Travel apps and websites may be armed with technological tools, but their user experience and overall user satisfaction are lagging behind their counterparts in other industries, a recent study has suggested.
While travelers rely on digital tools for their every need, be it QR codes to board planes to identifying the location of rental cars or digital key cards in hotels, travel apps and websites deliver substandard user experience, according to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Travel App Satisfaction Study and the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Travel Website Satisfaction Study.
The studies, redesigned since J.D. Power’s latest assessment of travel industry apps and websites in 2019, measure customer satisfaction with digital channels of travel brands in airline, hotel and rental car segments.
APP RATINGS
With a score of 688, Alaska Airlines ranked highest in overall satisfaction among airlines, followed by Southwest Airlines (687) and JetBlue Airways (680).
Among hotel apps, World of Hyatt ranked the highest, with a score of 722. This was followed by Choice Hotels and Hilton Honors jointly ranking second with a score of 691.
National ranked highest among rental car apps, with a score of 738, followed by Alamo (720) and Enterprise (687).
WEBSITE RATINGSÂ
Scoring 658, Alaska Airlines stood first in overall customer satisfaction among airline websites. This was followed by JetBlue Airways (654) and Southwest Airlines (648).
World of Hyatt ranked highest among hotel websites (scoring 676), with Hilton Worldwide ranking second (661). Choice Hotels and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts each scored 652 to rank third in a tie.
Among car rental websites, National ranked highest with a score of 709, followed by Alamo (681) and Hertz (674).
OTHER FINDINGS
- Airline, hotel and rental car app and website satisfaction lag behind the highest-scoring apps and websites in other industries. Overall satisfaction with travel-related digital travel channels was lowest among airline websites, scoring 640 on a 1,000-point scale, compared to an average score of 719 for overall insurance website satisfaction.
- Hotel apps posted the best performance among digital travel tools. Hotel mobile apps (682) and rental car apps (681) saw the highest overall satisfaction scores against airline apps (672), rental car websites (662), hotel websites (646) and airline websites (640).
- Digital tools used most frequently on the day of travel are boarding passes, check-in and flight status trackers on airline mobile apps. Despite the heavy usage, these features reported considerably lower overall satisfaction scores than less frequently used tools, like purchasing upgrades or tracking baggage.
Travel apps and websites are unique as they are most often used by travelers when stressed — while traveling, managing luggage or trying to navigate a new destination, said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail, J.D. Power.
“Apps and websites hold a great deal of information about the particular user and their journey, making use of that information to personalize the journey, anticipate and provide support are critical to improvement,” Taylor said.
The J.D. Power U.S. Travel App and Travel Website Satisfaction Studies study satisfaction with travel apps and websites across three segments — airline, hotel and rental car — and explore the key variables that influence customer choice, satisfaction and loyalty. This is based on six factors — account management, day of travel/duration of stay (only in apps), navigation, reservation, speed and visual appeal.
The U.S. Travel App Satisfaction Study is based on 5,659 evaluations from airline, hotel and rental car app users. The U.S. Travel Website Satisfaction Study is based on 5,543 evaluations from users of airline, hotel and rental car websites. The studies were conducted in June and July.