US with an estimated 15,000 year-round residents offers something for all budgets.

The Obamas plan to spend 10 days on the island, which has drawn criticism for those speaking for the jobless who can’t afford a vacation of any size budget.

Martha’s Vineyard is no stranger to presidents. Clinton stayed here and so did Ulysses S. Grant. Of course, they were not there during a time of upheavals in several countries and a dismal economic outlook right here in the US.

But Obama supporters point out this is not really a vacation.

Republican strategist Ron Kauffman, an advisor in the administration of George H.W. Bush, said vacationing presidents get constant policy updates, particularly on matters of foreign affairs. "The truth is you never get away from the work," he said. "Most domestic issues can be put off for a week or so, but foreign policy you can't."

Most families probably can’t afford to stay at the Blue Heron Farm, however, a 28-acre estate the Obamas rented in 2009 and 2008. The estate includes a five-bedroom main house, a Cape Cod guest house, a swimming pool and a half-court for basketball. But its cost is reporedly about tens of thousands of dollars a week.

But any families can afford the bicycling done by the Obamas. The President reportedly cycled by in rolled-up jeans and a bike helmut along with wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia. Their trip took them to Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. Admisison is free. Open sunrise to sunset.

As for the bikes, it’s not known where the Obamas got theirs but prices are far from outrageous. Martha’s Bike Rentals start at $15 a day for kids’ models and $25 for an adult mountain bike.

Obama also plays golf while he’s here. Apparently his favorite course is one located four miles out to sea on an island, the Farm Neck Golf Club, which is open to the public. This time of year, it’s a highly affordable $150 for 18 holes; for those who can’t afford that price, there’s a half price $75 if you play at twilight or 4 to 6 p.m.

Located seven miles off Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard is only accessible by boat or plane, a fact that does make it sound expensive. The cheapest way to get to the island is a ferry from Cape Cod.

For less than $20 round trip, The Island Queen and the Steamship Authority offer daily non-stop passenger service to Martha's Vineyard from several towns along the Massachusetts coast.

Despite the area’s upscale reputation as a summer destination for the wealthy, many of its top attractions are either free or low cost -- even for travelers on a low budget, according to tourism promoters.

"A Martha's Vineyard experience is available at any price point," Nancy Gardella from the area’s chamber of commerce, told ABC News.

She and others say there are some tips, however, on when it’s best to visit.

The area is at its busiest this month but visiting before or after the peak season helps save money on lodging.

"Because of the Gulf Stream, our waters are the warmest in September, so it's a great time to be on the beach during the day with weather well into the 70s and cool breezes in the evening," said Gardella.

Once you're on the island, instead of renting a car, bike rentals are available at the ferry ports. Martha's Vineyard also offers public transportation with bus service throughout the area.

Hotel options run the gamut. They range from five-star luxury hotels and bed and breakfasts to the Martha's Vineyard Campground and a youth hostel.

"There is lodging that's available at every price point," Gardella said.

White House officials told The Boston Globe last year that the Obamas like Martha’s Vineyard in part because of its natural beauty, beaches, and food. Those may be the same reasons the rest of America likes it as well.

By David Wilkening

(Source: travelmole.com August 2011)

Wild Topless Parties and Donkey in Lift Prompt BA Crackdown

Mounting complaints about boisterous, champagne-fuelled cabin crew parties and wild behaviour in hotel rooms could force British Airways to scrap lucrative holiday travel routes.

The behaviour has included female flight attendants leaping into pools topless. Britain’s Daily Mail has related stories of wild crew parties in rooms involving nudity, streaking, sexual antics and damage to rooms. Even worse, crewmembers in Cyprus are said to have lured a local donkey into a hotel lift. They were taking it to the fourth floor when hotel security intervened.

The behaviour is found mainly on routes crewed by young recruits – so-called ‘mixed fleet’, according to the paper. Destinations mentioned include those popular with Britons for far-flung, cut-price holidays, like Nairobi, Mauritius and San Diego.

The paper reported a BA source as explaining that mixed fleet crews are ‘basically kids of 18 and 20 years old, in their first jobs on pretty low pay, who think it’s a wonderful life staying in posh hotels’.

As a result, they party.

Reported abuses have included sneaking champagne from aircraft to drink in the crew hotels to save money. As some of the cabin crew are too young to drink in a bar in some countries (the legal drinking age in America is 21) they hold parties in their rooms in places like San Diego and Las Vegas.

