lastminute.com Survey: Travel Healthy for Relationships

Travelers Worldwide Reveal Many Different Habits, But Romance is Universal

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 23, 2007–The stress of travel can often fray even the calmest nerves, but a recent survey from lastminute.com gauging travel habits around the world finds that the majority of couples who travel together return home with a more loving relationship as a souvenir. Results showed 79 percent of respondents return more ‘in love’ with their partners, while only 2.5 percent come back fighting. A stunning 87 percent of Germans and Italians fall more in love after travel, followed by 75 percent of Americans, who came in a respectable third.

The romantic attitude of the Italians surveyed fell in line with expectations, but the starry-eyed passion of German travelers was one of the surprise findings of the survey. lastminute.com polled over 4,000 lastminute.com users from the U.S., Spain, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, and the UK.

Universally, the survey revealed a number of common habits:

— More than 60 percent of respondents research travel on the
Internet before planning a trip.

— Over 75 percent of respondents pack within 24 hours of
departure.

— Almost 18 percent of respondents routinely forget to pack
pajamas. The second most popular ‘forgotten’ item is a hair
dryer.

— More than 80 percent of respondents arrive at the airport at
the recommended time for checking in.

— More than 48 percent of respondents reveal that catching up on
reading is their favorite thing to do during the flight.

— Almost every nationality thinks themselves to be the loudest
on the plane, Americans included.

— Almost 50 percent of respondents prefer to have at least one
“buffer” day between returning from vacation and returning to
work.

Americans differed from their European counterparts in a couple of striking points:

— Less than nine percent of European respondents admit to having
ever missed a flight, revealing a surprising disparity – more
than 27 percent of American respondents report missing a
flight at least once.

— Americans believe they pack the heaviest suitcases, and most
of the Europeans agree.

“The most surprising finding is that people around the world are more alike than we think. We research our options online, pack at the last minute, invariably pack the wrong things and many of us almost always forget our pajamas,” said Giovanna Garlati, PR manager for lastminute.com.

About lastminute.com

lastminute.com is a leading online travel and leisure player specializing in last second deals. Using specialized technology, lastminute.com locates unsold airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars and other products and services and assembles them into dynamic, real-time packages available for online purchase up to hours before departure. It also offers customers worldwide holidays, flights and hotel rooms, as well as unique lifestyle options, such as tickets to events, DVD rentals, restaurant reservations and gifts. lastminute.com was acquired by Travelocity, part of Sabre Holdings, in July 2005. It was founded in the UK in 1998 and now counts over 2000 employees in the world and more than 12 million subscribers to its newsletters. In addition to London, the company has offices in Dublin, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Munich, Brussels, Stockholm and New York.

CONTACT: lastminute.com
Giovanna A. Garlati, 212-372-5249
giovanna.garlati@lastminute.com
or
SHIFT Communications
John Carter, 617-779-1806
jcarter@shiftcomm.com