EXCLUSIVE Insiders reveal the shocking vacation etiquette mistakes that leave travelers fuming
From horrific airport fights breaking out at the terminal to baggage behavior that labels travelers rude and offensive, there are certain unwritten etiquette rules that come with vacationing.
Not only are these behaviors mocked mercilessly in person, they're now broadcast to millions of people online, who call out others for their bad behavior in social media comments sections.
Now, insiders are exclusively revealing to Daily Mail the absolute worst ways vacationers can behave, from forcing other tourists to swap seats with them against their will to cutting their toenails onboard.
The worldwide baggage shipping company Luggage Forward conducted a study of airplane etiquette preferences and found the worst offenders (in order) were talking loudly on a plane, playing a video or music without headphones, eating smelly food, taking off your shoes, and using both armrests.
Etiquette expert Lisa Mirza Grotts quite literally wrote the book on the subject as the author of A Traveler's Passport to Etiquette in a Post-Pandemic World, which focuses exclusively on travel etiquette, and is telling Daily Mail what vacationers do wrong in the sky.
One major faux pas that's gone viral in recent days? De-boarding the plane before those in front, which there's never a need for - even for people desperately trying to catch a flight. The hot topic often goes viral on social media, with podcast hosts discussing if it's ever acceptable, and content creators showing people standing and shoving out of their rows before it's their time to depart.
Commenters on TikTok call the behavior 'so rude,' especially since it prevents others from getting their baggage when everyone stands up in the aisle and others rush past.
In her travel etiquette manual, Grotts advises against de-boarding before those in front even with a tight a connection, writing, 'unless you're in labor or the plane's on fire, wait your turn,' because 'airplane aisles aren't a free-for-all.'
Instead, Grotts, known as the Golden Rules Gal, suggests politely informing the flight attendant during the descent so they can ask others to allow you to disembark first.
Grotts, who's based in California, told Daily Mail that 'pushing past people on your own' is simply 'never' an option. Cutting in a security line is considered just as tacky, as the etiquette pro advised speaking to a TSA agent instead if you're running late.
Etiquette expert Genevieve 'Jenny' Dreizen, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, told Daily Mail that while everyone has had a 'panicked moment where we're sprinting through an airport hoping the gate isn't closed, in general, no, it's not okay to push past people to de-plane early just because you're in a rush.'
Once on the plane is when the bad behavior can really get started, and that's when people get their phones out to document every second of it. One person horrified fellow passengers when they began dining on a tuna melt.
Others have been shamed for eating 'smelly pasta' or pickled foods that stink up the plane. Grotts advised against dining upon odorous foods like tuna, eggs, and garlic, which are better left for home and Dreizen agreed that 'anything with a strong smell is best left behind,' including options 'that might make nearby passengers wrinkle their noses.
'It's not about shame, it's just about being mindful of the fact that everyone's stuck in the same recycled air for hours,' Dreizen clarified.
Many people have broken into massive arguments over swapping seats on airlines, especially when couples or families attempt to guilt trip singles into giving up the spaces they carefully chose and paid extra for. It's become quite contentious, as groups believe they have the right to sit together, while solo travelers would prefer to stay in their seat of choice.
Grotts said while it's 'fine to ask politely, don't guilt, demand, or manipulate someone out of a seat they booked and paid for.'
There are also massive personal grooming mistakes people make while flying, including wearing a strong scent that could give a fellow traveler a migraine. While spritzing lightly pre-flight is fine, overly sweet scents can be headache-inducing when in small, enclosed spaces so never apply mid-flight or beforehand in the duty-free shops.
Another no no? Toenail clipping or in-flight manicures, which Dreizen fittingly described as 'deeply unhygienic and very disruptive.'
And no matter how comfortable it may seem, keep those shoes on. Dreizen believes that everyone 'should attempt to keep their shoes on for safety reasons because on a typical flight there's really no need to take them off.'
'No bare feet on the seats or in the aisle, ever,' Dreizen said, adding, 'It's a plane, not your living room.'
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