Apps Deliver Compelling Brand Experiences

here are some amazing apps that can help you travel. For instance,

look at brands like Booking.com, TripAdvisor and Yelp that actually

deliver on their promise to help people find places to stay and

businesses to support. Or look at services like Groupon that provide true

value to people. Travel apps can help you get from point-to-point like

GasBuddy and Waze. In short, travel apps have become essential to people’s

lives.

Not all travel apps can be winners. ARC from Applause analyzed three

million reviews between the App Store and Google Play to determine the

T

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ARC REPORT BY APPLAUSE • MAY 2016

THE BEST AND WORST TRAVEL APPS AS RATED BY THEIR OWN USERS

The average mobile sentiment score of the 118 most popular travel apps in Google Play and Apple App Store,

as rated by three million U.S. consumers.

55/100

Three million reviews reveal the mobile leaders and laggards of the travel industry.

By Ben Gray, Digital Experience Analyst, Applause

mobile leaders and laggards of the travel industry. This analysis spans 118

of the most popular Android and iOS apps in the U.S. and is ARC’s third

annual report on the state of the travel apps economy.

Simplifying The Travel Apps Economy

The travel apps economy is incredibly competitive and is only becoming more crowded. To make sense of the landscape, we categorized apps into eight distinct actions a traveler takes on their customer journey (see Figure 1):

• Book (20 apps): Book is the most highly used and the second

highest-rated category—just behind Navigate—in part due

to serving a core function but also because the apps are well

designed and executed.

• Cruise (7): The cruise industry remains in its infancy in engaging

passengers via apps. Just seven qualified with 200 or more reviews

and none topped 3,500. For comparison, 2,000 reviews was the

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FIGURE 1: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX

Navigate (18 apps)Book (20)Cruise (7)

Ride (7)Explore (25)

Drive (16)Stay (9)Fly (20)

6564626161504434

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

minimum criteria for inclusion for booking apps and one—

TripAdvisor—is well on its way to achieving 100,000 reviews.

• Drive (16): Sixteen rideshare, rental and taxi apps qualified with

more than 200 reviews, including rideshare apps Lyft, Uber and

ZipCar.

• Explore (25): Four of the five most popular travel apps—Groupon,

Google Maps, GasBuddy and Yelp—reside in Explore. These are

the apps a traveler relies on to discover local hotspots, places to

eat and stores at which to splurge.

• Fly (20): If there’s one industry that’s unable to keep pace with

traveler expectations, it is the airline industry. Airline apps

average a 34 on the 100-point scale, which is approximately half

of the global average across the more than 30 million apps that

Applause Mobile Sentiment Analysis continuously crawls.

• Navigate (18): Navigate includes the 18 most popular traffic

optimization, GPS and map apps, including the single most

popular travel app Waze and its half a million reviews. The

Navigate category is the most highly rated of the eight due to

their innovation, design and consistency.

• Ride (7): Ride specifically focuses on trains and buses. Ride

is in the middle of the pack in terms of mobile sentiment but

dominates its closest competitor: airlines.

• Stay (9): The Stay category includes the nine most popular hotel

brands. This category includes the two brands accomplishing the

greatest improvement year-over-year, signifying the industry is

raising its bar for customer experience. (Spoiler alert: It’s Hilton

at +30.5 and Wyndham at +16.)3

Apps That Didn’t Qualify For Analysis

With more than 30 million apps worldwide, it’s possible we overlooked an app or two. However, it’s more likely the app didn’t earn enough app store reviews to qualify as we only report statistically significant results. It is also possible ARC profiled the app in another report that was more relevant.

For insight into the 130 most popular travel companion apps/apps for business executives, see The Best And Worst Mobile Apps For Business Executives report. Managing finances on the go? See the Finance report. Staying in shape on the road? See the Health And Fitness report. Shopping in a foreign hotspot? See the Retail report. Dating in a new territory? See the Dating report.

