Ranking Score Explained

Kia ora, thanks for your interest in how we calculate an experience's ranking score. It's at the core of Rankers so I'm pleased you're curious.

The ranking score percentage is used to compare and sort experiences in ranking tables. It is not necessarily a direct measurement of the quality of a particular experience as rated by its customers. I've found it a useful tool to allow me to find the best experiences with confidence. But I've also found it important to read the customer reviews before making any final judgements!

We calculate an experience's ranking score using a multi-factor data model instead of a raw data average (mean). This model takes into account several important questions. For instance - is there a trusted body of reviews? What is the age of a review and is the review from a credible source?

Below you'll find details around some of the important factors that went into calculating the ranking score for Tranz Alpine Train.

If you have any questions or comments about our ranking score calculation please get in touch at info@rankers.co.nz. We don't believe this is perfect or complete so we're always interested in ways we might make improvements.

Cymen Crick's avatar

Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Tranz Alpine Train

Valid Reviews

68 Valid Reviews

The Tranz Alpine Train experience has a total of 68 valid reviews. There are no invalid reviews that are excluded from the calculation. Reviews can be excluded only when a reviewer is not verified or after an investigation by our team determines the reviewer is not genuine.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 68 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 11
16%
9/10 10
15%
8/10 28
41%
7/10 8
12%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 4
6%
4/10 3
4%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 1
1%
1/10 0
0%

78.24% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Tranz Alpine Train valid reviews is 78.24% and is based on 68 valid reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here as a comparison to the weighted average.

Face-to-Face Reviews

63 Face-to-Face Reviews

The Rankers team meets with travellers while they’re in New Zealand and conducts face-to-face surveys. These reviews, in our opinion, are the most trusted in the industry and represent a critical control sample. To our knowledge, we are the only travel review website in the world that has gone to this extent.

More about face-to-face reviews

Within the 68 valid reviews, the experience has 63 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 63 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 9
14%
9/10 10
16%
8/10 27
43%
7/10 7
11%
6/10 3
5%
5/10 4
6%
4/10 2
3%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 1
2%
1/10 0
0%

78.25% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Tranz Alpine Train face-to-face reviews is 78.25% and is based on 63 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

77.89%

Rankers calculates a weighted mean as a base average on which we can improve. Individual review's ratings are given a weight based on several factors. The weight of a review determines the overall impact it'll have on the final weighted average.

Recent reviews have more weight as they are more relevant and reflect the experience as it currently operates. Over time reviews become less relevant and loose their impact on the ranking score.

Low rating reviews carry slightly less weight. This dampens the effect of very low ratings for every experience across the board. This is especially important when the experience has few reviews overall and a single negative rating can grossly mischaracterise an experience. Consistent poor reviews will still result in the experience receiving a comparitively low ranking score.

Credible sources provide reviews that can be trusted. If we have verified a reviewer is genuine via a face-to-face meeting then the review carries additional weight.

