Allianz: US holiday travel spending surges 12%
Nov 20, 2012 (Menafn - AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION via COMTEX) --Americans will spend 12% more on holiday travel this holiday season, according to the fourth annual Allianz Travel Insurance Vacation Confidence Index released this week from German financial services giant Allianz's (xetra:ALV) AZSEY Allianz Global Assistance USA unit.
Following cautious holiday-travel spending last year, this year's spending is on the rebound with Americans set to spend USD 72.9bn, a USD 7.7bn increase from 2011.
Nearly six in ten of Americans are confident that they will take a holiday trip this year, with more saying that they are "very confident" (45% this year versus 42% last year). Those who are likely to travel are budgeting to spend USD 1,116 on average, a significant increase from last year's travelers who budgeted USD 980 for holiday travel.
For the fourth year in a row, travel by car continues to be the top mode of transportation for holiday trips, weighing in at 59%.
But before hitting the road this holiday season, Americans might want to double check their directions and consider leaving the backseat driver at home: three in ten (26%) say that their biggest travel annoyance is a GPS/navigation system that fails or provides outdated directions, while nearly one quarter (22%) say their biggest pet peeve is the backseat driver that shouts driving tips.
Other top travel annoyances include the passenger who needs to stop to use the restroom every other hour (15%), and the driver with no taste in music who insists on controlling the songs (10%).
One third of Americans intend to fly to their holiday destination this year, keeping air travel at the second most popular mode of transportation for the fourth consecutive year.
Air travel is not without its frustrations, either nearly half (39 %) say that they're most annoyed by a kicking and screaming baby sitting in the seat behind them, while 17 % say that watching another passenger smash their carry-on items bothers them the most. Sitting next to a passenger who gets up multiple times to use the bathroom and loud music coming from a neighboring passenger's headphones are the next two on the list, respectively at 15 and 12%.
Allianz said that its Travel Insurance Vacation Confidence Index is based on a telephone survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs from November 7 12, 2012 of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 randomly-selected adults aged 18 and over residing in the U.S.
For more information visit allianztravelinsurance.com.
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