How Millennials Are Driving The Car Rental Industry’s Success

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J.D. Power released a study Wednesday that suggests millennials are driving a surge in rental car customer satisfaction.

According to J.D. Power's 2015 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study, rental car satisfaction has reached its highest index score since the marketing service began its current studies in 2006.

For the second straight year, Enterprise Rent-A-Car was the highest-ranked car rental brand in the study. Alamo Rent A Car managed to finish second on the J.D. Power list.

The J.D. Power Rental Car Satisfaction Study is now in its 20th year measuring customer satisfaction with car rentals at airport locations. Some of the scoring criteria include cost and fees, the pick-up process, the return process, the reservation process and more.

A huge focus of the study this year was on millennials. Not only is the generation the most satisfied when it comes to rental car service, but they are also the second largest group of renters overall and the second largest proportion of business travelers.

Companies are focusing on millennials more than ever due in part to the fact that 47 percent of the younger customers are expected to post reviews online.

J.D. Power global travel and hospitality practice lead Rick Garlick shared a statement about the study and its findings:

"Conventional wisdom says that Millennials are perpetually dissatisfied, but that clearly is not the case. 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."

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