Survey also finds hatred of baggage fees

A survey of 1,000 traveling consumers by IBM found that there’s a big unmet need in the marketplace when it comes to customer loyalty programs. Fifty-one percent of the survey respondents “would prefer a single points provider managing all accumulated rewards where points could be redeemed across a network of partners (airlines, hotels, restaurants, retailers, etc.),” IBM said. Under the current system of individual company-based loyalty programs, almost two-thirds of those surveyed said they would likely stick with a specific travel provider to maximize their mile/point accumulation, but less than half (48 percent) said they were satisfied with the value of their rewards. Thirty-one percent of survey respondents said they thought credit card companies’ loyalty plans were the best – better than those of airlines, hotels or retailers. Although U.S. airline frequent flyer programs have a collective membership in the hundreds of millions, the report noted, “only 40 percent of travel memberships are considered active – pointing to a gap in membership numbers and everyday usage.”

In other results, the IBM survey asked about airline fees, fares and policies, and found that the new fees for checked baggage arouse the most ire among consumers, cited by 78 percent as “rip-offs.” Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they would prefer a pricing system that lets them pay the lowest possible fare, and then cherry-pick among various services and amenities for extra fees – so-called “a la carte” pricing. However, those who travel more than 16 times a year were more likely to prefer more inclusive airline fares, even though they are more expensive. Regarding the airport experience, more than two-thirds of respondents (68 percent) said they have no interest in redeeming airline miles in airport shops – or for in-flight products or services. But 31 percent said that during a flight delay, they would like to spend time at an airport Internet café; they rated Internet access as one of the three most important airport amenities.