Thailand held its ground as Thai Airways and Bangkok slipped in Smart Travel Asia magazine's latest poll.

The big winners were Bali, Thailand (despite Bangkok's drop, largely on account of airport problems and taxi scams), Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, and Singapore, with Vietnam picked as the fastest climbing destination with an attractive quality-to-price ratio.

While Qatar Airways took the top spot in 2018 as the best airline worldwide with the best business class, just ahead of perennial favourite Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways got sixth place for business class (the same as last year) and sixth place for cabin service (down from third in 2017).

AirAsia was back as the No.1 budget airline in Asia, with Jetstar Asia at the second spot, while Nok Air featured in the top 10. No American airline made it in the top 10 list in any category.

"Most airlines have cut back dramatically on economy class comfort and service. But US-based carriers are notoriously horrific in all classes compared with Asian carriers," said a reader.

Singapore's Changi airport once again ranked as the best airport worldwide, while Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi was out of the top 10 for the second year in a row, with passengers complaining about overcrowding, poor traffic flow within the airport, and problems with taxis refusing to use meters.

While Shanghai took the top spot in this year's top 10 holiday destinations in Asia (with Bali and Taipei together at second), Bangkok came in at fourth (down from third in 2017 and No.1 the year before that). Again, taxi scams appeared to be the major complaint among frequent travellers. Still, four Thai destinations made it to the Top 10 holiday destinations in Asia: Bangkok, Phuket, Samui and Chiang Mai.

Hong Kong placed as the No.1 city for meetings, while Bangkok stayed at fifth (same as in 2017). Singapore stayed at second having received a small boost with recent world events focusing on the city.

In a heavily contested field for the 10 best luxury hotels in Asia was the Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, coming in third. The hotel was a popular choice across the board for a variety of reasons, with a top 10 ranking as well for best wedding hotels in Asia. The hotel was cited for service, food, and proximity to shopping and dining.

For the top 10 boutique hotels in Asia, 137 Pillars House in Chiang Mai shot to No.1 with Twinpalms Phuket and Indigo Bangkok also appearing on the top 10 list.

According to the survey, younger online travellers are increasingly brand-blind as the online media they primarily read is dominated by small boutique brands building presence through social media and word-of-mouth. 

They are also impulse buyers who tend to go with the flow and can change direction abruptly. Older travellers (50-60 years) and up tend to be more discriminating when it comes to travel research, and tend to stay with classic picks where service standards can be predicted. 

The poll is based on the views of a high-spending, high-travel audience that makes an average of 14 annual air trips within and to Asia.