Window Seat or Aisle Seat? CWT Sheds Light on Global Preferences

Research by CWT shows that two-thirds of business travelers prefer window seats over aisle seats.

That rises to 71% in Asia Pacific, and falls to 59% in the Americas, with the Europeans in the middle at 65% window over aisle.

Globally, a narrow majority of business travelers would prefer to miss their flight rather than be separated from their luggage – with travelers from the Americas showing the strongest preference at 54%, European travelers at 52%, and travelers from Asia Pacific split down the middle.

When it comes to ground transportation, 54% of travelers still prefer traditional taxis over ridesharing services like Lyft or Uber. But there are strong regional differences. In Europe, a full 69% Europeans prefer taxis – almost exactly the reverse of American travelers, 63% of whom prefer rideshare services. Asia Pacific travelers are more evenly split, with 56% preferring taxis.

“These findings provide fascinating and sometimes counter-intuitive insights into how global business travelers approach their journeys,” said Niklas Andreen, Executive VP and Chief Traveler Experience Officer at CWT. “We see significant differences between regions – for example, in booming Asia, people are more likely to want a window seat, whereas in markets like the US, the view is less of a draw.”

CWT’s research also shows that travelers are generally happy to share their travel preferences with both apps and travel industry staff – globally 9 out of ten (89%) of travelers are “extremely” or “somewhat” willing to do so. That applies equally to business travel and leisure travel, suggesting that travelers make little distinction between the two, at least when it comes to sharing information on their personal preferences.

The data shows that European travelers are least willing to share data: 14% of Europeans are “not willing” to share their preferences either with apps or people while traveling for business. That rises to 17% when traveling for leisure. Travelers from the Americas or Asia Pacific are much less likely to refuse to share their preferences, especially when traveling for leisure.

The survey was created by CWT and conducted by Artemis Strategy Group between the 29th of January and the 9th of February 2019. Responses were collected from more than 2,700 business travelers who traveled for business four or more times in the previous 12 months. Respondents were from the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States), Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) and Asia Pacific (Australia, China, India, Japan, Singapore).

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