Six Popular Apps Earn High Quality Marks

These 118 travel apps, relied on by consumers worldwide, garnered three

million app store reviews in the U.S. alone. Apps that qualified earned at

least 200 aggregate reviews between Android and iOS to earn inclusion

for the third annual Applause Travel App Quality Index (see Figure 2).

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SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - CRUISE

Cruise.comDisney Cruise Line Navigator

Carnival HUBShip Mate BY CRUISELINE.COM

Cruise Finder BY ICRUISE.COM

Norwegian iConciergeRoyal Caribbean International

86.582.076.569.564.534.522.5

-0.51.5-6.51.00.0-3.5-0.5

1631,365910

1,723177225253

372,100195

1,625191155156

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - BOOK

Booking.comCheapflightsHotelTonight

KayakWorldMateTripAdvisorSkyscannerHotels.com

HipmunkAgoda

HotwireOrbitzAirbnb

HomeAwayPriceline

CouchSurfingHostelworld

Expediatrivago

Travelocity

84.080.078.077.075.074.073.072.072.070.068.067.556.056.055.052.050.047.040.029.0

-2.00.00.50.00.5-3.0-3.53.0-0.53.0-1.5-0.5-4.02.00.08.07.0-1.00.53.0

46,8044,689

11,46221,4166,712

52,16422,30029,1333,783

13,4342,2198,6407,6612,4419,1601,955842

9,6633,9981,158

9,711106

9,47815,7532,216

28,5354,640

11,1611,444490

1,5085,5585,3792,3295,126864167

4,117302847

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - DRIVE

HailoEasy Taxi

ZipcarTuro (fmr. RelayRides)

Lyftcar2go BY DAIMLER AG

UberRentalcars.com

Curb BY VERIFONE

NationalDriveNow

GetaroundOla

HertzAvis

Budget

74.566.565.561.560.557.056.555.548.046.045.042.040.529.028.015.5

-1.01.5-2.53.51.5-1.0-1.5-0.5-2.00.0-1.0

-13.0-10.010.0-1.01.5

8,41710,3118,2041,051

19,7343,085

86,015909

2,35823023284

64,7611,503458217

7721,1207,0741,129

13,1801,044

23,856120

2,89721819

386171

2,914464110

5

FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - EXPLORE

GasBuddyGroupon

TriposoOpenTable

Gas Guru BY YP

YPlanTripAdvisor

GrubHubHERE Maps

YelpGogobot

AroundMe by Flying CodeWi-Fi Finder BY JIWIRE

Google MapsFoodspotting

TripomaticGoogle Street View

Google EarthWikipedia

Field Trip BY NIANTIC

FoursquareZomato (fmr. Urbanspoon)

StubHubthefork BY TRIPADVISOR

Zagat BY GOOGLE

85.082.580.577.075.574.574.072.572.567.567.566.565.060.560.558.556.552.552.050.548.542.531.021.019.0

-2.50.00.04.5-1.5-1.0-3.00.5-0.5-3.01.50.5-0.5-0.50.03.0-1.5-0.51.5-0.50.5-5.02.56.51.0

75,645140,439

1,02015,2632,8671,210

52,16423,51020,24950,542

6824,7588,679

257,0282,378446

68,87270,55527,7662,155

22,90628,7503,444243924

98,073218,203

49730,8031,547260

28,53514,586

59882,929

87734,04715,03263,4612,155291523

9,4343,800206

42,7793,3063,036

66441

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - STAY

HiltonSPGIHG

Choice HotelsAccorHotels

Best WesternWyndham

MarriottHyatt

69.559.058.554.540.533.029.528.027.5

30.51.0-0.5-2.02.51.0

16.00.0-2.5

3,9221,0621,3613,145870

1,026196

2,229292

5,6141,9432,9921,134131265122

2,375352

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

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FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - FLY

