Travel Etiquette: My Top 5 Travel Pet Peeves

Travel can be a wonderful, fun, and cool experience, but it does not come without challenges.  I was recently inspired by One Brown Girl, mastermind of the Traveling Brown Girls Carnival, which asks a number of Brown girls who write about travel to share their top 5 travel pet peeves.  Being the Travelista that I am, with a heavily stamped passport,  I was motivated to blog on my Top 5 Travel Pet Peeves.  After reading my Top 5, please leave comments below and let me know what your peeves are.

1.  The “First Class is Not For You” look.

Over the years, I have traveled in First or Business class for business and personal trips.  As a former airline employee, I often received the “First Class is Not for You” look, both from flight attendants and other passengers.   While first class is now primarily dominated by very high-value frequent flyers and business travelers, and upgrades are almost impossible to get, the premium cabin is still open to everyone.  There have been occasions, particularly on long-haul international flights, where I was asked by other travelers why or how I got into first class.  Passengers in first class should be treated equally, regardless of their frequent flyer status, ticket class, etc.

2. Hotels with unclean, tattered, or low quality linen.

Yes, I said it.  To my horror, I have had the misfortune to stay at hotels on occasion that did not wash the comforters or sheets.  I do not want to stay in a room with linen soiled with lipstick, hair, odors and other things too gross to detail here, that do not belong to me:)   Also hate hotels that skimp on the quantity and quality of wash clothes and towels.  Old, hard, holey not acceptable.  At a bare minimum, hotels must offer guests clean, comfortable, and safe accommodations.

3. Taking my shoes off for TSA security clearance.

Safety when traveling is of utmost importance, but removing my shoes and exposing my socks and/or feet (if I’ve forgotten to bring hosiery or socks) to dirty airport floors is one of my top peeves.   No one has any idea how often airport floors are cleaned and sanitized or about the cleanliness of the 2,000,000 or more passengers who has walked the path before you, on that day.

4.  The sick traveler, spreading germs…

Yes, I know we all get sick, and sometimes traveling when sick cannot be avoided.  I absolutely detest sitting in a confined space with a traveler who coughs and sneezes the entire flight, no tissue or sanitizer in sight.   On one international 10-hour flight, I was so luck to travel directly in front of another traveler who looked and sounded like flu, she coughed and sneezed for the entire flight.  While I cannot prove it, 2 days later, I took came down with fever, chills, cough and the flu goodness.    If you know you’re contagious, please stay off a plane!  It simply is not courteous to other passengers and employees you may come in contact with.

5. Airports and hotels with no free wifi/very expensive wifi.

The travel experience can be challenging and time consuming on a good day, throw in weather delays or flight cancellations and it can be a lot worse.  It is important to be able to stay productive and connected to work, family, and friends when you’re on the road. Charging exorbitant rates for wifi in airports and hotels, is just plain wrong.  The most exorbitant rate….on a business trip to Europe, $32 per day for hotel Wifi access, that’s just not cool.

Last pet peeve, which I will not go into here is unruly, screaming children on planes.  I love children, and it’s a sensitive topic, so I will not officially add it to my list.  I will just say that some parents do not exercise any control over their children, and it is a fact that children screaming, kicking, and refusing to sit down are disturbing and stressful to other passengers.     Thank you for listening to me rant, it’s been fun.  I hope you’ll join me in sharing your travel pet peeves.