A comfy seat and clean loo - an air passengers dream
Comfortable seats and more legroom are the top wishes for air travellers, a new survey shows.
Nearly three quarters of people say they would pay at least a 10% premium to get a more comfortable and roomy airline seat - supporting airlines which have introduced premium economy cabins
After their seats, travellers said a roomy and clean toilet was the most important in-flight comfort feature, according to 30% of respondents. A quarter consider a clean pillow/blanket their number one comfort priority on a flight.
But the poll of more than 1,400 travellers worldwide by online travel community TripAdvisor saw British Airways lose its crown for having the top in-flight amenities and food to Singapore Airlines.
BA's rival Virgin Atlantic came in second for airline amenities in this year's survey over 2006.
Ryanair switched places with Southwest for worst airline amenities, coming second to the US low cost carrier.
EasyJet, which was voted third worst in the amenities stakes last year, improved its position slightly by coming sixth in the 2007 survey.
Amongst UK travellers Ryanair was worst for food and worst for amenities followed in both categories by EasyJet and Monarch.
Twenty per cent of British travellers nominated noise cancelling headphones as their most valued comfort feature, according to the poll.
If it would mean a cheaper fare, 36% of travellers said they would do without free snacks on board.
Fruit and vegetables have become the complimentary in-flight snack of choice among air travellers (36%).
The majority of travellers, and more than half of British respondents, identified bottled water as their favourite free drink on a flight. Only five per cent of travellers opted for complimentary champagne. Men are more likely (36%) to choose wine, champagne, beer or a cocktail than women (25%) as their in-flight beverage.
Forty-two per cent said a video screen at their seat is the most important in-flight entertainment feature, followed by on-demand movies (18%). Video screens at seats are more important to women (46%) than men (36%).
Only 13% (five per cent British) chose internet access as their choice of entertainment.
When asked what would inspire them to pay for better amenities on a flight, time was of the essence, as 71% of travellers would pay a premium for amenities, only on flights longer than three hours.
Beds are the most popular in-flight luxury that travellers would be willing to pay for, according to 36% of all respondents and 50% of Britons.
A third of those surveyed said they purchase items from an in-flight catalogue. British travellers particularly enjoy "fly-buys" as 56% said they purchase from in-flight catalogues, compared to only 23% of Americans.
TripAdvisor communications director Michele Perry said: "Travellers continue to request some pretty basic amenities of carriers. By offering more room and cleaner facilities, travellers will be much happier with their airline experience."
Top 5 Airlines for Best Amenities:
1.. Singapore Airlines
2.. Virgin Atlantic
3.. British Airways
4.. Emirates
5.. Cathay Pacific
Five Worst Airlines for Amenities:
1.. Southwest
2.. Ryanair
3.. U.S. Airways
4.. American Airlines
5.. United
Top 5 Airlines for Best Food
1.. Singapore Airways
2.. British Airways
3.. Virgin Atlantic
4.. Air France
5.. Continental
Top 5 Comfort Features:
1.. Roomy and clean bathroom
2.. Clean blanket/pillow
3.. Noise-cancelling headphones
4.. Sanitizing wipes to clean tray tables/arm rests
5.. Anti-germ products/toiletry kits
Top 5 Entertainment Features:
1.. Video screen at every seat
2.. On-demand movies
3.. Internet access
4.. Route map display
5.. Real-time satellite TV
Top 5 Complimentary Beverage Choices:
1.. Bottled water
2.. Soda/cola
3.. Wine
4.. Fruit juices
5.. Cocktails
Top 5 Luxuries Travellers Would Pay Extra For:
1.. A bed
2.. Gourmet food
3.. Massages
4.. Premium liquor
5.. Manicures
With permission from Travelmole
I'm a little wary of an international survey that only had 1,400 participants. Thats only about 4-5 plane loads of passengers. So how many flights a year have these people taken, I read the site quite often and it is mostly used by people who report on holiday hotels and resorts who probably fly at the most a couple of times each year. I think the yearly survey that Skytrax (INVALID URL with millions of participants, broken down into lists of catagories would be nearer to the mark.
What exactly are counted as amenities ? Virgin's seat back entertainment(when it works) is excellent but the airline has nothing else to commend it, it has poor food, the most uncomfortable seats and FA'S that want to gossip and joke instead of doing their job.
What exactly are counted as amenities ? Virgin's seat back entertainment(when it works) is excellent but the airline has nothing else to commend it, it has poor food, the most uncomfortable seats and FA'S that want to gossip and joke instead of doing their job.
The majority of travellers, and more than half of British respondents, identified bottled water as their favourite free drink on a flight
I'm finding that a little hard to believe...especially from British respondents
Well we can be fairly certain that British travellers wouldn't want to PAY for water..... 
