Business travellers irked by airport experience: GBTA

While business travellers are generally satisfied with their experience on the road, there’s room for improvement at the airport, according to a new report from the GBTA and American Express.

According to the first installment of the GBTA Business Traveler Sentiment Index, only slightly more than half of business travellers are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with airline travel (57 per cent) and getting through airport security (55 per cent), citing airline delays (45 per cent), airport security (33 per cent) and airline fees (29 per cent) as the main reasons business travel is more difficult today than three years ago.

The report also found that of travellers ages 18 to 34, 40 per cent said they will “definitely” or “probably” use a mobile, cashless wallet in the next 12 months, compared to 20 per cent of all business travellers. Additionally, nearly half say they are interested in rideshare services (such as Uber and Lyft) and 35 per cent are interested in room-finding services such as Airbnb. Millennial travellers are also utilizing social media to review travel suppliers and meet up with colleagues and friends (about 50 per cent each), compared to only 29 per cent overall.

Other findings include:

- When booking flights domestically or internationally, more business travellers say their top consideration is convenient flight schedules (36 per cent), compared with ticket price (24 per cent) and ability to earn miles (20 per cent).

- On average, employees who travel a dozen or more times a year for work are generally less satisfied with their ability to track receipts than those who travel for work less often.