Safety, affordable fares and a ban on mobile phone calls have topped the wish lists of airline passengers in a survey by Australian online discount travel agent, Direct Flights International.

The online poll, conducted in June and July, found Australian travellers most wanted safe and cheap flights ahead of inflight frills when it came to booking overseas flights. But when onboard, they preferred watching movies, reading and eating ahead of working, talking and drinking.

Key findings of the website survey were:
 
* Choosing an airline: 39 per cent of respondents said price was the most important factor in choosing an airline while a 
   high 27 per cent nominated safety. Fifteen per cent were swayed by direct routes and six per cent selected frequent flyer
   programs. Only five per cent were influenced by service, three per cent by the aircraft type, just two per cent by food and 
   a low one per cent said seat pitch was important.

* Mobiles: Fifty eight per cent of respondents said they were opposed to mobile phone calls inflight while 42 per cent were
   for them. But 65 per cent of people were happy for mobile owners to use SMS inflight.

* Booking flights: Asked what was the most frustrating challenge in booking overseas travel, 31 per cent nominated the 
   availability of affordable deals and 23 per cent said complicated online booking sites frustrated them the most. Waiting
   on the phone was hated most by 11 per cent of people, followed by travel agent service fees (9 per cent), lack of 
   information (9 per cent), insistence on credit card payments (7 per cent) and too much information (4 per cent).

* Top Destinations: Asia (21 per cent of respondents) topped the list of destinations Direct Flights website visitors most
   wanted to visit, followed by Europe (19 per cent), North America (13 per cent), NZ (10 per cent), South Pacific (7 per
   cent), South America and Africa (both 6 per cent), Antarctica (5 per cent ) and the Middle East (3 per cent).