Recently been in Oz at my sons wedding, flew Emirates and thought them first class(even in economy) Lots more of the guests flew B.A. and found their inflight entertainment comparable with a third rate charter flight. My son flew B.A. buisness class on a round the world business trip last Autumn and even there the inflight movies were not even interactive and he vowed he wouldnt be using them again. The bulk of his travelling is in the Oz- Far East part of the world and he thinks B.A. is inferior to any of their airlines, B.A. is certainly one airline I try to avoid so I'm afraid I'm at odds with this survey Alan
Check out http://www.airlinequality.com their annual survey (millions of entries)
last year voted BA Airline of the Year. A lot of these people are frequent flyers not just flying once a year.
I think BA's business class superior to all other airlines. Though their economy is cramped. I fly economy every few weeks on either Lufthansa or British Airways and choose BA if possible. I find their website easy to use and have as yet had no problems with their flights.
According to friends Emirates business class is far inferior to BA for comfort, and passengers who have been loyal customers of Emirates in both economy and business have said on the airlinequality site that the Emirates product is going down hill. Though very few airlines can match the service and comfort in economy of Thai (even without seat back entertainment)or Malaysia Air. I guess it depends on what you want on a flight I like comfort, which means extra legroom, I am happier listening to music on my MP3 or reading a good book on flights than watching TV for hours on end, so interactive inflight movies are low on my list, I often find food in economy on lots of airlines barely eatable and I'm always surprised if I get a reasonable meal.
I think we all have at some time a bad flight, one of the worst flights I ever had was with Cathay Pacific who are rated as one of the top airlines in the world.
last year voted BA Airline of the Year. A lot of these people are frequent flyers not just flying once a year.
I think BA's business class superior to all other airlines. Though their economy is cramped. I fly economy every few weeks on either Lufthansa or British Airways and choose BA if possible. I find their website easy to use and have as yet had no problems with their flights.
According to friends Emirates business class is far inferior to BA for comfort, and passengers who have been loyal customers of Emirates in both economy and business have said on the airlinequality site that the Emirates product is going down hill. Though very few airlines can match the service and comfort in economy of Thai (even without seat back entertainment)or Malaysia Air. I guess it depends on what you want on a flight I like comfort, which means extra legroom, I am happier listening to music on my MP3 or reading a good book on flights than watching TV for hours on end, so interactive inflight movies are low on my list, I often find food in economy on lots of airlines barely eatable and I'm always surprised if I get a reasonable meal.
I think we all have at some time a bad flight, one of the worst flights I ever had was with Cathay Pacific who are rated as one of the top airlines in the world.
I'm afraid I cant comment on Judiths statement re B.A. business class being superior to all other airlines, as I'm one of the rest down in cattle class. My wife and I are not business travellers and make at most about 10 long haul flights yearly, so I would bow to Judiths vast experience. However on the subject under the heading of "comfy seats" I would take issue with her as regards B.A.s 31" leg room. Both my wife and I are 5 feet 10" in height and find the leg room on B.A. anything but comfy. When a charter company such as Going Places give you 34" it makes B.A.s 31" look pretty uncomfortable Alan
Where did I say BA's economy seats where comfortable? I said they were cramped. I would hate to travel longhaul with them in economy, but their shorthaul flights are excellent.
With an average of 10 longhaul flights per year you are certainly doing a lot of travelling so I will bow to your superior knowledge as you are obviously in the air far more than me. Must be everyfew weeks.
As your son was upset with the fact that BA's entertainment system was on par with a third rate charter flight, he may be interested to know that AVOD is at present being fitted to BA longhaul planes.
With an average of 10 longhaul flights per year you are certainly doing a lot of travelling so I will bow to your superior knowledge as you are obviously in the air far more than me. Must be everyfew weeks.
As your son was upset with the fact that BA's entertainment system was on par with a third rate charter flight, he may be interested to know that AVOD is at present being fitted to BA longhaul planes.
I have to admit BA are way down my list of airline choices. Because most of my long hauls are to the Far East it means I have a good choice of quality airlines and I don't include BA on the list. I've flown with them long haul a couple of times and found the seating cramped and the service average. My recent short haul experience with BA has not left me too impressed either, pongy toilets seemed to be a feature.
I've not noticed the pongy toilets on BA shorthaul but as for longhaul economy flights if your route is one that MalaysiaAir or Thai flys I wouldn't choose any other airline.
I'd expand the list to include EVA and Etihad..best toilets I've used on a plane were on Etihad...best inflight entertainment system as well...and an excellent little amenity bag.
Sorry but Qatar Airways beats them all,my only gripe is on time departures they are letting the best product in the sky down with it. How Virgin got in I dont know.
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