The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) measures consumer's satisfaction regarding a wide range of e-commerce. Using a 100-point scale, the number crunchers at ACSI can determine how happy we in the US are, more or less, with different online purchasing sites. Travel is an important category for ACSI: How satisfied are US consumers with a variety of online travel sites?
The results of the latest ACSI index shows great improvement in overall satisfaction with online travel resources, compared to two and a half years ago (when Luxury Travel first started reporting on ACSI's well-qualified stats). This is likely due to the recession that kicked travel companies' rear ends in 2008 – after all, when wallets are tight, high-end travel is often the first to get cut from personal and family expenditures. ACSI predicted a rebound last year, and now the numbers show that there has been, indeed, an increase in satisfaction with travel e-commerce. There haven't been across-the-board increases in satisfaction (for the purposes of this analysis, online brokerage and e-retail are not being considered). As people get more comfortable with online travel planning and purchasing, though, related websites seem to have been rising to the occasion.
Travel Highlights from the American Customer Satisfaction Index
- The online travel industry reaches a new all-time high aggregate score of 78.
- Online travel planners remain cost-sensitive, and travel websites allow for greater price comparisons and an easier ability to find the best deals.
- Expedia remains the most satisfying website with which to purchase travel and vacation packages. Its score, 79, is the highest of the "Big Four," i.e. Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, and Travelocity.
- The aggregate of smaller travel-related websites is as high as that of Expedia (79) but they are much less popularly used.
- Travelocity shows a significant improvement over the past two years, with a current high score of 77.
- The jump in user satisfaction with Travelocity and the smaller "other" online travel sites more than make up for the decline in satisfaction with Orbitz and Priceline, resulting in the new high level of customer satisfaction.
- Orbitz and Priceline both have seen a decrease in user satisfaction. Priceline's decline is probably due to a generally perceived lack of reliability and variety.
- For the first time, satisfaction with mobile commerce is included. That is, US consumer satisfaction is now rated regarding mobile apps and websites accessed via smart phones. There is no quarterly or yearly point of comparison yet, obviously, but travel industry apps and websites tie with retail industry sites (such as Amazon and Netflix) at 75. Online brokerage use scored much higher, at 81.
In summary, people have never been happier with purchasing travel and vacation packages online than they are now. This is particularly interesting when considering the recent kerfuffle between American Airlines, and Orbitz and Expedia. In seeking to cut out the "middle man," as it were, American Airlines removed themselves from Expedia's listing – but remember, Expedia is the online travel aggregator that customers trust most.
People appreciate being able to easily compare prices across airline companies. Rather than take the extra step of checking American Airline's website after looking at other airlines via Expedia, the satisfaction and trust in that travel aggregator indicates that American would come out at the losing end of this move. While the last time ACSI measured consumer satisfaction with airlines was in June, the overall score then was 66, one of the lowest of all industries measured by ACSI.The all-time high overall score of 78 for online travel indicates that the online travel aggregator business is here to stay.
Jennifer W. Miner - Jennifer has years of travel writing experience, spoken at several national conferences, and more. See Jendeavor.com for more details.
