We live in a sharing economy these days. You can’t escape it even if you try. I personally use Uber every single day. Why? Because it’s cheaper, more efficient, and cleaner than taxis plus you always have someone who is accountable in case of an incident. I just used Paris Perfect vacation rentals for my recent stay in Paris. According to the second annual Allianz Travel Insurance Sharing Economy Index released this week more than double the amount of Americans plan to use sharing economy services for their travel plans this summer compared to 2015 due to an increase in familiarity and trust.

The first year-on-year survey to track consumer confidence in the sharing economy market for travel planning, the analysis found that one in three Americans (36 percent) say they are likely to use sharing economy services such as AirBnB, HomeAway, Uber or Lyft during their summer vacation this year. This is up from last year when just 17 percent of Americans said they were likely to use these services.

Millennials continue to lead the sharing economy trend with 65 percent aged 18-34 saying they are likely to use these services (up 37 percentage points from 2015). Although I am not a Millennial, I’m not far off, and I found myself using sharing services much more this year than in prior years. My friends and I used AirBnb’s in Nicaragua earlier this year and just recently on my Euro 2016 road trip around France.

What I found most interesting from the Sharing Economy Index was that Americans with an annual income of $50,000 or more (38 percent) are more likely to use sharing economy services than those with an income less than $50,000 (32 percent). I would have thought it would be the other way around but lower income people would be more likely to use something like Couchsurfing which is free. Sharing services can be expensive; especially when there is surge pricing on Uber!

62 percent of Americans saying they are familiar with Uber (up 27 points from 2015). AirBnB is up 16 points with 35 percent familiarity and Lyft rose 19 points to 34 percent familiarity. Additionally here are a few other stats although I’ve never personally used any of these services: HomeAway (18 percent; up eight points), GetAround (11 percent; up four points) and Feastly (10 percent; up six points) all experienced growth in familiarity.

With greater familiarity also comes increased trust. The survey showed that 48 percent of Americans find sharing economy services such as AirBnB, HomeAway, Uber or Lyft to be trustworthy, up four points from 2015.

“We’re at an interesting intersection right now between sharing economy and traditional services,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “The playing field is quite level with many Americans having an uncertainty about which services provide the better experience, which opens an opportunity for the lesser known sharing economy to take a bigger stake as awareness continues to increase. There was already significant growth in use, familiarity and trust of the sharing economy over the last year showing that these services are not a fad and have great potential for longevity.”

I agree completely with Dan. With the exception of some potential legal and union battles in key cities like New York City, services like Uber and AirBnb are here to stay. AirBnb already has a larger inventory in a few short years than established brick and mortar hotels like Hilton have amassed in nearly a century! It’s truly incredible! As for Uber, I wouldn’t be surprised if someday it’s the most valuable company in the world!

The Sharing Economy Index was established in 2015 by Allianz Global Assistance USA and is conducted each summer by national polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs.

Methodology: These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Allianz from May 3 to 10, 2016. For the survey, a sample of n=2,007 Americans was interviewed online via Ipsos’s American online panel. The precision of Ipsos online surveys is measured using a Bayesian credibility interval. In this case, with a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within ± 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had all Americans been polled. The margin of error will be larger within sub-groupings of the survey population.

Disclaimer: I work as an ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) and receive financial compensation.

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