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2014 Holiday Travel Study: Majority of Americans Say a Poorly Performing Website or App is More Frustrating than Dealing with the TSASAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)-- SOASTA (News - Alert), the leader in cloud and mobile testing, announced the results of its Holiday Travel Behavior Study, examining habits and preferences of Americans planning holiday trips. The research revealed that 41% of Americans are planning to book holiday travel this year, and they'll be turning to websites and mobile apps for everything from purchasing airline tickets to upgrading seats. Americans are so reliant on websites and apps for holiday travel, that more than half (57%) say that a poorly performing website or app would be more frustrating than dealing with the TSA (Transportation Security Administration), with the #1 frustration being app failure when checking flight status. SOASTA unveiled the survey findings as it announced a partnership with Switchfly, the company powering travel booking and loyalty redemption solutions. SOASTA validates Switchfly's web and mobile technology platform to ensure its customers - from American Airlines to Priceline - are fully equipped to handle peak traffic everyday and throughout the holidays. The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of SOASTA among 2,022 U.S. adults. "This is the most demanding time of year for planning travel, and that means leveraging a proven testing approach to make certain that all holiday traveler needs are going to be met," said Graham Blankenbaker, Chief Technology Officer at Switchfly. "We're proud to work with SOASTA to ensure that the travel programs Americans rely on the most during holiday travel time will deliver flawless user experiences under any traffic demands." The new research confirmed that many Americans will be booking their holiday travel through a website (34%) or mobile app (13%). However, nearly one-third of Americans (31%) say they are worried about experiencing technical problems when booking travel through a website or app, including:
"Planning ahead is critical for holiday travel-and that same preparation is essential for companies providing online services during the peak holiday season," said Tom Lounibos (News - Alert), CEO of SOASTA. "Our research affirms that Americans expect their travel apps to respond quickly and consistently under any circumstances. SOASTA's platform acts like a flight simulator for web and mobile apps, allowing companies to proactively create any possible worst-case-scenario to prepare their systems to handle the volume and spikes of the holiday travel season." Americans re also using websites and apps to upgrade their flights. Nearly half (45%) of holiday travellers would be motivated to upgrade their air travel. Americans listed satisfying a need to unwind following a stressful holiday as the #1 reason (21%) they would move to premium seating. Avoiding sharing a flight with rambunctious or loud children (17%) ranked as the second most popular motivation, followed by to cheer themselves up before seeing their relatives (10%). The research revealed that three out of four Americans would consider delaying their flight arrival during the holidays by 24 hours or more for an incentive, with the #1 incentive being a free flight (63%). 41% of Americans said the possibility of a first-class travel upgrade could be enough incentive to delay their flight arrival during the holidays by 24 hours or more. Other popular incentives for delaying flight arrival by 24 hours include:
Survey Methodology This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of SOASTA and Switchfly from Oct. 29-31, 2014 among 2,022 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact William McCormick at [email protected] About SOASTA SOASTA is the leader in cloud testing. Its web and mobile test automation and monitoring solutions, CloudTest, TouchTest and mPulse, enable developers, QA professionals and IT operations teams to test and monitor users with unprecedented speed, scale, precision and visibility. The innovative product set streamlines test creation, automates provisioning and execution, and analyzes real user behavior in real-time to deliver actionable intelligence, faster. With SOASTA, companies have confidence that their applications will perform as designed, delivering quality user experiences every time. SOASTA's customers are many of today's most successful brands including Avaya, American Girl, Bonobos, Backcountry.com, Chegg, Experian, Gilt Groupe, Hallmark, Intuit, Microsoft (News - Alert) and Netflix. SOASTA is privately held and headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. For more information about SOASTA, please visit http://www.soasta.com. SOASTA is a registered trademark of SOASTA, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Other product or company names mentioned may be trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. About Switchfly, Inc. Switchfly, Inc. is a global software-as-a-service provider that helps travel companies, loyalty programs and financial services institutions engage with their highest value customers. The Switchfly product suite includes white label travel commerce and loyalty redemption platforms, a loyalty payments engine for digital wallets, social network engagement products through Topguest, mobile solutions for travel and loyalty partners, and personalized marketing solutions. Switchfly works with more than 300,000 travel suppliers, loyalty programs and payment providers globally, including American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue, Starwood Hotels, Intercontinental Hotels, Marriott, Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, American Express (News - Alert) and PayPal. Collectively, more than 20 billion reward points are redeemed through the Switchfly platform annually. Based in San Francisco, Switchfly was founded in 2003 and has secured $34.8 million in venture funding led by Azure Capital Partners, Canaan Partners, Thayer Ventures and StarVest Partners. For more information visit www.switchfly.com, www.facebook.com/switchfly and www.twitter.com/switchfly.
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