Study: Millennials Are More Satisfied With Their Rental Cars Than Other Groups

As millennials have aged they’ve become more satisfied with their rental car experience, according to new research from J.D. Power.

The J.D. Power 2015 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study finds that millennials now account for the second largest generation of car renters, behind boomers, and are now the age group most satisfied with their car rental experience.

The satisfaction level extends across both business and leisure travel, and customers overall are the most satisfied they’ve been since J.D. Power started using its current methodology in 2006.

“Conventional wisdom says that Millennials are perpetually dissatisfied, but that clearly is not the case,” said Rick Garlick, J.D. Power’s global travel and hospitality practice lead. “Younger consumers are often more difficult to please, but as they get older—whether it’s because of maturity, experience, more income or all three—their satisfaction across many studies improves. We definitely see differences in the satisfaction of Gen Y consumers now that many are in their mid- to late 20s and 30s, compared with when they were in their late teens and early 20s.”

Millennials who have a positive car rental experience are more likely to share their good feelings online; 47 percent of millennial renters post reviews online, compared with just 10 percent of Boomers and 27 percent of Gen Xers.

Overall customer satisfaction is up across both business and leisure travel, but business travel satisfaction has surpassed leisure travel satisfaction for the first time, according to the J.D. Power index.

The areas that showed the most increased satisfaction across travel types are shuttle buses, costs and fees, and the pick-up process. Navigation systems and heated seats were named as features that provided the most perceived value for consumers.