The latest J.D. Powers travel Web site ratings are out, and the big news isn’t that Hotwire.com “ranks highest among independent travel Web sites in satisfying customers who book their reservations online,” as our pollster friends would suggest.
Yeah, Hotwire did top the rest. But with a score of 82 percent (here’s more on how I translate J.D.’s numbers) which is B-, Hotwire might want to hold off on sending out a press release.
The big news isn’t even that it was a close race, with just a 3 percentage-point difference between bottom-feeder Hotels.com and chart-topping Hotwire.com.
No, the big news, at least in my opinion, is how travelers booked their tickets. Those numbers were largely left on the cutting room floor over at the J.D. ranch. I asked my contact over there for the figures, and she happily obliged (thanks, Kim).
The findings suggest brand Web sites, like Hilton.com and Continental.com, maintain a healthy lead over independent Web sites, in terms of booking volume.
For example, 52 percent of air bookings were made through a branded site last year, and only a quarter of reservations went through an independent site. That compares to 57 percent and 26 percent, respectively, this year.
But check this out: For hotels, the booking numbers through a branded site remain stubbornly flat from 2005 to 2006 (28 percent). And among car rental sites, that number is even dropping from 43 percent last year to 42 percent this year.
Does this mean that travelers are on the verge of abandoning branded Web sites in favor of independent sites, or even perhaps … a travel agent?
Who knows? Maybe we shouldn’t read too much into these numbers, as our blogging buddies over at Gridskipper note.
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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