Transaction Trends

Over a third of US, UK, Chinese, French and German travelers are unhappy with an element of the online booking process, and it’s not long a clunky web interface or lack of  travel options. According to a recent global survey from ACI Worldwide, 36 percent of travelers are unhappy about not being able to pay the way they want.

Globally, the survey found, 30 percent of travelers want a range of payment options available to them when they are booking travel. Though credit and debit, at 36 and 29 percent respectively, are still broadly the most popular means to pay for trips internationally, mobile wallet PayPal represents a growing market share of 17 percent and enjoys popularity across age groups. Unsurprisingly, mobile wallets are much more popular in China for booking travel; 78 percent of Chinese consumers surveyed say they use Alipay as their preferred payment method.

Three in four consumers globally prefer to book their travel on a digital device like a computer, laptop or mobile phone, the study found. Only 10 percent prefer to book in person.

Lack of payment options wasn’t the only annoyance travelers cited. Two thirds of respondents find a lack of transparent pricing annoying, and 34 percent say online booking operators should be more transparent about how they use customer data.

“What is surprising is that many consumers are unhappy with one or more aspects of their online customer journey, whether it is price transparency, the ability to make changes to a booking or to pay with their preferred payment method,” said Peter Moedlhammer, Head of Global eCommerce Solutions at ACI Worldwide in a press release. “If travel operators want to compete effectively in this very competitive market, they need to address these issues urgently.”

According to a press release, the survey was conducted by YouGov and included a sample size of 7433 adults. Click here to read more.