Not content simply with cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms, international airline passengers want self service expanded beyond online booking and kiosk check-in to security and passport control, as well the boarding of their flights.
Most airline customers want more automation when it comes to handling baggage and paying excess fees, reporting missing luggage, as well as switching flights. This information was recently collected based on survey taken at seven major airports (Atlanta, Beijing, Domodedovo, Frankfurt, Johannesburg-Tambo, Moscow, Mumbai, and Sao Paulo) on five continents.
The results of the survey found that airline customers want more self service every step along the way during their trip. 71 percent of those surveyed checked in online or at automated airport kiosks. Many more respondents indicated that they would have done so if they better understood the process.
Checking in via mobile phones occurred far less frequently, with only three percent saying they use their phones. There has been a marketed increase in the percent of passengers using airline website to reserve hotels: 38 percent this year vs. 21 percent in 09. Car reservations now stand at 35 percent vs. 19 percent last year.
The survey found similar growth in the use of airline websites for other services such as purchasing travel insurance, bus and train tickets, and for ordering duty free items in advance.
Travelers in North America and Asia also indicated a growing willingness to pay a small additional fee to offset their increased carbon footprint as a result of flying.
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