Nearly 90 percent of travelers booking vacation rentals are planning to hit the road this summer, according to a new survey by Wyndham Vacation Rentals. On average, they will spend 12.3 hours driving to their destination. For the study Wyndham surveyed more than 11,000 vacation rental travelers.
"A travel tradition that may have once been seen as a means to an end actually holds much more reverence among vacation rental travelers today," said Mary Lynn Clark, president, Wyndham Vacation Rentals North America. "They're a unique group who often travel with larger parties and appreciate spending as much time as they can with each other, whether it's on the road or vacationing together under one roof."
According to the survey, food plays an important part in a road trip:
- They try to snack healthy in the car. When picking their favorite road trip snack or beverage, only 4 percent of vacation rental travelers cite fast food as their top choice. 26 percent prefer healthier options like nuts, seeds and trail mix.
- Where you live might affect your choice. Vacation rental travelers from the Pittsburgh, PA metro area have the biggest sweet tooth, while those near Cleveland-Akron, Ohio are more likely to crave something salty. Tampa-St. Pete, Florida and Denver, Colorado tie for the most health-minded vacation rental travelers, while those from Los Angeles, CA are most likely to be found in the drive-thru.
Common road trip complaints:
- Bad driving. Nearly half (49%) of vacation rental travelers agree that bad driving is far and away the most annoying road trip occurrence. 22 percent rank backseat driving their second biggest annoyance.
- Men and women clash on car-ride fun. Men are less appreciative of aspiring singers with 35 percent finding singing or humming moderately to extremely annoying compared to just 25 percent of women. Women are more likely to roll their eyes at steering wheel drumming with 26 percent finding it very to extremely annoying (compared to 18% of men).