While it’s true that there are often more cost-effective ways to travel, depending on your destination, there are still many good reasons to book that flight. Here are five of them.

10.  Safety. You know you’re more likely to die in a car accident than in a plane crash. While the chance of being in an airplane accident is about 1 in 11 million, the chance of being in a car accident is 1 in 5,000.

5. Speed. Rather than spending a day or two traveling, you will only need to spend a few hours in transit before you get to where you want to be.

4. Camaraderie. Even if you don’t make small talk with those around you, at least you aren’t traveling alone, which can be scary.

3. Rest. Instead of spending your time driving, you could sleep–something that most people could do more often! You also won’t risk the chance of falling asleep at the wheel.

2. Comfort. Rather than being cramped in a car for who knows how many hours, you can stretch out in a plane since they aren’t as filled to capacity these days. You could even get a full row to stretch out in. In fact, when planes are highly vacant, you may even be offered a free upgrade.

1. Necessity. Sometimes it’s simply more feasible to fly. If you’re on a business trip you have to cram in between taking care of children, running to business meetings or attending classes, flying is a much better option than risking missing your important event.

While the team of experts had some sage advice to follow, one has to wonder why the study was on making flights “less annoying” and not, say, “more pleasant” or “more enjoyable.” Perhaps the premise is that flights cannot be pleasant or enjoyable in the first place!

Nonetheless, many of the tips are worth heeding. Commercial pilot and author Patrick Smith says that the removal of redundant and ineffective airport security would ease the stress level of many travelers. Flights should also be consolidated in general, says Smith, to account for less flight delays.

Flight attendant and author of two books on air travel, Elliott Hester, points out that the average coach seat is only two inches wider than the average woman’s waistline today, making for incredibly tight seating arrangements. Hester says the key to a better flight is getting more leg room and wider seats when flying coach.

Aviation journalist Benét J. Wilson says that she doubts “there’s really much the airlines can do to make air travel less miserable.” Much of this, she says, can be attributed to the “survival mode” that airlines have had to adopt following the economic crisis in America. Comfort has taken a backseat to simply surviving and making any profit. That said, she says that by using her own ingenuity–such as bringing along snacks and entertainment and using airlines that cover basic requirements and don’t require baggage fees–she can personally improve the quality of her own flights.

How do you choose a flight? What tips and tricks do you use in securing the best air travel possible?