American, Southwest top TripAdvisor user survey

The results of TripAdvisor‘s annual travel trends survey are in, and American topped the list of favorite airlines amongst the 2,500 respondents worldwide. Southwest and British Airways tied for second, based on friendly staff, favorable on-time arrival and departure records, and comfortable seats. US Airways was named the worst airline.

TripAdvisor also named the top up-and-coming destinations in the U.S. and around the world for 2008, based on changes in search activity and message-board postings on its website. Domestically, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, nabbed the top spot, followed by Kitty Hawk (Outer Banks), North Carolina; Seward, Alaska; Kailua, Hawaii; and Blue Ridge, Georgia. Internationally, Jerba, Tunisia, was named number one, followed by Makandi Bay, Egypt; Phangnga, Thailand; Kovalam, India; and Sabaudia, Italy.

(Editor’s Note: SmarterTravel.com is published by Smarter Travel Media LLC, a member of the TripAdvisor Media Network.)