chicagotribune.com - Travel: Consumers tiring of airlines, OK with hotels

chicagotribune.com - Travel Headlines from chicagotribune.com Consumers tiring of airlines, OK with hotels 22 Jun 2011, 4:34 pm The American Customer Satisfaction Index released its annual look at the food and hotel industry today, and the results are interesting, if not exactly surprising. Of 47 industries examined, airlines scored 65 on a 100-point scale, which tied for the lowest overall score with, ahem, newspapers. (Hey guess what everyone? Without newspapers, you wouldn't be reading this right now.) Southwest, with a score of 81, was the top-ranked airline for the 18th year in a row (though I'd think Virgin America would overtake them in a second if they were included for reasons we have discussed here and here). Southwest's "policy of no baggage or change fees is paying dividends in satisfaction," the report says. The accumulation of fees has only hurt the airline industry in consumer eyes, said David VanAmburg, managing direction of ACSI. Fifteen years ago, according to ACSI statistics, airlines, limited service restaurants and hotels had similar satisfaction ratings. "One wonders if the airlines wouldn't be better served to just raise the price of their tickets to the sweet spot of revenue they need and make the cost all inclusive," VanAmburg said. "You'd get your bags on board and decent food rather than the perception of being nickel and dimed." Southwest's nearest competitor is Continental, though that airline plunged 10 percentage points from last year. Satisfaction with the hotel industry rose three percent, to 77. Upscale brands outperformed budget brands with Hilton (score of 80), at the top for a fourth consecutive year followed by Marriott and Starwood (both at 79). "Hotels have done a good job at creating various efficiencies for customers – like Wi-Fi – without room rates increasing in a wild fashion," VanAmburg said. View the report here. jbnoel@tribune.com Twitter @traveljosh You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.