New Cheapflights.ca Travel Habits Survey Takes the Pulse of Canadian Vacations

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - Jan 23, 2014) - What makes a good vacation? That's determined largely by personal taste. However, in its latest Travel Habits Survey, Cheapflights.ca, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, delves into the high and low points at the heart of a vacation. From the stress of clearing security to the excitement of arriving at your destination, Cheapflights.ca has charted how Canadians feel about key moments, capturing the Travel Pulse of the nation's vacations.

Arriving at their vacation spot is the point of most excitement for Canadians while sleeping in their own beds when they get home is the most relaxing moment. However, the magic moments of vacation, where relaxation meets excitement, are hitting the slopes/beach/city for the first time, having your first drink and waking up the first morning.

The Travel Pulse tracks the continuums of stressed to relaxed and depressed to excited based on a survey of 1,026 Canadians that went step by step through the vacation process, from planning and packing to take off and landing as well as side trips, souvenir shopping, sleeping in, dining out, returning home and even heading back to work. As a result, we know, on average, which travel moments test Canadians' stress levels as well as when relaxation sets in and happiness, or even excitement, peaks.

"Our Canadian Travel Pulse is a simple way to view the emotional journey of our travels," said Melisse Hinkle, editor and travel expert at Cheapflights.ca. "Vacations are meant to be escapes from our daily lives, but they tend to have a rhythm of their own. The best news is that Canadians are embracing the upsides of travel, showing healthy spikes of excitement and relaxation and very few instances of true stress or deep travel blues."

The pinnacle of excitement and happiness

When travel hassles are behind us and the vacation fun begins, Canadians are at the height of happiness and excitement. Here are the top five such moments:

Hitting beach/slopes/city or whatever the main attraction is for the destination		80%
Arriving at your vacation spot		77%
Taking a side trip, excursion or moving on to a new venue		75%
Waking up the first morning		74%
Having your first drink		74%

The holiday blues

Very few moments really got the down or depressing label but the ones topping the list were all about gearing up to head home:

Packing to go home		43%
Waking up the last morning		42%
Travelling to the airport for a return flight		40%

When we relax

As much as we all look forward to a vacation, the most relaxing moments are really about returning home and savouring the trip followed by those key points that signal the beginning of the fun:

Sleeping in your own bed		82%
Looking back at photos from your trip		76%
Having your first drink		74%
Waking up the first morning		71%
Hitting beach/slopes/city or whatever the main attraction is for the destination		69%

When stress raises its head

The five most stressful moments are all about getting to and through the airport. They were not, however, major spikes compared to the relaxing highlights, which must be why we all keep going back for more travel.

Getting through security at the airport		49%
Getting through airport for a return flight		48%
Travelling to the airport		45%
Travelling to airport for a return flight		44%
Leaving home		43%

A few other findings

While we were on the topic of vacation highs and lows, we asked Canadians a few more questions as well. Here is what we learned:

Getting through immigrations and customs seems particularly tricky for Canadians. When asked "Who causes you the most stress on holiday?" that was the top choice, selected by 27 per cent. Security personnel followed at 16 per cent and spouse/significant other at 14 per cent.

As for questions that spike travellers' blood pressure, the most common answer was "We paid how much?" at 19 per cent followed by "Did you remember the passports/tickets?" at 17 per cent and "Did you remember to turn off the water/gas/electricity?" at 12 per cent. For parents, "We paid how much?" still topped the list at 17 per cent and "Did you remember the passports/tickets?" kept the number two spot at 16 per cent. However, "How much longer?" and "Are we there yet?" jumped into the third and fourth slots at 13 per cent and 12 percent respectively.

When does that relaxing vacation feel being to fade? The top answers were tightly clustered, but number one on the list was leaving the hotel, the choice of 18 per cent of respondents. Arriving at the airport for return flight followed closely at 17.5 per cent and arriving at work/school first day back came in right behind at 17 per cent.

Those who use social media, which was 60 per cent of respondents, were largely honest about their travel adventures, with 62 per cent saying they share their negative experiences while the remaining 38 per cent pretend their trips are perfect.

For more information on the Canadian Travel Pulse, visit www.cheapflights.ca/travel/Canadian-Travel-Habits-Travel-Pulse.

To read about the US Travel Pulse, visit www.cheapflights.com/news/american-travel-habits-travel-pulse.

To read about the UK Travel Pulse, visit www.cheapflights.co.uk/news/infographic-brits-holiday-heartbeat.

About Cheapflights.ca, part of the Momondo Group

Momondo Group is an online travel media and technology company that is driven by the belief that an open world is a better world. The group now serves travel search and inspiration to over 13 million visitors a month -- plus 7 million travel newsletter subscribers -- via its Cheapflights (www.cheapflights.ca) and momondo (www.momondo.com) brands.

Skygate began the sourcing of complex air-travel data in 1992, while Cheapflights pioneered the online comparison of flight deals for users in 1996 and momondo launched meta-search in the Nordic countries in 2006.

The Group has offices in London, Copenhagen, Boston and Toronto, with a consumer base across more than 25 core international markets but users all over the world.

Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/cheapflights

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cheapflights