Agony in the Air: Passengers Rate Worst In-Flight Offenders

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 17, 2014) - In-flight annoyances are as common and predictable as coffee, tea and soda carts (without the peanuts these days), so it is not hard to get passengers to pony up their most hated pet peeves when asked to rank annoying in-flight behaviors.

A survey released this month by Expedia polled some 1,011 American flyers and asked them to rank in-flight behaviors they most revile. The results, reported in the latest issue of Tours.com's Travel-Intel, found that "Rear Seat Kickers" took the number one position, followed by "Inattentive Parents," "Aromatic Passengers," "Boozers," and "Chatty Cathies."

The story listed 18 descriptors of annoying passenger behavior, with "Seat Switchers" at the bottom of the list, just under "Undressers." The in-flight etiquette story is the first of a series of features Travel-Intel published this week as the news channel for Tours.com.

Also in focus is Las Vegas and what the city has in store this year for New Year's Eve. Las Vegas for New Year's 2014 will see the usual parties and pyrotechnic displays that explode at the turn of the year from the rooftops of seven mega-resorts on the Strip. But Las Vegas will also be hosting some world-class shows, including the rare appearance of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga performing together at The Chelsea inside the Cosmopolitan.

In other updates, the travel publication is running a feature on the re-opening of the Condado Vanderbilt in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The hotel, at the age of 95, reopened this month after a bottom-to-top re-do that preserves the grandeur while modernizing the amenities. The property is a member of the Kurtz-Ahlers collection of exclusive hotels and resorts.

For travelers who want to spend Christmas on a cruise, Travel-Intel offers the low-down on hot cruise itineraries to consider this season and what cruise lines have in store for special celebrations.

Travelers heading to Europe for the Christmas markets will want to read about Berlin's holiday markets and what attractions and museums they can find near some of these colorful locations.

Finally, travelers who want to make 2015 a bucket list year may want to know what's trending in adventure travel. Kensington Tours polled its team of destination experts to come up with the hot list of exotic trips to take and why these trips are the ones to watch. Not surprisingly, Egypt is back but the crowds are not, making the land of the Nile a first choice for wanderers and nomads in search of adventure.

Travel-Intel is a publication that goes out weekly to more than 103,000 sellers of travel. It is also posted online at Tours.com.

The publication reports from travel conferences and expos, as well as popular hotels, exotic resorts, cruise ships and ports, and destinations near and far with stories that feature the latest intel on travel. Current features and archives can be viewed at www.travel-intel.com.

"Whether it's about passengers behaving badly or a famous grand dame hotel stepping back into the spotlight, if it is about travel, Travel-Intel is there to cover it. We help travel agents decipher this wide terrain and we help travelers navigate their dreams," said Lark Gould, content director for Travel-Intel and Tours.com.

As a veteran travel journalist who has been covering the travel industry for more than 20 years, Gould puts her incisive perspective into the weekly publication, with features and news updates, and also "packages" issues that detail great travel deals to be found at hotels and resort locations worldwide. Travel-Intel can be viewed as a stand-alone site on Tours.com. Gould publishes travel columns and stories in Larkslist, Barclay's Travel Community, the Washington Times, Travel Market Report and Business Traveler USA.