Alaska AirlinesTurkish AirlinesBritish Airways

JetBlue AirwaysLufthansa

Qatar AirwaysUnited AirlinesDelta Air Lines

Air FranceSingapore Airlines

KLMEmirates

American AirlinesAir Canada

Southwest AirlinesFrontier Airlines

Jet AirwaysRyanAir

Hawaiian AirlinesAer Lingus

83.553.551.043.540.539.536.535.531.531.030.530.528.527.525.521.519.017.013.512.5

2.52.52.03.5

-1.0-12.5-2.5-0.5-8.010.0-5.5-1.5-1.5-7.5-0.514.5

1.55.50.5

-0.5

6,558481

3,8112,685

856823

5,4266,920

183934839623

3,305197

5,664124

3,0753,236

197978

3,687109558

3,086741 119

2,8365,228

106130119107

3,94583

5,215763679

27568

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - NAVIGATE

CitymapperWaze by Google

City Maps 2Go by UlmonMAPS.ME by My.com

City Maps 2Go Pro by UlmonMapFactor

HERE MapsCitymaps

MoovitOsmAnd

Google MapsScout by Telenav

MapQuest by AOLParkmobile

GPS Navigation by BzingGoogle Earth

TomTomGPS Navigation & Maps by Sygic

84.580.079.077.074.574.072.571.565.065.060.560.558.557.053.052.548.546.5

-2.0-2.52.01.00.51.0-0.52.02.0-3.0-0.50.0-1.0-5.0-4.0-0.50.5-0.5

6,899325,254

4,73324,659

53141,98120,249

16616,5651,354

257,02825,95510,8525,551

21,43970,5554,604

49,701

1,174167,829

897236

4,274N/A598291

2,4157

63,4615,745

13,7063,295

249,4342,5731,328

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

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Across the more than 30 million apps Applause Mobile Sentiment

Analysis crawls globally in real time, the average app quality score is

a 67.3. Six incredibly popular apps earned above average scores based

on more than 50,000 reviews:

• GasBuddy (85.0) [Android | iOS]

• Booking.com (84.0) [Android | iOS]

• Groupon (82.5) [Android | iOS]

• Waze by Google (80.0) [Android | iOS]

• TripAdvisor (74.0) [Android | iOS]

• Yelp (67.5) [Android | iOS].

GasBuddy’s usability and satisfaction

scores are through the roof with positive

signals or attributes of mobile quality,

such as useful, easy, simple, recommend,

favorite, fun and enjoy, frequently

appearing in text-based reviews.

FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - RIDE

Rail Planner by Eurail GroupTrainline by thetrainline

Mapway (New York)Mapway (London)

National Rail EnquiriesGreyhound Lines

Amtrak

85.578.568.067.546.544.539.5

-2.514.5-4.01.5-1.00.5-1.5

2047,748570

2,6495,300620

2,889

18257

1,42331416

1222,123

SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

Booking.com is most frequently praised for its performance and stability.

Groupon for its usability, satisfaction, performance and pricing. Waze

for its content and interoperability that stand out among its competition.

TripAdvisor for its content and elegance. Yelp for its ability to delight (i.e.,

satisfaction) and its usability (i.e., usefulness, simplicity and elegance).

Apps That Have Room To Improve

When travelers feel well-served or underserved, they have a channel

in app stores through which to share experiences—good and bad. Just

seven profiled apps with more than 10,000 reviews have mobile sentiment

scores less than 50:

• Foursquare (48.5) [Android | iOS]

• Expedia (47.0) [Android | iOS]

• GPS Navigation & Maps by Sygic (46.5) [Android | iOS]

• Zomato (fmr. Urbanspoon) (42.5) [Android | iOS]

• Ola (40.5) [Android | iOS]

• Delta Air Lines (35.5) [Android | iOS]

• Southwest Airlines (25.5) [Android | iOS].

Apps that rate poorly tend to not optimize their experience for mobile

moments. Short-term testing efforts (e.g., functional testing, usability

reviews and security audits) will identify immediate issues.

Brands should evaluate and adapt to more agile development processes

to build world class customer experience programs. A focus on customer

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experience can help close potential disconnects between customers

and their mobile/digital experiences.

Some Brands Had Great Sentiment Swings

ARC from Applause analyzed how the mobile sentiment of the most

popular travel brands’ flagship Android and iOS apps evolved over the

previous ten months from July 2015 to May 2016. Year-over-year, 23

travel brands experienced mobile sentiment swings of four points or

greater on a 100-point scale, with two experiencing more volatile shifts

of 15 points or greater.

