A new survey that measured the value of more than 60 frequent flyer programs worldwide named Air France
, KLM
, and Transavia’s loyalty program Flying Blue as the world’s best airline rewards program.
What does it take to win?
The independent analysis was conducted by the reward travel search platform Point.me, which used specific quantitative and qualitative methodology across nine categories to determine which programs offer the best value for travelers, even those who do not fly frequently.
The ranking took into account how easy it is to earn miles from non-flying methods, how much money has to be spent to earn a free flight, the points charged by the program on various routes, the complexity of booking award flights, change fees, hold policies, and customer service quality.
The report, which was published today, uses data from over eight million searches for award flights to determine the average number of miles required for a free round-trip flight on the most popular routes. In addition, the researchers initiated reward flight bookings for local and international itineraries for each of the 62 programs and used a rubric to determine the relative ease of booking.
Flying high with Flying Blue
The winner, by a large margin, was Flying Blue
. With a score of 93 out of 100, the program received top marks for ease of earning miles, competitive redemption rates, and flexible routing rules to make booking flights easy. The program made significant adjustments to its loyalty strategy, leading to great redemption rates and partnerships that make it easy to earn miles or transfer them in from the likes of American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy.
The program also offers monthly discounts on award flight redemptions. The current offer includes flights from the US to Europe for just 15,000 miles in each direction. Benjamin Lipsey, SVP of Customer Loyalty and President of Flying Blue, expressed his excitement that the program was recognized in such a fashion:
“We are pleased to top the rankings released today by point.me. By harnessing the power of point.me, Flying Blue broadens its reach, captivating travelers and fostering loyalty, even among those who have yet to experience our airline firsthand.
“Flying Blue has made a number of enhancements that benefit consumers, with a goal of providing great value when you transfer and redeem points for travel with Air France, KLM, or our 40+ airline partners.
“Offering an attractive program allows Flying Blue to broaden its reach, captivating travelers and fostering loyalty, even among those who have yet to experience our airlines firsthand.”
Photo: KLM
The Point.me platform, which is independent of any airline affiliations, helps travelers find the best ways to use their existing miles on award redemption flights.
Who else did well?
There were several notable standouts in the rankings. The frequent flyer programs of British Airways and its primary rival, Virgin Atlantic, tied for fourth place.
|
Program |
Rank |
Score |
Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Air France/KLM Flying Blue |
1 |
93.06 |
Ease of earning points through its extensive partnerships and great redemption rates. |
|
Air Canada – Aeroplan |
2 |
77.43 |
Reward seat availability on partner airlines with the most extensive network globally and generous routing. |
|
United Airlines – MileagePlus |
3 |
72.22 |
Competitive in many metrics and excellent for less frequent flyers. |
|
British Airways – Executive Club |
4* |
69.10 |
Great availability and excellent ease of earning. |
|
Virgin Atlantic – Flying Club |
4* |
69.10 |
Excellent customer service and reliable reward seat allocations on popular routes. |
|
American Airlines – AAdvantage |
6 |
68.06 |
Global travel, owing to its alliances with partner airlines as well as its strong domestic footprint. |
|
Alaska Airline – Mileage Plan |
7 |
65.97 |
Enhanced seat availability and “free” 24-hour stopover options. |
|
Qatar Airways – Privilege Club |
8 |
62.85 |
Extensive route network made bigger with partners, plus competitive prices. |
|
JetBlue – TrueBlue |
9 |
61.81 |
Customer-friendly policies like points pooling, no expiration on points, and great fares on East Coast routes. |
|
Avianca – lifemiles |
10 |
59.72 |
Competitively priced redemptions and the ability to easily accrue miles. |
There were also regional winners, with the most valuable program in Asia and Oceania ending in a 3-way tie between Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and ANA Mileage Club.
Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock
The report follows a ranking conducted by US News & World Report of domestic frequent flyer programs, which placed the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program in the top spot, followed by American Airlines AAdvantage and Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards.