Switchfly, the technology company that provides travel search and booking, loyalty program engagement, and ancillary merchandising solutions for airlines, hotels, online travel agencies and financial services, released findings from Forrester’s Q2 Online Benchmark Recontact Omnibus Survey. The national survey, conducted in June, polled 9,996 U.S. online adults to explore American travelers’ behaviors and attitudes toward hotel and airline ancillary services.
The survey found that in-room WiFi tops the list of paid amenities travelers are willing to buy to make trips more comfortable: nearly one in five U.S. adults purchased it in the past 12 months. Other commonly purchased ancillaries include ground transportation (14 percent), airport shuttle (13 percent), extra baggage (12 percent), upgraded seating (10 percent), and several features at 9 percent each—priority boarding, in-flight WiFi and in-flight entertainment. In-room services such as room service and other add-ons were chosen by 8 percent of respondents.
Respondents were also asked which ancillary services they are aware of but have no intention of buying. More than half (54 percent) selected in-room services. Other ancillaries travelers most often said they would not purchase included priority boarding (53 percent), extra baggage (51 percent), upgraded seating, in-flight WiFi and in-flight media (each 50 percent), ground transportation (44 percent), airport shuttle (43 percent) and even in-room WiFi (40 percent).
“We’ve found that travelers want their ancillary services on their own terms, and they want to be able to pick and choose the services they do and don’t want, like in-room WiFi or ground transportation,” said Daniel Farrar, CEO of Switchfly. “This survey helps us recognize what Americans are really looking for. At Switchfly, we work with our clients to make ancillary purchases as quick and convenient as possible for their customers, giving them what they want, when they want it.”
The research also explored the role of loyalty points and device flexibility when purchasing ancillaries. Almost half of respondents said it’s important to be able to use loyalty points to buy ancillary services. In addition, 36 percent said the ability to purchase ancillaries from any device is important to them, underscoring demand for seamless, multi-device purchasing experiences.