Tripadvisor, Travelocity and Expedia top Value online travel agency brands

Ted MarzilliCEO YouGov Direct
April 24, 2013, 6:35 PM GMT+0

With summer travel reservations heating up, BrandIndex measured online travel services providing the highest value and satisfaction levels as perceived by consumers who have made leisure trips at least twice this past year.

Tripadvisor, primarily a search and ratings service, scored the best combined perceived value and satisfaction among the group.Expedia and Travelocity were neck and neck and rated the best combined value and satisfaction scores among their online travel agency (OTA) peers.

Fellow OTA, Travelzoo, had slightly higher satisfaction scores than both Expedia and Travelocity, but scored lower than all of its peers on value. Priceline, which earned comparably high marks for its value, perhaps a result of its price bidding system, received lower satisfaction than its peers. Orbitz and Hotwire also trail the majority of their peers in satisfaction and value.

While both satisfaction and value scores were positive across all brands reviewed, consumer rated all brands higher on the satisfaction dimension than the value dimension, perhaps reflecting a perceived higher cost of travel in general over the past several weeks.

Cheap Tickets, Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline, Travelocity, Travelzoo, and Tripadvisor were measured by YouGov BrandIndex, using two scores simultaneously: Satisfaction, which asks respondents "Are you a satisfied customer?"; and value, which asks respondents "Does it give good value for what you pay?" Results were screened for adults 18+ who have taken at least two leisure travel trips over the past year.

Online travel companies: Value versus Satisfaction