Why you should always fly on a Wednesday – and never late at night

YOU should think carefully before deciding which day to book your flights in future - it could save you some stress.

Experts have found that Wednesday is the happiest day to fly - and the first flight of the day is the best.

Fresh research from - the makers of the smiley face customer feedback terminals you find in airports across the world - found that some days of the week are better to fly on than others.

The study analysed over seven million customer feedback data points from airports in over 30 countries worldwide.

Data from the first quarter of 2023 reveals that the best day of the week to fly is Wednesday, while the worst day is Sunday. 

While Wednesday received 83.7 per cent positive customer feedback, Sunday scored just 79.9 per cent positive customer feedback.

When it comes to time, the best time to fly is, quite surprisingly 4am earning an 85.2 per cent positive customer feedback score.

The worst is 10pm and 11pm, both of which scored 76.4 per cent positive customer feedback.

People are clearly happier earlier on, as both 7am and 8am scored particularly high customer feedback ratings, with 84.8 per cent and 84.4 per cent, respectively. 

Feedback for the research is collected via HappyOrNot’s smiley-face feedback buttons and terminals.  

These terminals are placed within five different locations at an airport: security, arrivals, check-in, washrooms and baggage claim.

Out of the five areas, the research found that the unhappiest area was baggage claim with the most negative feedback being registered there. Shockingly, security was the happiest area, with the least negative feedback.  

The study also found that the top three most common complaints when travelling through airports were staff friendliness followed by queues and then cleanliness taking third place.

CEO of HappyOrNot, Miika Mäkitalo, said: “We wanted to share our insights into passenger experiences within airports in 2023 so far, to help people to prepare for their journeys, and help airport operators to identify which parts of the airport experience are more likely to need extra attention at busy times. 

“In 2023, the happiest time to fly might come as a bit of a shock to those of us who are not early risers, with it falling in the early hours of the morning, but it remains the case that Wednesday is the happiest day of the week to fly, which will be welcome news for anybody planning a mid-week getaway.” 

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