Reviewer Rating Age Relative Weight
Steve Sopota 4/10 2408 days 100%
Fanny Hacquart 5/10 2891 days 88%
Jill Stebbing 7/10 3159 days 88%
Petru 10/10 3210 days 91%
Amadeus van Schie 8/10 3242 days 86%
Esther Itier 7/10 3529 days 61%
Thomas Neron 7/10 3529 days 61%
Clare Lambley 8/10 3610 days 58%
Eric Lambley 5/10 3611 days 45%
Ngaire Davies 7/10 3942 days 31%
Cindy Parson 10/10 4234 days 10%
Petra Blumberg 8/10 4271 days 7%
David and Sally Wallis 8/10 4346 days 2%
Steve and Therese Dunne 8/10 4367 days 0%
Michael & Janet 9/10 4640 days 39%
Michael & Rosemary Smith 8/10 4645 days 38%
Mike & April Prince 8/10 4672 days 38%
Warwick Ravell 9/10 4738 days 39%
Alita Smith 2/10 4968 days 17%
Graham Greentree 9/10 4973 days 39%
Bill Cutler 9/10 4986 days 39%
Steve Pearce 8/10 5000 days 38%
Jenny & Barry Sleeman 8/10 5017 days 38%
David Glover 10/10 5018 days 39%
Grada Anderson 10/10 5024 days 39%
Rosey834 8/10 5055 days 38%
Kerry Wood 10/10 5363 days 39%
David Valentine 4/10 5383 days 25%
Sandra B 8/10 5388 days 38%
Gary Judd 8/10 5388 days 38%
carmenk 8/10 5437 days 38%
Wolfgang Dittrich 8/10 5461 days 38%
Simon Bartholomew 6/10 5463 days 34%
Sarah Smith 7/10 5477 days 36%
regw 10/10 5571 days 39%
nickm 10/10 5650 days 39%
Amy_B 8/10 5683 days 38%
Roy 9/10 5699 days 39%
Richard 8/10 5704 days 38%
Elise 8/10 5745 days 38%
Jordi 8/10 5815 days 38%
purplekat99 10/10 5816 days 39%
David 9/10 5820 days 39%
Fothergill 8/10 5901 days 38%
Peddy 7/10 5930 days 36%
Ulrike 10/10 5962 days 39%
Helen 6/10 6045 days 34%
Anke 5/10 6045 days 30%
Olga 4/10 6061 days 25%
Aiko Nishimura 8/10 6082 days 38%
Kerstin Brantryd 5/10 6082 days 30%
Marian Mckinney 9/10 6088 days 39%
Greg & Lynette 9/10 6088 days 39%
Sally and David Wallis 8/10 6095 days 38%
Lisa Tame 7/10 6096 days 36%
Katharina 8/10 6107 days 38%
Jim Curley 6/10 6107 days 34%
Kilsby 10/10 6123 days 39%
Lyn Saxon 8/10 6180 days 38%
Phillipa 9/10 6405 days 39%
Sue 8/10 6413 days 38%
Michael 7/10 6413 days 36%
Simon 10/10 6425 days 39%
Fred 8/10 6425 days 38%
Cat 9/10 6425 days 39%
Sandra 8/10 6432 days 38%
Pam Rose 8/10 6435 days 38%
Kerry 8/10 6470 days 38%

Adjustments

Several adjustments to the weighted average are added to improve relevancy and credibility. These adjustments apply equally to all experiences that meet the criteria.

Sample Size Adjustment

No Adjustment

A reasonable number of reviews are necessary in order for the average to be credible and for an experience to take a prime position within the ranking tables. As such, experiences with only a few reviews have a moderated score. This does not mean that the experience or the reviews can't be trusted. The Tranz Alpine Train experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-3.89% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 49 days. However the Tranz Alpine Train experience does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

In addition, an experience's ranking score may be adjusted for each day there is no new ranking. After 1 day the adjustment comes into effect. The maximum number of days that can be adjusted for is 200 days. Due to the seasonal nature of many businesses, this adjustment is applied dynamically throughout the year.

The Tranz Alpine Train experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.84%
198 -3.86%
199 -3.87%
200 -3.89%
201 -3.91%
202 -3.93%
203 -3.95%

Balancing Adjustment

5.05% Adjustment

Every experience's review score is adjusted to balance out the disproportional number of negative reviews that are contributed.

You won't be surprised to learn that disgruntled customers are more likely to leave a review than happy ones. They are motivated to share their experience and warn others. We consider this a good thing and it's why reading the reviews is important. However we've learned it can misrepresent the experience in a more overall sense.

We apply a balancing adjustment to counteract this effect and ensure the ranking score is a more fair representation of the experience. This adjustment is applied equally to all experiences.

Final Ranking Score

79%

The final ranking score once any adjustments, ratings, and rounding has been applied. This value is recalculated each day and a short rolling average is applied. Therefore it may not be precisely accurate based on the other values presented.