How Bad Are Our Travel Apps, Let Me Count the Ways
by Robert McGarvey
I just counted the travel focused apps on my iPhone and take a guess about how many I have and how many I genuinely enjoy using.
The answers are 17 apps on my phone and zero bring me enjoyment. Most don’t even bring me satisfaction when I attempt to use them.
Turns out I am not alone in dissing travel apps. The latest J D Power survey delivered excoriation to the travel industry: “Despite Ubiquity, Travel Apps and Websites Deliver Substandard User Experience, J.D. Power Finds.”
Yep. Although I’d quibble that “substandard” is way too kind a descriptor of the woeful mobile tech shoveled at us by our travel providers. It is clunky, unintuitive, and really, really frustrating to attempt to use especially when your travel has hit a snag and you are praying for a divine intervention via the app.
J. D. Power sums up our user experience this way: “Travel apps and websites are heavily relied-upon digital tools used by travelers, containing everything from the QR codes used to board the plane to rental car location and digital hotel keys. Despite this critical role, according to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Travel App Satisfaction StudySM and the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Travel Website Satisfaction Study,SM released today, travel industry apps and websites lag behind their counterparts in other industries.”
We most commonly turn to our travel apps when we are under stress, observed J. D. Power, but they let us down in those moments when we need them the most.
Note: J. D. Power believes the travel provider websites are as cruddy as the apps. I do not disagree. But I don’t use the websites in those on the road moments of crisis, I turn to the apps. What other choice do I have?
I have been writing about mobile apps for going on 20 years. I have bricked phones (a brand new BlackBerry for instance) downloading apps. I have had many, many bad experiences. But – and this is critical – in some industries (notably banking) the apps have gotten better and better. The Chase app is simply great – lots of power but also easy to use. It’s not alone. Most of the financial services apps on my phone have gotten very good over the years.
Also good are health and fitness apps, such as Google-owned Fitbit and the Apple Health app.
The shopping apps such as Amazon are good.
So why are travel apps clunky, unintuitive, and very far from the friend you need when your incoming plane arrives too late to make your connecting flight and your stress is exploding out your ears?
Even worse is that there is ample reason to be skeptical of the security of most of the travel apps on your phone. Given how often travel related websites are hacked it’s hard to have faith and confidence in the companies’ apps – despite the fact that to use them we have to input all manner of personal info from passport numbers to driver’s license info.
Worst of the pack, per J. D. Power, are airline websites and airline apps aren’t much better.
Hotel and rental car apps score highest: “Hotel mobile apps (682) and rental car apps (681) have the highest overall satisfaction scores compared with airline apps (672), rental car websites (662), hotel websites (646) and airline websites (640).”
Top ranked airline apps are Alaska and Southwest.
World of Hyatt (not on my phone) is the highest rated hotel app.
National and Alamo (not on my phone) win in the rental car race.
But, frankly, none of the apps are winners.
It really is a pity. We turn to apps most on our days of travel and they just aren’t very good.
Not ranked, incidentally, are apps via online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Booking and Expedia. Personally I have had decent experiences with both.
I also have had success using Google Flights, the website.
Frankly, however, we deserve better from our travel providers. Send any you know a link to the J. D. Power survey and ask why they are so awful. You won’t get a response. But at least the opinion will register.
And maybe by the time of iPhone 34 the travel providers will get it together.