Hilton—the Stay category’s leader by more than 10 points over SPG,

IHG, Choice Hotels and the rest—increased an astounding 30.5 points.

How? By introducing Digital Key capabilities, adding Uber integration

and increasing transparency on HHonors status. The app was rated

below-average in the previous Travel report with a score of 39. Hilton

has proved that there is innovation yet to be tapped within the travel

industry and that apps can significantly improve given a conscientious

design, development and test effort.

Wyndham increased its mobile sentiment score by 16 points. The

achievement required a complete redesign of its app from the ground

up. The redesign impacted features such as member benefits, call

support, exploration features and mobile payment support, Wyndham

is on its way to challenging more established domestic hotel brands

through digital innovation.

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Apps That Got Hit By Savvy Competitors

Your standing in the apps economy isn’t just impacted by your own

operational decisions. It’s impacted by competitive and market insight.

If another app gets better and resets the industry benchmark, your

app looks poorer in comparison. Customer perception is vulnerable to

where your competition is just as much as to new industry dynamics

that influence how customers feel

and act.

Some airline apps have been

negatively impacted by the

progressive capabilities added by

their competitors. For instance,

look at innovative features that

enable improved tracking of miles

and schedule changes (Alaska

Airlines), simplified search and

booking experiences (British

Airways) and a redesigned iPad

interface and improved stability

(JetBlue Airways). The likes of Qatar

Airways, Air France, Air Canada

and KLM have some ground to

cover to achieve parity.

No matter the company’s industry,

geography or reputation, app users

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hilton

Wyndham

Frontier Airlines

Trainline by thetrainline

Hertz

Singapore Airlines

CouchSurfing

Hostelworld

thefork by TripAdvisor

RyanAir

OpenTable

Airbnb

GPS Navigation by Bzing

Mapway (New York)

Zomato (fmr. Urbanspoon)

Parkmobile

KLM

Carnival HUB

Air Canada

Air France

Ola

Qatar Airways

Getaround

+30.5

+16

+14.5

+14.5

+10

+10

+8

+7

+6.5

+5.5

+4.5

-4.0

-4.0

-4.0

-5.0

-5.0

-5.5

-6.5

-7.5

-8.0

-10.0

-12.5

-13.0SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016

are vocal about their experiences. It’s time for travel brands to embrace

digital-first strategies that raise the bar for quality to ultimately deliver

richer customer experiences across customer journeys.

A note on transparency:

ARC from Applause authored this report to:

• Help travel brands understand how U.S. consumers perceive

their flagship Android and iOS app quality.

• Service the travel industry in a good faith effort to recognize its

achievements while also identifying its shortcomings.

• Raise awareness that app quality companies like Applause exist

to help brands deliver digital experiences that travelers love by

testing them through the eyes of actual customers and monitoring

ongoing sentiment.

• Provide thought leadership on digital experience best practices

in an industry that has room to improve.

Complementary Onsite Workshops

Applause is making this report’s author available for onsite workshops

that will enhance understanding of touchpoints across your customer

journey, share insight into the best practices that industry-leading

brands have embraced to win and determine how your company can

get to market faster with a rich digital presence.

Interested? Contact bgray@applause.com today.

About ARC

ARC from Applause is a research group dedicated to providing insights

on the apps economy. ARC leverages data from a variety of sources,

including proprietary Applause data, to provide a 360º view of app

quality. ARC combines this with analysis into reports to help brands

and developers understand what’s happening in the apps economy.

Learn more at http://arc.applause.com.

About Applause Mobile Sentiment Analysis

Combing through nearly a billion star ratings and user reviews

submitted across more than 30 million apps in the Android and iOS

app stores, Applause Mobile Sentiment Analysis closes the gap between

developers and their customers, generating actionable insights and

quantifiable metrics based on what users are actually saying about

their app experiences.

Learn more at www.applause.com/analytics. 13