Would you rather have an empty seat next to you on a long flight, or a hottie like swimming sensation Ryk Neethling or surf-babe Roxy Louw to cuddle up to in the ever-so-cramped economy class?

An online survey by Virgin Money to probe South Africans’ travel preferences has revealed some surprising results.

When people were asked who (or what) they would most like to sit next to, 43 percent voted for an empty seat, nearly double the 24 percent who said they would like to discover the genetically gifted Ryk Neethling or Roxy Louw in the seat beside them.

Nelson Mandela garnered 19 percent of the votes; a 'brainiac like Stephen Hawking' got seven percent of the ticks.

Surprisingly, four percent of folks wanted Jacob Zuma next to them, ahead of the three percent that preferred a prize winning author like JM Coetzee.

Islands come out tops

The Virgin Money also quizzed people on their favourite holiday destinations.

A tropical island was the top choice with 38 percent of the vote, followed by 22 percent that said sightseeing in a major city like New York was the best bet.

And 18 percent said their ideal holiday is anywhere they wouldn’t find Robert Mugabe buying another $10m villa. The same number voted for any destination where clothes and computers are cheaper than SA while five percent preferred action adventures breaks; four percent ticked the ‘where the men and women are hot and sexy.’

When it came to the most undesirable seat mate, 27 percent said an obese person would be the worst case scenario followed by someone with verbal diarrhoea (20 percent). Snorers and those with 'dog breath' both got 16 percent and Jacob Zuma grabbed 11 percent of the votes.

Following at the rear, those with traditional diarrhoea had 10 percent of the voting.

And perhaps airline food isn’t as bad as people think. According to the survey 57 percent of those surveyed said they gobble down airline food, while 21 percent refuse to eat what’s put in front of them and eat what they have brought on board.

And 10 percent of travellers said they would rather send their food to a CSI lab to distinguish between chicken or beef, seven percent said they would like to see the stewardess eat the food and five percent would film it and send it to Funniest Videos.