Dear TICKET Readers:
Happy New Year and thanks very much for taking the time to respond to our recent survey, which revealed some interesting traits when it comes to you and your travel habits.
Thanks also for all the unsolicited kudos that came through in your comments… Awww shucks…. we were surprised and heartened by all the warm fuzzies. Thank you.
When we decided to create this survey, we thought we’d be lucky to get 100 responses… but a whopping 620 of you took the time to participate, which means we spent hours happily pouring through and tabulating all the responses.
Here’s a round up of the results:
How long have you been reading The TICKET?
Whoa! Check out the number of loyal readers who’ve stuck with us over the eons. Many of you harkened back to the days in the 90’s when subscribers happily paid $39 a year for a monthly newsletter sent via US Mail!
- 48% have been reading for one to five years (we appreciate the biz!)
- 40% have stuck with us for more than five years! (Gee tanks, folks!)
- 12% discovered The TICKET less than one year ago (welcome, newbies!)
Who decides which travel suppliers you use?
TICKET readers are clearly an independent group—83% said that they decide for themselves which suppliers to use while just 10% said that their boss or corporate travel department told them what to do. Many also said that their buying decisions are frequently influenced by ads and editorial in The TICKET.
How much do you fly?
The big surprise here was that 17% of you take more than four round trips per month—or 40 trips per year. That’s a lot of time on a plane! The average TICKET reader takes around two trips per month, or 24 in a year.
Where do you sleep?
Two thirds of TICKET readers spend the night at hotels between one and six nights per month. But get this, nearly 20% spend more than 10 nights per month in hotels—that’s 120 nights per year!
What type of metallic status do you have?
Nearly everyone said that they hold medallion status on Delta– no surprise there!
- 23% are platinum
- 21% are gold
- 17% are long suffering silvers
- 15% are diamonds (and get all the upgrades!)
Some of our long time readers are now retired, which means that 23% no longer have any status at all—or they spread their biz around among several carriers.
Where do you cheat on The TICKET?
TICKET readers are a well-read bunch, but when they don’t get what they want from us, they most often turn to: Joe Brancatelli, Chris Elliott, The Points Guy, FlyerTalk, Milepoint, USA Today, AJC and Clark Howard.
Do you fly much over water?
Two-thirds of TICKET readers jet off to international destinations one to three times per year. 11% go overseas four to six times per year and 5% go beyond borders seven or more times per year. 26% stick closer to home with no international hops.
No surprise here: TICKET readers are big spenders!
- 33% shell out between $20,000 and $50,000 per year on travel
- 14% spend between $50,000 and $100,000 per year
- 6% spend more than $100K per year
Another interesting stat: TICKET readers collectively spent nearly $60,000 year last year on Delta tickets purchased via links from the site. THANK YOU!
TICKET readers’ households are very comfortable financially.
- 18% earn between $100,000 and $150,000 per year
- 17% earn more than $250,000 per year
- 14% earn from $150,000 to $200,000 per year
- 9% earn between $200,000 and $250,000 per year
You all are also very discreet—26% chose not to disclose their annual household income—which leads us to believe that there are many more in the top income brackets.
How old are you?
We knew that many of our readers were “mature” but we were surprised how few of them are very young—only 1% are less than 30 years old.
- 32% are from 30-50
- 31% are from 51-60
- 27% range from 61-70
- 5% are older than 70
Any suggestions on how we can pull in some of those young bucks?
Are you a media socialite?
When it comes to social media, TICKET readers are mixed—about 40% of you are very active, checking in on Facebook, Twitter or Linked In once or more per day, and another 40% check in a few times per month. But a surprisingly large contingent—23%– say that they never check in on social media sites. (If you are not following us on Twitter or Facebook, COME ON and join the fun. By following us, you are likely to get more money saving travel news faster…)
Do you have any more feedback, comments or suggestions for about The TICKET? Any ideas on potential advertisers or other sources of funding? Please leave your comments below, or email Chris!
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1) Any suggestions on how we can pull in some of those young bucks?
Ask readers to get their college and college graduate offspring to subscribe to The Ticket – they are the next generation of independent travelers.
2} Delta in New York
I think the Delta airline terminal in New York is the worst in the world (they realise this as they make the Business/First Class part of the terminal acceptable). As a New York resident I avoid traveling Delta at all costs, though sometimes I have to because of my destination.
I see Delta are aggressive in increasing their presence in New York – probably at the expense of American and Jet Blue.
As an aside, do you think American and US Airways will merge in 2012? American needs to do something to grow itself, and US Airways seems to be the only candidate, though their hub in Philadelphia is too close to New York.
Lastly, please provide tips on using cellphones overseas, International roaming plans are very expensive. Are prepaid SIM phone plans good? What are some other options?