An internal memo sent to BA captains recently by management warns: “We continue to receive complaints from our management team at our crew hotel in NBO [Nairobi] regarding the behaviour of some of our crews.

“In the current security environment, the current hotel is the only approved hotel available to us.

“Should they choose to terminate our contract, or elect not to renew it later this year, the route will become financially unviable.”

BA has warned it will sack flight attendants found taking alcoholic drinks off planes without paying.

Comments posted online after the Daily Mail report indicated that many readers don’t regard the situation too seriously. “Let them enjoy – they’re only young once!” commented Dave from Southampton.

Written by : Peter Needham

(Source: eglobaltravelmedia.com.au August 2011)

Fiendishly Cunning Algorithm Spots Fake TripAdvisor Reviews

A university research team has developed an extraordinary computer algorithm to spot fake TripAdvisor reviews.

The development follows news that some properties are bribing guests with food and drink discounts to write positive reviews on TripAdvisor.

Posting creative and brilliant reviews on hotel review sites to bolster the standing of seedy or dodgy properties has become a nice little earner for some travellers. A thriving black market has sprung up, with squalid hotels giving discounts to guests who write glowing reviews. Despite such practices being illegal in many countries, an army of people is apparently willing to knock up a dishonest review for as little as AUD10.

The jig may now be up, however. Britain’s Daily Mail reports that researchers from Cornell University in the US have developed a fiendishly cunning algorithm that they claim can spot a fake review 90% of the time. They are still deciding whether to make the algorithm public.

The Cornell team started its research into what is termed “deceptive opinion spam” by asking freelance writers to produce 400 fake reviews of Chicago hotels and post them on review websites.

The research team then mixed the false reviews with 400 real reviews of the same hotels – and challenged three judges to tell the difference. The judges failed.

The researchers dug deeper and found giveaway signs, which they have incorporated into their algorithm. A narrative account of a holiday indicates the review may be fake. Other factors indicating a fake or “shill” review include excessive use of superlatives and lack of detail and description.

Travel review sites do their best to weed out “shill” reviews. Shill is an odd word, which entered the language in the 1920s from uncertain origins. It means “a person who publicises or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty”. Shills are attracted, for obvious reasons, to review sites.

Even if you eliminate shills, some reviews differ so widely that guests, and many hotel managers, are left scratching their heads (and not necessarily because of bedbugs). Some guests describe hotels as charming, friendly and delightful hideaways while other guests describe the same properties as smelly, vermin-infested hovels to be shunned at all costs.

A Cornell professor who worked on the fake-review-detection algorithm project said humans were used to talking face to face over the past 60,000 years and found it difficult to detect deception online.

TripAdvisor has reportedly blacklisted about 30 properties around the world for suspicious reviews. It may now be able to do something more concrete to weed those reviews out.

(Source: eglobaltravelmedia.com.au August 2011) Written by : Peter Needham

Bottom-Pinching Charge May Mean Caning for British Tourist

A British tourist on holiday in Singapore faces a caning if convicted of squeezing or pinching a woman’s bottom in a fashionable nightclub.

Austin Cowburn, 34, a recruitment consultant who works in Qatar, is alleged to have pinched a woman’s buttocks while partying in the upmarket Boat Quay area in the early hours of the morning, London’s Daily Mail newspaper reports.

Cowburn, who apparently works for an engineering and international technical recruitment company, has been charged with outraging the modesty of the woman at the China One club. A Singapore judge set his bail at SGD10,000 (about AUD7500).

He is now staying in a backpacker hostel waiting to appear at a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.

If convicted of bottom pinching, he could be jailed for two years, fined up to about AUD9000 – or be sentenced to a beating on the buttocks with a rattan cane. The cane, over a metre long, is soaked in water beforehand to make it heavier and more flexible.

Singapore has some harsh penalties, including the death sentence for drug trafficking and murder, but it has loosened up a lot recently when it comes to clubbing and late-night entertainment. Bottom pinching, however, remains a no-no and can be punished by bottom caning.

Corporal punishment of convicted criminals with rattan canes was first introduced to Singapore and Malaysia (both then part of British Malaya) during the British colonial period. The cane is still used in Singapore to punish various crimes, including overstaying a visitors visa by more than 90 days, a measure designed to deter illegal immigrant workers

In an unfortunate juxtaposition, the Daily Mail’s online report of the case was published next to an article about the reminiscences of air hostesses, headlined: “Pinch my bottom again and I’ll shrivel your undercarriage!”

Written by Peter Needham

(Source: eglobaltravelmedia.com.au)