Complaints and travel go together like an early morning flight and a freshly brewed Starbucks, but sometimes travelers have nice things to say about their accommodations and airlines.
The 2022-2023 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Travel Study was just released, based on interviews with 10,588 customers, chosen at random and contacted via email between April 2022 and March 2023. ACSI asked these customers to evaluate their recent experiences with the largest travel companies to help compile a comprehensive index of the companies that make customers happiest. Details such as app usage, reservation making, cost, cleanliness and more are all looked at to determine satisfaction rates.
At the top of the list of best airlines is Alaska Airlines, followed by American, Southwest, Delta, United and JetBlue. This somewhat aligns with the Wall Street Journal's recent Airline Score Card, which ranked Delta as the top airline, followed by Alaska, Southwest, United, Allegiant, American, Spirit, Frontier, and finally, JetBlue.
The ACSI also looks at major hotel corporations, ranking Hyatt as the top company this year. In second place in Marriott, followed by Hilton, Best Western, IHG, and Choice. In terms of the brands these companies operate, AC Hotels (by Marriott) took the top ranking, with Hilton Garden Inn, Marriott, Aloft Hotels (also a Marriott brand), Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Wyndham following.
Car rental companies are also part of the index, with Alamo (Enterprise) taking the top spot. The other top six include Avis (Avis Budget), Enterprise, National (Enterprise), Budget (Avis Budget), and Hertz.
Overall, ACSI looks at customer satisfaction by industry, with the travel industry ranking much lower than other industries including brewing, soft drinks, athletic shoes, banks, specialty realtors and many more industries. At least the travel industry can be glad it's not an internet service provider, the lowest-ranked industry (out of dozens) for customer satisfaction.