Who is the most annoying holiday traveler?

The holiday season is traditionally that time of year when far-flung families gather together to reconnect with one another, exchange gifts and share in a holiday feast.

According to the U.S. Travel Association1, visiting relatives was the leading reason for leisure travel in 2015, so it is no surprise that the holiday season is a hectic time of year for travel.

While most holiday travelers are in a festive spirit, there will invariably be some “bad apples” who, whether they mean to or not, can spoil an otherwise enjoyable travel experience. Earlier this year, Travelocity® surveyed more than 1,500 people2 to find out which holiday traveler is the most annoying, and the three most mentioned culprits were:

1. “The Oversharer”: This passenger is excited to be going home to see family. Really excited. So excited that she feels the need to share stories about every single relative (from her third cousin Bessie to her oh-so-adorable 2 year old nephew). And thanks to the magic of social media, she is able to spend the entire flight sharing pictures of all of them.

2. “The Just One More Egg Nog Guy”: To this passenger, the holidays are about celebrating at 90 proof. After celebrating the season at the bar, he stumbles into his aisle seat singing carols (while getting most of the lyrics wrong) and continually rings the call button throughout the flight for “just one more Jack and cola.”

3. “Rudolph the Red Nosed Passenger”: In his mission to get home in time for Christmas dinner, this passenger ignores the raging cold/flu that has transformed him into a mucus factory. Additionally, he is invariably seated in a middle seat so that he can share his “bounty” with as many people as possible.

In the process of determining the most annoying holiday traveler, Travelocity also found some helpful travel hints within the data:

• Passengers looking to switch seats to be closer to (or farther from) their traveling companions are best off asking a woman, as men are twice as likely to be annoyed by a “seat switcher.”

• Flyers who have had a couple of “adult beverages” prior to boarding would be well-advised to avoid millennials, as they are almost two times as likely to be annoyed by a “tipsy traveler.”