•The effect of travel mode on travel satisfaction seems partly mediated by attitudes.•Travel satisfaction might affect mode choice and attitudes more than vice versa.•A model reshaping links between mode choice, attitudes and satisfaction is proposed. Numerous studies – mainly since 2010 – have found that the chosen travel mode is related with how satisfied people are with their performed trips. A consensus has been found in that active travel results in the highest levels of satisfaction, while public transport users are usually least satisfied with their trips. However, evidence of why the use of various modes results in different levels of travel satisfaction is currently lacking. In this conceptual paper, I argue that the effect of travel mode on travel satisfaction might be overestimated, and that it is not so much the travel mode itself that affects satisfaction with travel, but whether the chosen travel mode is consistent with attitudes towards that mode. Furthermore, travel satisfaction might affect travel mode choice and travel attitudes more than vice versa. In this paper a new model is proposed reshaping the links between travel satisfaction, travel attitudes and travel mode choice. I underpin the suggested relationships with travel behaviour literature and psychological theories, draw parallels with (transport-related) residential self-selection, and reflect on the difficulties and possibilities of measuring this model. Finally, I focus on the implications of the proposed model on travel behaviour research.