Flight Delays Top Business Travelers’ List of Stressors in BCD Survey

Only about half of business travelers feel their companies provide them well-being support in their traveling, according to a BCD Travel of 875 travelers conducted from mid-February to early March.

Of those who were not aware of available well-being support, only about a quarter said their company offered them no well-being support at all, according to the survey. The remaining three-quarters said they simply didn’t know whether it was available.

The biggest stress factors during travel for surveyed travelers are during the airport experience, with 64 percent identifying flight delays and cancellations as a stress factor and 53 percent calling tight connections a stress factor. The remaining options all polled under half of travelers, with the next highest stressors being economy seats on long-haul flights (40 percent) and a bad hotel (39 percent). Finding food options at their destination, after-hours work obligations and getting oriented and finding transportation at their destination were the least likely causes of stress, according to the respondent travelers.

As such, the biggest well-being-related policy desires were a direct flight policy (70 percent) and allowing airline seat selection (59 percent). Convenient hotel locations, membership in fast-track security programs and long-haul business class policy also all polled above 50 percent of travelers.

Covid-19 concerns still dominate travelers’ pre-trip worries, with 54 percent saying that understanding regulations related to the virus and preparing required document are stressors. While 44 percent also identified having to rebook for changes and cancellations as a pre-travel stressor, the booking process itself is less of a cause of stress. Only 18 percent identified booking air as a stressor, as did 16 percent for booking lodging.

The biggest post-trip stressors identified in the survey were catching up on work (51 percent) and filing expense reports (45 percent). 

Among BCD’s survey group, 69 percent were based in North America, 17 percent were in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, 14 percent were in the Asia/Pacific region and 1 percent were in Latin America. About two-thirds of respondents were male, and 34 percent were female. About half of respondents were in Generation X, just over a third were Baby Boomers and the remainder were Millennials.