
The Business Travel Trend Report by Fortune Magazine
Inside their latest issue – volume 170, number 4 – Fortune divulges 2014’s business travel trend report. Teaming up with Travel + Leisure for the first time ever, the detailed report showcases the best hotels, airlines and apps for experienced business travelers who average nine trips a year both within the US and abroad.
For the report, Fortune and Travel + Leisure asked experienced travelers about their day-to-day work travel habits. They polled their priorities, pain points, what they love and hate about business travel, as well as which apps, websites, hotels and airlines they swear by on both domestic and international trips. Once the information had been compiled, they put together an infographic to detail the results.
Seventy-one percent of travelers revealed they fly exclusively with carry-on luggage only. Sixty-six percent said that exploring new places and cultures was the best part of each trip. They top five hotels that travelers book were the Ritz-Carlton, Luxury Collection, Kimpton, Waldorf Astoria Collection and the Fairmont, respectively. They also named the Four Seasons as a hotel-of-choice because of its design and amenities, the Ritz-Carlton for their customer services and the Marriott Rewards for their loyalty programs. Once at the hotel, travelers revealed that in-room Wi-Fi and technology was the perk they valued most, while 43 percent of travelers admitted that “substandard cleanliness” is their second biggest complaint.
One percent of business travelers stated that they’d rather be getting a root canal than traveling for work – but overall, 48 percent agreed that they usually enjoy skipping town for business.
Virgin America, Alaska Airlines, Jetblue Airways, Delta Air lines and Southwest Airlines rounded out the most traveled airlines. Travelers named Google Maps their most important app, with 53 percent of “road warriors” using the app on the go. Kayak came in at close second, with 22 percent of travelers and Expedia nabbed the top three honor with 21 percent of travelers. Editors of the survey even chimed in, dubbing Concur, Roadtrippers, Entrain, Packpoint and Award Wallet as their top five apps.