The Holiday Starts When I Get Off the Plane

Sheridan does not tend to think about the future and sees herself as someone who lives in the now. She seems perturbed by the very idea that we would all want to plan. "It takes away some of the excitement. Don't you think?"

So her holidays are also a product of her easy-going nature and tend to just happen. "I travel to see my friends. When you are working you tend not to see them properly, or there are people who live too far away. For me, traveling is a way to reconnect with them. So I tend to just go when and where they are going- I'm easy."

As one might expect, Sheridan does not feel particularly endeared to any flight operator. She uses the ones her friends suggest, and she does not feel tied to any. If she does have an opinion on any, it tends to be negative. She sees travel, and flights, as an obstacle to her holiday beginning. It is a hurdle over which she must laboriously hop in order to start relaxing.

"Travel is a means to an end. People go on about the flight being as good as the holiday but I don't think anyone really believes that. No-one likes flying but you have to do it to get to the nice places." Sheridan can't understand how some of our other Xploring subjects saw the flight as romantic and glamorous. "Have they been on Ryanair?"

Unusually among those we talked to, Sheridan does not turn away from the super cheap airlines. She has no problem going on the cheapest airlines as long as it saves her some money for her holiday. She does care about delays and waits, as they eat into holiday time, but she will never be one to shell out on a flight.

And yet despite all this, Sheridan is still swayed by lovemarks. She lists hers as Absolut, ASOS and Diet Coke, but when I mentioned Virgin, she suddenly reacts- "Oh yeah I like Virgin." Sheridan is logical, she knows what she wants and she is cynical about the majority of airlines, but Virgin still manages to create a genuine emotional attachment. So strong is her love for the brand that she, our price conscious Ryan Air passenger, would pay extra for Virgin. "Yeah I would actually- you get what you pay for."

And she even recognizes her own illogical attachment, but thats not important.

Sheridan is proof that even the most logical and brand-agnostic flyers can be swayed. Holidays are an inherently emotional event and airlines should tap into that and create an experience from the flight which matches the holiday. And maybe then even Sheridan would consider it.