The travel industry is experiencing its most “normal” year in quite some time, thanks to receding post-pandemic “revenge travel,” operational challenges, cooling inflation, and sustained consumer demand.
Airlines, lodging, car rentals, rideshare, and online travel agencies all post gains, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Travel Study 2026, released April 21. The index is a national economic indicator and a leading provider of customer analytics products that help organizations build lasting customer relationships and prove ROI on experience investments.
Airlines soar 3% to an ACSI score of 76 (on a scale of 0-100) — one point off its all-time high in 2024 — same as car rentals, rideshare, and online travel agencies, all up 1%. Lodging is slightly ahead, improving 1% to a score of 77.
“Many brands are meeting with initial success in leveraging AI solutions to deliver improved service to customers and in some cases remaking industry business models,” said Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “At the same time, customer value propositions appear to be in flux as consumers recalibrate their expectations. Continued focus on technological innovations, along with the nuts and bolts of customer service, will be critical for firms that wish to fully capitalize on these dynamics.”
Other key takeaways from the study include:
Mixed Results For Car Rentals
Budget (down 5% to 73) and Dollar (down 3% to 71) sit at the bottom end. Budget’s customers report lodging a higher percentage of complaints and are much less happy with the company’s complaint handling.
It also receives lower ratings for its website and call centers. Dollar continues to struggle with the highest complaint rate among all reported brands by a wide margin.
AI Gets A Lyft In Rideshare
Lyft (down 1%) and Uber (up 1%) move into a first-place tie at 76.
Uber improves among female riders as it addresses prior negative press around safety issues; Lyft demonstrates initial success with AI-enabled customer service recovery.
Flying Experiences Boost Airline Scores
Overall improvement stems from across-the-board score increases across all aspects of the flying experience, with especially large jumps in ratings for technology-enabled offerings, such as in-flight internet access (up 20% year over year) and the usefulness of flight information provided by airlines (up 15%).
Delta (up 3%) moves to the top position for satisfaction at 79, as last year’s leader, Southwest (down 4% to 77), retreats. JetBlue (up 1%) and American (up 7%) tie for second at 78. The latter posts substantial ACSI improvement, in part due to customer appreciation for its loyalty program, particularly among business travelers.
Lower-cost carriers achieve mixed results due to a combination of operational and reputational factors. Frontier rises 6% to 69, while Spirit drops 4% to 66 — the lowest reported score for 2026.
Lodging Results Vary By Brand And Type
Airbnb (up 1%) and Hilton (down 1%) share the top spot with an ACSI score of 79. Marriott (unchanged) is next at 78, while IHG posts the largest decline, down 4% to 76, following drops for both its Holiday Inn (down 6%) and Holiday Inn Express (down 4%) brands. Wyndham finishes in last place after slipping 1% to 70.
Satisfaction is rising faster among business travelers, whose overall ACSI score is up 3% year over year.
Lodging results vary by brand and type, with indications that customer perceptions of the value propositions of various lodging types may be in flux as operating models continue to evolve.
OTAs Fall In Rankings But Win Over Younger Customers
Among reported brands, Tripadvisor rises 4% to tie Booking.com (down 1%) at 77. Orbitz partially reverses a 10% decline from a year ago by improving 3%, although it remains at the bottom of the rankings at 68.
Priceline slides 4% to a score of 71 with a notable jump in customer complaints, while Expedia falls 3% to 75.
Results reflect successes in shifting the business model to providing AI-enabled services, such as customized packages and experiences, and in brands’ deployment of value-adding loyalty programs.
Satisfaction rises among those under 42, suggesting the industry is more successful in winning over previously unenthusiastic younger customers.
The ACSI Travel Study 2026 is based on 14,910 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between April 2025 and March 2026. Download the full study.
