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Home / Travel

Travellers reveal their etiquette pet peeves and worst behaviours abroad

NZ Herald
19 Feb, 2020 02:06 AM4 mins to read

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Body odour was a key gripe in the Reddit thread. Photo / Neil Martin, Unsplash

Body odour was a key gripe in the Reddit thread. Photo / Neil Martin, Unsplash

From mid-air armrest battles, to a lack of personal hygiene, travellers are sharing what annoys them most, about other tourists.

A thread on the site Reddit has garnered over 760 comments from travellers responding to the question, "What travel etiquette do people seem to always forget?"

Body odour was a key gripe from multiple people.

User 'nar-whalll' went on a rant about people who were ignorant of their personal aroma.
"Put on deodorant before getting on a plane!! For the love of god Lynda!! And you know for a fact all natural doesn't work for you," they wrote.

'Your_acceptable' said: "Wearing copious amounts of perfume in closed, and close spaces. It triggers a migraine every time."

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Another user urged travellers to shower before any trip, as well as addressing overpowering perfume. "Don't pile on the perfume/cologne before being on a confined space with other people. Assuming you don't s**t yourself, the only smell that is worse is body odour."

Another bug bear from travellers was towards people who showed disrespect for sacred places.

"When people treat certain sites of cultural or religious significance like any other attraction," user 'Jerry_Curlan_Alt' wrote. "For example people taking wacky selfies at Auschwitz or running around a functioning cathedral like they're at a music festival. There's a time and a place people. Read the room."

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"The total lack of self awareness was astounding." Photo / Reddit
"The total lack of self awareness was astounding." Photo / Reddit

Other shared sentiments that asked for people to be mindful that everyone was in the same situation while travelling, and there's no need to be rude, pushy and impatient.

'UnusedWhitespace' moaned about the crowds while collecting luggage.
"When you get to the baggage carousel, stand 1-2 steps back from the edge of the belt. This helps others see the bags, and lets people dart in and out to collect theirs should it come before yours does.

And 'newlosernew' suggested: 'If you board a plane in an aisle seat and nobody is (yet) sat in the seat next to you, don't buckle up and settle in for the flight - yet! Even worse, don't assume that the seats are going to stay empty, and start spreading your belongings around.'

One frequent flyer let loose on all the things that bothered them about travelling with this litany:

"Keep your goddamn shoes on when you're on the plane. Goes double for if you're not rocking socks or are wearing sandals. And keep those nasty toes on the floor, not poking through the gap between the seats in front of you," they wrote.

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So is hobbling still a thing? 🤷🏼‍♀️✈️👣🙏🏼 • • • #passengershaming #flyingfeet #instagramaviation #comeflywithme #airlinelife #airplaneetiquette #frequentflyer #crewlife #plane #aviation #cabincrew #avgeek #cabincrewlife #flightattendant #flightattendantlife #stewardess #flightattendantproblems #travel #flightattendants #instapassport #aviationgeek #FAlife #airtravel #travelgram #traveltips #pilotlife #frequentflier

A post shared by Passenger Shaming (@passengershaming) on Jan 7, 2020 at 9:19am PST

"Don't block the path off the plane and walk slowly. Some people have connecting flights and will body check you if you're keeping them from making their flight. You deserve it. Ask before putting your seat back. I'm a tall dude. If you're in front of me, and you put your seat back, your kidneys will have a meeting with my adult knees.

"Drink a lot of water? Ask for the aisle seat at check-in. Plan on not having to pee? Get the window seat.

"If you are actively overflowing into your neighbour's seat, consider booking two seats, or be prepared to catch elbows the entire flight.

One user summed up some advice we can all take on board. "I'd suggest the best etiquette is just BE NICE," they wrote. "A lot of us are pretty tired. We often get to the airport early to not have problems and suffer those that don't. We often are on long or multiple flights, so we might be completely worn out. Sometimes things go wrong that can't really be blamed on anyone. Things just happen. Just be nice."

Got a pet travel etiquette peeve? Let us know which is the least acceptable travel behaviour of these seven travel sins:

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