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Travel technology company Switchfly, Inc. has released a new report showing that Millennials are the age group most likely to want to purchase ancillaries from travel agents.
The Forrester’s Q2 Online Benchmark Recontact Omnibus Survey, fielded on behalf of Switchfly Inc., examined the behaviors of American travelers and their thoughts on hotel and airline ancillary selections. The national survey was fielded to 9,996 U.S. adults (18+ and online weekly or more) in June 2016 and found that, in general, post-booking ancillary purchases were less important to traveling Gen Xers and Baby Boomers than Millennials.
When asked if it is important to be able to purchase the same secondary services through a travel agent as when booking directly with an airline or hotel, Americans were of two minds: 31 percent disagreed, and 33 percent agreed, where “agree” is a 4 or 5 on a 1=disagree to 5=agree scale. 37 percent were neutral.
When broken down by age group, Millennials aged 25-34 and seniors aged 65-88 had the most notable opinions on whether or not they’d like to have secondary services available to purchase through a travel agent:
- Millennials (18-24)—34 percent said it’s important; 21 percent said it isn’t
- Millennials (25-34)—46 percent said it’s important; 17 percent said it isn’t
- Gen Xers (35-44)—39 percent said it’s important; 25 percent said it isn’t
- Gen Xers (45-54)—28 percent said it’s important; 34 percent said it isn’t
- Baby Boomers (55-64)—24 percent said it’s important; 42 percent said it isn’t
- Seniors (65-88)—19 percent said it’s important; 50 percent said it isn’t
When asked how important it is to have the option of purchasing secondary services on top of booking an airline or hotel purchase, Millennials aged 18-24 (29 percent) and 25-34 (42 percent) said that it is an important part of the booking experience, as did Gen Xers aged 35-44 (33 percent).
Baby Boomers aged 55-64 and seniors aged 65-88 weren’t as interested in post-booking—only 18 percent of Baby Boomers and 12 percent of seniors said that purchasing secondary services on top of airline or hotel booking was important to them.
When it comes to how important it is to have a wide variety of options when purchasing secondary services, one-third (33 percent) of Americans agreed that it’s a necessity. Millennials aged 18-24 and 25-34 thought it most important, while Gen Xers and Baby Boomers found it less necessary:
- Millennials (18-24)—36 percent
- Millennials (25-34)—47 percent
- Gen Xers (35-44)—40 percent
- Gen Xers (45-54)—28 percent
- Baby Boomers (55-64)—23 percent
- Seniors (65-88)—17 percent
Seniors most disagreed (53 percent) that a wide variety of post-booking secondary services are important, where “disagree” is a 1 or 2 on a 1=disagree to 5=agree scale.