Study reveals the best time and day to jet off on holiday… and the WORST  

There are countless things to factor in when jetting off abroad; what to pack, how much to bring with you, which airline to travel with, all of these things can contribute to how stressful your travelling experience can be. 

Now, experts have suggested that passengers should also consider which day to book their flight on. 

A new study found that different days of the week correlate with customer’s travel experience – and saw varying degrees of positivity throughout the week. 

The research revealed that midweek is the best time to travel, while Sunday is the worst based on data from the first quarter of 2023. 

Researchers at HappyOrNot – the makers of the smiley face customer feedback machines found scattered across airports – analysed data from over seven million customer feedback points in 30 countries worldwide. 

CEO of HappyOrNot, Miika Mäkitalo, said: ‘We wanted to share our insights into passenger experiences within airports in 2023 so far, to help people to prepare for their journeys, and help airport operators to identify which parts of the airport experience are more likely to need extra attention at busy times. 

The research found that people were likely to press the green buttons on a Wednesday, as the machine revealed 83.7 per cent positive customer feedback. 

While Sunday likely had a few dissatisfied customers as it scored 79.9 per cent positive feedback.

Surprisingly, early birds were also more cheerful and, at 4am, the machines earned an 85.2 per cent positive feedback score. 

Opposingly, the worst was recorded at 10pm and 11pm, both of which scored 76.4 per cent customer feedback.  

It appears travellers are much more happy earlier on, as 7am and 8am scored particularly high ratings, with 84.8 per cent and 84.4 per cent. 

Baggage claim scored the worst in customer feedback while security surprisingly had the most satisfied customers 

Mäkitalo said: ‘The happiest time to fly might come as a bit of a shock to those of us who are not early risers, with it falling in the early hours of the morning, but it remains the case that Wednesday is the happiest day of the week to fly, which will be welcome news for anybody planning a mid-week getaway.’

The feedback machines are placed within five different locations within airports including: security, arrivals, check-in, washrooms and baggage claim. 

Out of the areas, the company found that the unhappiest area, and perhaps not an entirely shocking reveal, was baggage claim with the most negative feedback being registered there. Surprisingly, security was the happiest recorded area. 

The study further found that the top three most common complaints when travelling through airports were staff friendliness, followed by queues and airport cleanliness.