Customer loyalty in the automotive rental industry is often a case of simply understanding travelers. By analyzing and predicting the actions and motivations of consumers, rental car companies try to position themselves as the first option for those planning ahead and the impulse choices for those making decisions upon arrival.
One important distinction in these customer segments is business travel versus leisure travel. The motivations behind these trips—and therefore the attributes factored into decisions—are different enough that rental companies have often found it useful to cater to one side of the discussion over the other.
The latest research out of J.D. Power offers both good and bad news for these brands. The bad news is that there is now a third segment in the mix that must be taken into account: a traveler combining work trips with vacations. The good news, however, is that these “bleisure” travelers are among the most satisfied consumers in the market, posting an overall satisfaction score of 836 out of 1,000.
This 836 score boosts the bleisure segment ahead of both business (806) and leisure (798) travelers and demonstrates the need for these brands to adopt policies that specifically target this new wave of customers.
“With such a big bump in satisfaction among ‘bleisure’ renters, it’s certainly worthwhile for rental car companies to take a closer look at ways to attract and accommodate these travelers, perhaps by providing an easy way to separate charges for the business days of the rental from the leisure days, making for easier expense reporting,” said Rick Garlick, global travel and hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power. “Appealing to bleisure travelers may help differentiate them from competitors, but it could also foster the growth amongst a new base of loyal customers.”
Stepping back to see the broader loyalty picture in the industry, Enterprise (830) continued its run at the top of car rental CX, beating out National (813) and Alamo (809) for the top rating. The vertical is also up as a whole, improving six points from last year’s average score to 804.