There’s a very good reason you should always press the angry & smiley face buttons at the airport
IF you aren’t feeling very happy at the airport, you should head to the satisfaction button stations scattered around the terminals, asking you to rate how you are “feeling”.
Launched by HappyOrNot more than a decade ago, they can be found at airports across more than 36 countries.
As well as giving travellers the chance to vent, they allow staff to respond as quickly as they can.
HappyOrNot founder Heikki Väänänen previously said: “One of the main functions of the data is real-time alerts.
“For example, if an airport bathroom is unclean, customers will likely press a very unhappy button.
“If this happens a few times (and causes the negative results to go above a set threshold), management teams are alerted that the area needs immediate attention.
“The airport is then able to instantly send a cleaner to investigate and fix the issue, which will then be visible in positive results.”
He also revealed the happiest and saddest places at the airport – and surprisingly, security was the happiest.
Baggage reclaim was the “most aggravating,” he added.
HappyOrNot’s international breakthrough came at Heathrow Airport, ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
Airport executives worried about the imminent influx of international visitors so they positioned HappyOrNot terminals near security, allowing them to identify problem locations in real-time.
Heathrow security’s overall passenger satisfaction scores rose by more than half.
Another study conducted by HappyOrNot analysed more than 4.5 million customer feedback points which are found across airports in 30 countries.
The data found that the worst day of the week to travel was Sunday, as people were the least happy.
The report found that just 81 per cent of customer feedback was positive.
The best day to fly? A Wednesday, where happiness was the highest at 84.6 per cent.
Heikki added: “Specifically, 9am and 8am are the happiest times to travel, and 2am and 3am the unhappiest.”