If you dread sitting down at your computer to make travel arrangements, or feel frustrated by all the time and effort required to sort through pages of results for flights and hotels, join the crowd.
A report to be released Tuesday by Forrester Research has found that far from embracing the do-it-yourself era, many Americans are “fed up” with the complicated process of planning and booking travel.
“What we’ve seen is growing frustration,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a Forrester travel analyst. “Consumers see other Web sites becoming easier to use — retail Web sites, banking Web sites, media Web sites. But travel is treading water as a category.”
“There are very few travel companies that are really looking to improve the planning and booking process,” he added.
Customers are required to educate themselves about destinations, flights and hotels; figure out extra fees; wade through fine print; and understand industry jargon like the difference between deluxe and standard rooms, Mr. Harteveldt said.
“Travel companies expect the consumer to behave like a travel agent,” he said. “The question I always ask these guys is, ‘Could your mother-in-law use your Web site without having to call you for help?’ The answer is always no.”
In fact, Mr. Harteveldt said, a growing number of consumers appear to be interested in using traditional travel agencies, if they can find one.
“The fact that there are more people now who would consider using a good offline travel agent is telling me people are saying, ‘Enough already,”‘ he said.
Frustrations about travel are showing up in other research as well.
In June, J.D. Power & Associates released its annual airline survey, which found that customer satisfaction had declined for the third consecutive year. Based on responses from 12,900 passengers, the airline industry scored 658 points on a 1,000-point scale this year, down from a peak of…