America’s Naughtiest Travel Habits in 2025

Vacation. From the moment the plan is in place, we start to feel excitement. Getting away from the mundane responsibilities of everyday life and unwinding is, for many Americans, one of the best parts of life. For those choosing to fly to their location, the trip itself may be a little less than relaxing though.

Since people often play games during travel, our users have seen just about every kind of rude behavior travelers can display inside airports or on planes. From eating the smelliest food imaginable to verbal confrontations with other travelers, we see countless behaviors we wish we didn’t witness, and at Solitaire Bliss, we know how much they can impact your experience.

To learn more about where people are most guilty of these naughty travel habits, we surveyed Americans in every state asking which habits they are guilty of themselves, which they have witnessed, their overall views on airline etiquette in recent years, and more. For each habit respondents admitted to, we awarded a point and created a naughty travel habits score with a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the naughtiest behaviors. Read on to learn how your state ranked among the rest.

Key Takeaways

• Mississippi, California, and Arkansas residents have the naughty travel habits.
• Bags on seats in the terminal and reclining without asking are the most common bad habits Americans admit to doing.
• Bags on seats in the terminal and loud phone use are the bad habits most commonly observed while traveling.
• 81% of Americans think airline etiquette has declined in recent years.
• Spirit and American are the most common airlines Americans associate with naughty travel habits.

The States with the Naughtiest Travelers

While many of us have been guilty of naughty travel behavior once or twice while flying, some Americans are repeat offenders. We discovered that Mississippi residents are the most guilty of naughty travel habits with a score of 99.50 out of 100.

Residents of the Magnolia State ranked first as the most likely to exhibit eight different naughty habits including engaging in verbal or physical confrontations with others, asking to switch seats on the plane, and loud phone use on the plane.

In second place with a naughty travel habit score of 98.21 out of 100 is California, where residents were most likely to claim both armrests when not in the middle seat, bringing strong-smelling food on the plane, drinking too much, and vaping or smoking on the plane.

Arkansas is up next in third with a score of 93.75. Residents of the state are the most likely in the U.S. to ask to cut in the security line, clip or file their nails on the plane, not put their phones on airplane mode, film other passengers, and watch porn or other graphic material.

With so many naughty habits taking place across the country, we wanted to learn which are most unusually popular by state. We did this by comparing the number of people in each state who admitted to a habit to the national number.

The habit leading the way with the most states was hanging legs in the aisle, which claimed the top spot in six states including Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Up next, claiming five states, is wearing strong cologne or perfume, which ranked first in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New York.

Overall, we discovered that 81% of Americans think airline etiquette has declined in recent years. While only slightly, this number is up from our 2024 study, in which 79% of people felt etiquette was declining. Perhaps this is due in part to the 1 in 5 people who say they frequently observe naughty travel behaviors while flying. When analyzing habits witnessed by airlines flown, we discovered that those who frequently fly Frontier or JetBlue are the most likely to think airline etiquette has declined in recent years.

The Habits We’re Guilty of and the Habits We Witness

In addition to the habits most commonly committed in each state, we wanted to gain more insight into the behaviors Americans are most guilty of overall. Leading the way with 60% of people admitting to it, is putting bags on seats in the terminal. While it may seem minor, this habit can get under the skin of others who are trying to find a place to sit and relax ahead of their flight.

Reclining seats without asking is the second most common as nearly 1 in 2 people say they do it. This is followed by not putting phones on airplane mode as the third most common habit with 48% of people saying they do it. Asking to switch seats on the plane is next in fourth place with more than two-fifths of Americans saying they have done it.

Rounding out our top five is leaving garbage in the seat pocket, which nearly 2 in 5 people say they have done. While at times out of our control, more than a third of people admit to passing gas on the plane, which earns the behavior sixth on our ranking.

It is only fair that if we ask about the habits we ourselves are guilty of, we must also learn about the behaviors witnessed. Sharing first place on both rankings is putting bags on seats in the terminal, which 84% of travelers say they have witnessed. Loud phone use in the terminal follows closely behind claiming second place, and reclining their seat without asking ranks third.

When we asked respondents what naughty travel habit was the single most unacceptable, we found masturbating on the plane and physical confrontations with others rank as the top two. In addition, we set out to learn which airlines Americans think have the most naughty passengers. Comparing our data from 2024, we found that Spirit Airlines still ranks first. While Southwest Airlines ranked second last year, American Airlines now holds the number two spot as Southwest moves into third place.

Find Bliss While Traveling

If you are guilty of naughty travel habits, don’t worry, we won’t tell. We do, however, encourage you to be mindful of the other people around you in these situations. While you may think your conversation on the phone is at a normal volume, it may be disturbing the person trying to read a book next to you.

Not everyone will have the same common courtesy as you. However, if you find yourself irritated at someone’s inconsiderate behavior try finding a way to distract yourself. At Solitaire Bliss, we offer a variety of online games from FreeCell to Spider Solitaire to help you pass the time and ignore the naughty travelers around you.

Methodology

In this study, we set out to learn where Americans are most guilty of naughty travel habits when flying. To do this, we surveyed residents in every state and asked about the common habits they are guilty of themselves, what habits they have observed, their overall opinions on airline etiquette, and more.

To determine where people exhibit the naughtiest habits, we awarded one point for each action respondents said they have done and then calculated the average score by respondent, and then by their state of residence. We then adjusted these scores on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the naughtiest travelers.