Hotels are thumbs up so guess where airlines rate?

Hotels’ guest satisfaction is up. Airlines: down, again.

That’s a summation of an annual survey of travelers in the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Travelers rated hotels nearly 3 percent higher than last year in the Index, which measures travelers' satisfaction with products and services during the first quarter of each year.

On a scale of zero to 100, travelers gave hotels an average score of 77.

Low rates and more perks such as free Wi-Fi and upgraded exercise facilities have increased satisfaction, according to Claes Fornell, founder of the index, which this year surveyed 2,250 hotel guests and 1,750 airline passengers. But that does not mean loyalty.

"Price-induced satisfaction tends to make people shop around for the best deal rather than promote loyalty," Fornell said.

Hilton received the highest average satisfaction score, 80, and Marriott and Starwood tied for second at 79. It's the third-consecutive year Hilton had the highest score or tied for the top score in the survey.

Airlines didn't fare as well.

 "Airline mergers typically have a destructive effect on passenger satisfaction," Fornell said.

Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest Airlines in 2008, scored lowest, with an average score of 56, 10 percent lower than its score last year.

Southwest Airlines received the highest satisfaction score, 81, the highest score for an airline since 1994, the baseline year of the index.

Though Southwest's in-flight services "are fairly minimal, its overall service is viewed quite favorably," Fornell said.

Switching flights on Southwest is easy and usually without cost to passengers, and the airline "seems to have a knack for knowing when to charge additional fees and when not to add to its customers' cost," Fornell says. Southwest doesn't charge for checked bags.

Among other survey findings:

•Giving airlines their lowest score since 2008, business travelers are less satisfied than vacationers. Leisure travelers gave airlines an average satisfaction score of 64, three points more than business travelers.

•Passengers who pay for checked bags are much less satisfied with airlines than passengers who don't pay for checked bags.

•Hotel guests at upscale hotel chains are more satisfied than those at budget hotels.

•Smaller hotel brands — including small hotel and motel chains, individual luxury hotels and bed-and-breakfasts — had their satisfaction score increase 4 percent to 77, the largest percentage increase among hotel segments.

By David Wilkening