As it would happen, I had spent a fair amount of time on the phone with some airlines a couple of weeks ago due to problems with reservations/customer service/etc. After some of these contacts with them, I would receive an e-mail or a phone survey. Now, there are random surveys that will give you miles for completing various surveys but those are general use surveys and not really for specific customer service incidents.
Should Airlines and Hotels Offer Miles and Points for Surveys?
It is obvious that airlines and hotels (like other companies) are trying to find out what the consumer thinks of their service and what will pass for good customer service/identify areas for improvement. When the airline automated system calls me to take a survey of a recent call, it is very much more for them than it is for me. On a recent call, they called me 4 different times until I picked up the phone and then the system informed me that it would take a couple of minutes to complete the survey.
For once, I actually did! Normally, I just hang up but it was less than a perfect call with the representative that the survey was about so I thought it would be interesting to hear what options were given to me. Sure enough, it did take about 2 minutes to complete and I was able to leave my suggestions at the end of the survey.
But it all made me wonder if the airlines and hotels would have more success in getting customer feedback across the board if they offered some miles or points for completing the survey. Something like 500 or 1,000 airline miles and the equivalent in hotel points (it would likely be more like the 500 mile number) may just convince people to take the time to complete these surveys. Sure, it is not a lot of miles but it is always good to grab any miles you can get!
Airlines and hotels are in a different playing field than they once were. In addition to websites that people go and write reviews about their experiences on, there are also blogs (some with very loud, influential voices) and social media channels. With social media, it is possible for a bad customer service experience to go viral very quickly – and airlines and hotels really do not like that (check out this one experience from a year ago).
What do you think – should airlines and hotels offer miles and points for surveys? What amount would incentivize you to complete a phone survey?
Yes, definitely. Best Western give 250 each time
Absolutely! If they expect me to take my time in providing information…. time is miles and points 😉
Yes… And I might actually do them then. I don’t expect this to happen because it would cost them actual money… They care what we think but not that much.