FishingBooker’s prestigious Angler’s Choice Award rewards top-performing captains on our platform. The award was first presented in 2015 and, while there have been improvements in the criteria since then, it has recently received a considerable update. The aim of the Angler’s Choice Award has always been to celebrate guides who provide outstanding services to customers. To ensure the award reflects a good current picture of captains’ current level of service, Angler’s Choice will now be awarded every three months.
Once a year, however, the top captains of the platform are honored with special recognition. These captains have been working hard to consistently provide the best possible fishing experience for their guests year-round and earned the already exclusive award four times in a row.
This time around, out of 7,610 captains from all across the world, 550 have received this extra-exclusive recognition. These 7.2% of captains have shown incredible customer service, reliability, and high-quality fishing trips.
What are the criteria?
A yearly Angler’s Choice Award winner works hard on building reliability and credibility, and that’s what makes them stand out from an already select pool of top captains! In order to qualify for this special honor, captains had to meet the following criteria four times in a row:
Quarterly Angler’s Choice Award criteria:
- 4.8+ out of 5-star review score from 10+ verified reviews
- 98% reliability score or higher
- 98% response rate or higher
- Full business verification
Review ratings
The review score is an average calculated from verified customer reviews. The scale for reviews ranges from 1 star to 5 stars. While all anglers who have been fishing with a captain are able to leave reviews, only reviews from anglers who booked their trips through the FishingBooker platform count as verified reviews to limit manipulation. A captain needs at least 10 verified reviews with an average rating of 4.8 or better.
Reliability score
The reliability score is the percentage of bookings that actually happen. Cancellations that were out of the captain’s control are not taken into account. A captain should have a realization rate of 98% or better.
Response rate
The response rate is the percentage of booking requests a captain responds to within 24 hours. This includes both accepted and declined booking requests. The percentage of booking requests responded to within 24 hours should be 98% or better.
Business verification
To be fully verified on FishingBooker a captain has to verify their identity and capability to legally operate a fishing vessel (if they use one on their trips). Also, they need to provide the required documents to prove the legality of their business, as well as credentials showing their boat has been registered/inspected (if they use one on their trips).
Multiple listings
If a captain has multiple listings available on the platform, the average values across all listings were used.
Celebrating the Winners
Acquiring even a single Angler’s Choice Award requires a lot of hard work and commitment. Captains who go above and beyond for their customers and are able to continuously meet the award’s criteria show remarkable consistency and quality of service. We’re proud to celebrate them with this special recognition of winning the Angler’s Choice Award four times in a row!
