Hidden hotel fees may cost you

Travel Daily News - According to a new study by PhoCusWright, 43% of online travel shoppers have abandoned a booking because the final product price and/or fees were higher than they were willing to pay.

Akamai commissioned PhoCusWright to conduct a study examining key elements of the online consumer experience in travel. The complimentary whitepaper examines five aspects of online travel - satisfaction levels, speed expectations and tolerance, activities during page loading, reasons for abandonment and reactions to technical issues.

The whitepaper states the following key findings:
- Travel doesn’t disappoint: The vast majority of travelers are somewhat to very satisfied with their online travel shopping experiences;

- Three-second rule: 57% of online shoppers will wait three seconds or less before abandoning the site;

- Y wait? Generation Y and younger travelers are less patient than older travleres when it comes to page load times - 65% of 18-24 year olds expect a site to load in two seconds or less;

- Prevention is key: A third of travelers would be less likely to visit a site after experienceing problems;

- Loyalty is not forgiveness: Active loyalty program members are somewhat polarized in their tolerance levels. While they are more likely than other travelers to be unaffected by temporarty site problems, they are also more likely to have certain key negative reactions;

- Travelers tend to be multitaskers: 59% of consumers do something else when waiting for a travel website to load;

- Hidden fees may cost you: 43% of online shoppers have abandoned a booking because the final product price and/or fees were higher than they were willing to pay.

WSG (Fototrips) Posting news of interest from around the world relating to travel and photography.