Press Contact: Corporate Communications The Harris Poll 212-539-9600 Press.TheHarrisPoll@Nielsen.com Nearly Half Of U.S. Adults Perk Up Their Travel With An Airline, Hotel, Or Travel Card Rewards Program NEW YORK, N.Y. Rewards are everywhere nowadays; from the grocery store to the pet store and everything in between, anyone can sign up to receive perks offered by various vendors to members only. When it comes to travel, there are a few main types: for airlines and for hotels, along with credit and payment cards that offer travel reward perks. But just what do Americans think about all of these options? Nearly half (48%) of Americans have membership in at least one of these kinds of travel program. Three in ten Americans are members of airline or hotel (with 31% of Americans confirming membership in each), while a quarter have a credit or payment card with travel (26%). Membership in each increases significantly when looking at those who travel by commercial airline at least one time per year, with over half (56%) using an airline program, nearly half (47%) members in a hotel program, and over four in ten (42%) using a credit or payment card with travel. With just over half of air travelers members of an airline program, there's certainly room for growth in the industry. These are among the findings from a Harris Poll of 2,215 U.S. adults (aged 18 and older) surveyed online from April 16-20, 2015. Interestingly, older generations are more likely than their younger counterparts to be members of each of these types of : Membership in airline program(s): 36% Matures, 36% Baby Boomers, 32% X, & 24% Millennials Membership in hotel program(s): 41%, 36%, 31%, & 23%, respectively Credit or payment card(s) with travel : 38%, 30%, 21%, & 22%, respectively But are they useful? Whether or not someone personally takes advantage of the aforementioned, everyone has an opinion on them. Overall, equal percentages of Americans (46% each) view credit or payment cards with travel and hotel as very/somewhat useful, with slightly less saying the same for airline (43%). Not too surprisingly, those who have each of these are more likely to consider the very/somewhat useful: 70% of travel credit/payment cardholders say these are useful 64% of hotel members feel this way about these 59% of airline members find these useful However, on a more surprising note, Millennials are more likely than their older counterparts to find each of these to be very/somewhat useful, despite being the least likely to have membership in any of them. Millennials are most likely to find
credit or payment cards with travel (55% compared vs. 36% Gen Xers, 44% Baby Boomers, & 45% Matures), hotel (54% vs. 42%, 44% & 39%) and airline (53% vs. 36% Xers, 38% & 42%) useful. And do they affect travel choices? For travel members, participation has at least some impact on a variety of travel decisions. Over six in ten (61%) say their memberships impact their decision on both selecting which hotel to stay at and which airline to fly on. Memberships affect decisions related to rental companies less so, but still, 40% say memberships impact which company they rent a car from. These sentiments increase when looking at which type of program one participates in. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those who have a membership in a hotel program say it impacts which hotel they choose and the same is true for those with an airline membership (75%) and which airline they choose. TABLE 1 AIR TRAVEL FREQUENCY "How often do you typically travel by commercial airline, whether for business or personal reasons?" % Never 28 Less than once a year 31 Once a year or more (NET) 41 About once a year 17 2-3 times a year 18 Every 2-3 months 5 About once a month 1 More than once a month 1 Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100 percent due to rounding. TABLE 2a REWARD PROGRAMS By "Which, if any, of the following do you have? Please select all that apply." Millennials (18-37) Baby Boomers Matures (69+) X (38-49) (50-68) % % % % %
