Over 2.5 million frequent flyers from around the globe voted in this year’s Freddie Awards, welcoming back a normality to travel.
"Not a popularity contest or a panel of judges, the ‘best’ are determined by the votes of those who spend a great deal of their life traveling and in turn are appreciative of the value loyalty programs bring to their members."
NEW ORLEANS, April 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Recognizing the best of travel loyalty programs, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards has been named frequent flyer Program of the Year for the sixth consecutive year. Marriott Bonvoy took the highest honor, for the twelfth consecutive year, among hotel programs in the Americas region at the 2022 Freddie Awards.
The Freddie Awards have served as the voice of the frequent traveler for 31 years. This year’s awards were held Thursday, April 21st at The National WWII Museum—The Boeing Center where hundreds of representatives from airline, hotel and credit card loyalty programs attended the ceremony along with frequent flyers who voted in this year’s awards.
The Freddie Awards represent excellence among travel loyalty programs around the globe and rate the best programs in six categories: Program of the Year, Best Promotion, Best Redemption Ability, Best Customer Service, Best Elite Program and Best Loyalty Credit Card. Voting was open for six weeks and available in three global regions: Americas, Europe/Africa and Middle East/Asia/Oceania. Voting also was available in 13 languages.
Internationally, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go is Program of the Year for the Europe/Africa region and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer received the Program of the Year honors for the Middle East/ Asia/Oceania region. Interesting to note, both of these programs swept all five airline categories within their respective regions.
Among hotel programs, Accor Hotels ALL Accor Live Limitless is Program of the Year for the Europe/Africa region while ITC Hotels Club ITC took top honors as Program of the Year in the Middle East/Asia/Oceania region.
In the popular credit card category, Chase Bank was a big winner with their Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier credit card. American Express Membership Rewards took top honors in the Europe/Africa region while Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer won in the Middle East/Asia/Oceania region with their credit card issued by American Express.
Also announced was the 210 Award for the highest scoring program in each region that was below the 10 percent qualifying total ballot threshold. These are programs to watch in the region as more members gain an awareness of the value their most enthusiastic members already recognize. Winners in this category included Air Canada Aeroplan, Hyatt World of Hyatt, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, GHA Discovery, Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles and Shangri-La Circle.
"We are delighted to once again allow frequent flyers throughout the world the opportunity to select the travel loyalty programs that they believe have achieved excellence," said Randy Petersen, founder of the Freddie Awards. "This is not an elitist view of these programs nor a popular vote, but rather the ‘best’ are determined by the votes of those who spend a great deal of their life on the road and in turn are appreciative of the value they bring to their members. The results seemed to reflect how well programs adjusted their support and messaging to their members during the nearly two-year Covid period which hampered travel."
The Freddie Awards are named after late consumer champion Sir Freddie Laker, who attracted fame (and a knighthood in the United Kingdom) for pioneering low-cost air travel across the Atlantic in the 1970s.
The presenting sponsor this year was Wells Fargo—strong for their customers, communities and the travel industry. Other sponsors included Ascenda, Status Match and Point.Me. The Freddie Awards were custom designed by Society Awards.
The winners:
Americas
Airline
Program of the Year – Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
Best Elite Program – American Airlines – AAdvantage
Best Promotion – Avianca – LifeMiles – 175% Bonus on Purchased Miles
Best Customer Service – Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
Best Redemption Ability – Air Canada – Aeroplan
210 Award – Air Canada Aeroplan
Hotel
Program of the Year – Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
Best Elite Program – Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
Best Promotion – Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards – Earn for Next Year
Best Customer Service – Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards
Best Redemption Ability – Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
210 Award – Hyatt Hotels – World of Hyatt
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card – Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
Europe/Africa
Airline
Program of the Year – TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Best Elite Program – TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Best Promotion – TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go – Black Friday
Best Customer Service – TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Best Redemption Ability – TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
210 Award – Virgin Atlantic – Flying Club
Hotel
Program of the Year – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Elite Program – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Promotion – Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy – Better Two-gether
Best Customer Service – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Redemption Ability – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
210 Award – GHA – GHA Discovery
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card – American Express – Membership Rewards
Middle East & Asia/Oceania
Airline
Program of the Year – Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
Best Elite Program – Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
Best Promotion – Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer – Earn Status Credit without Flying
Best Customer Service – Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
Best Redemption Ability – Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
210 Award – Garuda Indonesia – GarudaMiles
Hotel
Program of the Year – ITC Hotels – Club ITC
Best Elite Program – ITC Hotels – Club ITC
Best Promotion – ITC Hotels – Club ITC – Reduced Requalification Requirements
Best Customer Service – Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
Best Redemption Ability – ITC Hotels – Club ITC
210 Award – Shangri-La – Circle
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card – American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card
Contact Information
Randy Petersen
Freddie Awards
+1 719-238-8073
SOURCE Freddie Awards
