Flying on cheap airplane tickets and sleeping in discount hotel rooms certainly helps travelers stay on budget, but when given the choice, it is preferable to fly into or out of highly customer ranked airports.
J.D. Power and Associates released a survey naming the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County airport as the best (in terms of customer satisfaction) large airport, Kansas City International as the best midsize airport, and Indianapolis International as the best small airport.
The findings were based on feedback from over 12,000 passengers who took round trip flights in 09. Airports were evaluated on six factors:
Accessibility
Check in and baggage check process
Baggage claim
Terminal facilities
Security check
Food and retail services
The top rated airports in 09 scored better than the highest rated airports in a J.D. Powers survey taken two years ago.
The Indianapolis airport was opened in November of 08 and received the very top score: 777 out of a possible 1,000 points, with Kansas City coming in at 742 and Detroit at 705.
Passengers indicated that they were most concerned about the speed of luggage delivery, ease of check in and baggage check, comfort in terminals, and how long it took to pass through security checkpoints.
The study discovered that travelers spend more at retail stores in airports that have high satisfaction scores. An average of 46% more was spent by travelers pleased with their airport experience than those that were disappointed.