Membership in 31 24 32 36 36 one or more hotel program(s) Membership in 31 23 31 36 41 one or more airline program(s) One or more credit 26 22 21 30 38 or payment cards with travel None of these 52 59 54 47 42 TABLE 2b REWARD PROGRAMS By Commercial Airline Travel "Which, if any, of the following do you have? Please select all that apply." Commercial Airline Travel Less than once 1 time a year or more a year or never % % % Membership in one or more 31 14 56 hotel program(s) Membership in one or more 31 20 47 airline program(s) One or more credit or 26 15 42 payment cards with travel None of these 52 68 29 TABLE 3a USEFULNESS OF REWARD PROGRAMS Summary Grid "Please indicate how useful, if at all, you find each of these products and services. Even if you don't personally have or use one or more, please rate them based on what you know about them." Very/ Very useful Somewhat A little bit/not A little Not at all useful Somewhat useful (NET) useful useful (NET) bit useful % % % % % %
Credit or payment cards with travel Hotel Airline 46 21 25 54 24 29 46 20 27 54 27 27 43 19 24 57 25 32 Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100 percent due to rounding. TABLE 3b USEFULNESS OF REWARD PROGRAMS - Summary of "Very/Somewhat Useful" By, Travel Rewards "Please indicate how useful, if at all, you find each of these products and services. Even if you don't personally have or use one or more, please rate them based on what you know about them." Credit or payment cards with travel Hotel Airline Travel Rewards Millennials (18-37) X (38-49) Baby Boomers Matures (69+) Credit or payment Airline program Hotel program (50-68) cards membership membership % % % % % % % % 46 55 36 44 45 70 58 56 46 54 42 44 39 54 53 64 43 53 36 38 42 56 59 50 TABLE 3c USEFULNESS OF REWARD PROGRAMS - Summary of "Very/Somewhat Useful" By Commercial Airline Travel "Please indicate how useful, if at all, you find each of these products and services. Even if you don't personally have or use one or more, please rate them based on what you know about them."
Commercial Airline Travel Less than once 1 time a year or more a year or never % % % Credit or payment cards with 46 36 62 travel Hotel 46 40 56 Airline 43 32 60 TABLE 4a IMPACT OF REWARD PROGRAMS ON DECISIONS Summary Grid "You indicated being enrolled in one or more travel related. Please indicate how strongly your reward program membership(s) impacts your decisions when choosing each of the following." Base: Has Any Travel Rewards Memberships Which hotel to stay at Which airline to fly on Which company to rent a car from Does impact decision (NET) Impacts my decision a great deal Impacts my decision somewhat Does not impact decision (NET) Doesn't impact my decision very much Doesn't impact my decision at all % % % % % % 61 26 35 39 17 21 61 27 33 39 14 26 40 14 26 60 21 39 Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100 percent due to rounding. TABLE 4b IMPACT OF REWARD PROGRAMS ON DECISIONS Summary of "Does Impact" By, Travel Rewards "You indicated being enrolled in one or more travel related. Please indicate how strongly your reward program membership(s) impacts your decisions when choosing each of the following." Base: Has Any Travel Rewards Memberships Travel Rewards Millennials (18-37) X (38-49) Baby Boomers (50-68) Matures (69+) Credit or payment cards Airline Hotel program program membership membership
% % % % % % % % Which hotel to stay at Which airline to fly on Which company to rent a car from 61 64 65 56 63 58 61 73 61 68 55 62 49 65 75 59 40 47 34 39 36 43 43 42 TABLE 4c IMPACT OF REWARD PROGRAMS ON DECISIONS Summary of "Does Impact" By Commercial Airline Travel "You indicated being enrolled in one or more travel related. Please indicate how strongly your reward program membership(s) impacts your decisions when choosing each of the following." Base: Has Any Travel Rewards Memberships Commercial Airline Travel Less than once 1 time a year or more a year or never % % % Which hotel to stay at 61 58 63 Which airline to fly on 61 39 75 Which company to rent a car from 40 34 44 Methodology This Harris Poll was conducted online, in English, within the United States between April 16 and 20, 2015 among 2,215 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of The Harris Poll. Product and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The Harris Poll #35, June 24, 2015 By Allyssa Birth, Senior Research Analyst, The Harris Poll About The Harris Poll Begun in 1963, The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys measuring public opinion in the U.S. and is highly regarded throughout the world. The nationally representative polls, conducted primarily online, measure the knowledge, opinions, behaviors and motivations of the general public. New and trended polls on a wide variety of subjects including politics, the economy, healthcare, foreign affairs, science and technology, sports and entertainment, and lifestyles are published weekly. Want Harris Polls delivered direct to your inbox? Click here!