Oh, Zip It Already… Study Shows Rude, Loud Passengers are Canadians’ Biggest Pet Peeve While Travelling

Just in time for March Break, a recent study shows that, when it comes to travel pet peeves, what irks customarily polite Canadians more than anything else is “rudeness.” 

The Winter Vacation Confidence Index conducted by Ipsos for Allianz Global Assistance Canada, a leading travel insurance and assistance provider, found that almost a quarter (23%) of Canadian travellers cited loud and/or rude fellow passengers as their number one vacation pet peeve. A close second, at 20 per cent, were delayed flights, followed by long check-in and security lines (18%) and lost luggage (15%). Other pet peeves included large carry-ons stuffed into overhead bins (7%), and overly chatty seatmates (5%). 

“Canadians generally have a reputation for being polite, but it seems that we also value courtesy in others, particularly when travelling,” says Dan Keon, Vice President, Market Management, Allianz Global Assistance Canada. “While we asked about pet peeves, we were also interested in discovering the major concerns Canadians have when leaving the country.” The Index, now in its fourth year, found Canadians’ greatest concern while travelling is safety and security, cited by 37 per cent of respondents. Other concerns such as flight cancellations and delays or lost luggage were well behind at 14 per cent each, while only 13 per cent noted the possibility of a lost passport as their top concern. 

“Safety and security as a travel worry was quite consistent across age groups and genders,” adds Keon. “It’s interesting to note that a third of younger travellers, 18-34, still mentioned safety as their main concern, and a full 40 per cent of those over 55 cite safety worries while travelling. The results are a good reminder that all travellers should check Government of Canada travel advisories related to their destination both before booking a trip and prior to departing, while being particularly aware during hurricane season if visiting the Caribbean and southeast U.S.” 

Only three per cent of respondents said that their top travel concern was fear of being bumped from a flight or having no WiFi or cell phone coverage. 2 Keon says many concerns can be minimized by obtaining proper travel and medical insurance. “Nobody plans to get sick or injured while on vacation, but obtaining proper insurance when booking your trip may go a long way toward alleviating many concerns and give you the peace of mind that should anything go wrong, you’ll have adequate protection in place.” 

He jokingly admits, however, that no insurance can protect you from “rudeness.” For that, it seems the only resolution is the polite Canadian inward sigh. 

The results of the Winter Vacation Confidence Index, conducted by Ipsos, are considered accurate within +/-2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. A vacation was defined as a leisure trip of at least one week outside the respondent’s home province. 

Allianz Global Assistance (Canada)

For over 30 years, Allianz Global Assistance has supported travelling Canadians when they need it most with value-added travel insurance and assistance services. More than 800 employees support long-term partnerships with some of the best known brands in the travel and financial services markets. Allianz Global Assistance also serves as an outsource provider for in-bound call centre services and claims administration for health insurers, property and casualty insurers and credit card companies. Allianz Global Assistance is a specialist brand of Allianz Partners for assistance and travel insurance, and is a registered business name of AZGA Service Canada Inc. and AZGA Insurance Agency Canada Ltd. For more information, visit the Allianz Global Assistance Canada website.

Allianz Partners 

Dedicated to bringing global protection and care, Allianz Partners is the B2B2C leader in assistance and insurance solutions in the following areas of expertise: assistance, international health & life, automotive and travel insurance. These solutions, which are a unique combination of insurance, service and technology, are available to business partners or via direct and digital channels under four commercial brands: Allianz Assistance, Allianz Care, Allianz Automotive and Allianz Travel. 

This global family of over 19,000 employees is present in 78 countries, speaks 70 languages and handles 54 million cases per year, protecting customers and employees on all continents. For more information, visit the Allianz Partners website.

Press Contact: 

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