Millennials would like to travel more on business; Baby Boomers, not so much. (Image: Delta)
Would you like to travel on business even more than you do now? If that seems like a chilling prospect, you’re probably getting on in years, according to a new study by the Global Business Travel Association and American Express.
The online survey of some 845 U.S. road warriors about various aspects of business travel found that Millennials (which it defines as those age 34 or younger) are almost twice as likely as Baby Boomers (age 55 and up) to want to add more trips to their schedules — by a rate of 45 percent to 26 percent.
Thirty-six percent of the respondents in all age groups said they’d like to travel more on business, while only 16 percent wanted to stay in the home office more often. Almost half — 48 percent — said they were traveling just about the right amount.
You might think that tech-savvy Millennials would be happy to meet with colleagues or clients via Skype or videoconferencing instead of flying somewhere to see them, but the research found that 57 percent of younger business travelers are big believers in face-to-face meetings. That’s not to say technology doesn’t affect other parts of their experience, though — e.g., 46 percent of Millennials said they use social media to meet up with friends on business trips, compared with only 17 percent of Baby Boomers.
Asked about eight different aspects of the business travel experience, the respondents rated hotel stays as the most satisfying part of their trips (78 percent), while going through airport security was the most frustrating, garnering only a 45 percent positive rating — down 10 points from the previous quarter. Airplane travel ranked second from the bottom at 55 percent positive.
Maybe because they’ve never known any other way of doing it, Millennials were less likely to have a problem with airport security than their older counterparts (35 percent vs. 59 percent for Baby Boomers and 56 percent for Gen Xers).
One thing the generations seem to agree on is that they’d rather not have to put up with fellow passengers talking on their phones while in flight. Two-thirds of the survey respondents said they were opposed to this, vs. just 9 percent who thought it was a good idea.
Are you a millennial traveler or boomer? Agree with these findings? Please leave your comments below!
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The only people that want more business travel are people that don’t travel for business.
Right on!
What I’ve observed, younger staff in my company don’t immediately appreciate that business travel is mainly business. I spent six weeks in New York City and saw the inside of only five buildings: JFK airport, my office, the grocery store, my hotel and Port Authority Bus Terminal. No shops, no shows, no restaurants. My younger associate, still new, quit. My company also doesn’t permit business and first class travel, even on free upgrades. And travel points and miles go to the company. Anticipations of glamour fade quickly. The hardy few make it 30 years, including 20 years of 365-day travel. Why? I like my JOB, travel is just incidental.
I was a very lucky person, coach in the 80s and 90s was fine, didn’t really know better. But in 1995 got a big job and was able to fly first class. This lasted through 2001 when they cut back and that wasn’t bad, flights over 3 hours you could fly first class. Lost that job in 2003 and it was the back of the bus, I was lucky for about two years as all of my previous flights allowed me to get upgraded. But that went away and the last ten years has been terrible because coach is so much worst.
I have now gotten to the point that if a flight is five hours or more, just pay for business/first class. The good part is on flights from Washington D.C. to the West Coast, if booked a couple of months ahead I could get first class for under $900. But coach really sucks and I don’t care how old you are. Maybe younger folks, with very little flying experience can bare it, but I can’t anymore.
Yep! I think the 80/20 rule applies to business travel too– 20% of all business trips could be considered “glamorous” but the other 80%… not so much 🙂
How funny you mentioned Evansville.. that’s where I grew up! But as a Gen Xer here who travel full time for work (and have for 8 years now), I have to agree that the Millenials (especially those in the Bay Area where i also live) don’t understand that the “exciting” international travel opportunities are few and far between, and that they have to pay their dues before they are even remotely considered for those projects.
Agree, Dan! I remember when I was in my 20s– loved the idea of a career traveling the world as a management consultant….until I realized it was weekly trips to Detroit, or Evansville or Mt Isa in Australia. 🙂
Hmmm… the people doing the polling here don’t strike me as neutral observers. In any case, their results are rather different from my own experience. I have worked with many young software developers who work at home here in the Bay Area (I am a boomer), and getting them to drive 10 miles for a face-to-face meeting is like pulling teeth. They might dream of a business trip to Asia or Europe and eagerly tell a poller that they’d like more trips, but snap your fingers in the real world and ask them if they’d like more trips to Milwaukee or Oklahoma City or Jacksonville on business? They’d laugh in my face.