Southwest Airlines delivers the best customer experience in the airline industry, according to the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience benchmark of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.
Of the nine airlines included in this year's Ratings, Southwest Airlines earned the highest score with a rating of 76%, putting it in 51st place overall out of 318 companies across 20 industries. Southwest has earned the highest score for airlines every year since the Ratings began in 2011, with the exception of 2015 when JetBlue came in first.
Overall, the airlines industry averaged a 66% rating in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings and tied for 12th place out of 20 industries. The average rating of the industry is unchanged from 2017.
The ratings of all airlines in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings are as follows:
Southwest Airlines: 76%
Alaska Airlines: 74%
JetBlue Airlines: 70%
Virgin America: 70%
Delta Airlines: 64%
United Airlines: 63%
American Airlines: 62%
ExpressJet: 59%
Spirit Airlines: 45%
"Southwest Airlines continues to set the pace for customer experience in the airline industry, but Alaska Airlines is closing the gap," states Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.
Alaska Airlines' customer experience score improved the most over the previous year, gaining six percentage-points. Spirit Airlines' score, on the other hand, declined the most, dropping five points.
Now in its eighth year of publication, the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings is the most comprehensive benchmark of customer experience in the industry, evaluating 318 companies across 20 industries: airlines, auto dealers, banks, computer & tablet makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, health plans, hotels & rooms, insurance carriers, investment firms, parcel delivery services, rental cars & transport, retailers, software firms, streaming media, supermarket chains, TV & appliance makers, TV/Internet service providers, utilities, and wireless carriers.
To generate these ratings, Temkin Group asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to evaluate their recent experiences with a company across three dimensions: success (can you do what you want to do?), effort (how easy is it to work with the company?), and emotion (how do you feel about the interactions?). Temkin Group then averaged these three scores to produce each company's Temkin Experience Rating.
In these ratings, a score of 70% or above is considered "good," and a score of 80% or above is considered "excellent," while a score below 60% is considered "poor."
The 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, along with other ratings, can be accessed at the Temkin Ratings website, www.TemkinRatings.com.
The free report, "2018 Temkin Experience Ratings," is available for download at the Customer Experience Matters®blog (ExperienceMatters.blog) and at the Temkin Group website, www.TemkinGroup.com.
Whether it’s for business or simply because of a debatably unhealthy obsession, many of us struggle going more than a few minutes without Internet access. This can be particularly troublesome when traveling. When we’re heading home for the holidays, going on a business trip, or taking off on a summer vacation, we need to know which airlines do the most to keep us online while in the air.
Through painstaking research and expert data analysis, HighSpeedInternet.com put together a report of their exclusive rankings of the in-flight Wi-Fi offerings of domestic airlines.
Top Domestic Airline Wi-Fi Services Overall
JetBlue offers the best overall in-flight Wi-Fi for personal travel. The biggest reason JetBlue tops the rankings is because when it’s available, it comes at no extra cost. JetBlue is the only airline in America that offers free in-flight Wi-Fi.
Along with being the most affordable, JetBlue’s in-flight Wi-Fi is also among the fastest; it’s tied with Delta and Virgin America at 15 Mbps. Southwest grabbed the second spot with a great balance of affordability and availability. It offers in-flight Wi-Fi on 90% of its ASM and charges just $8 per day.
Marriott Rewards is No. 1 among the Best Hotel Rewards Programs due in part to the ease of earning points and its large network of hotels in popular destinations. The program offers complimentary Wi-Fi access and the ability to use points toward booking experiences such as sporting events and concerts. At No. 2, Wyndham Rewards continues to earn high marks for ease of earning a free night, member access to reduced room rates and the availability to earn points through two affiliated credit cards.
Soon to merge with the Virgin America Elevate program, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is the Best Airline Rewards Program for the third consecutive year. Its mileage-based earning structure makes it easier for travelers to earn miles at a faster pace than with revenue-based earning programs. Delta SkyMiles moves up to the No. 2 spot because of its competitive redemption rates for award flights and diversity of benefits, such as using miles for hotels stays, cabin upgrades, experiences and free flights.
"Today's travelers have so many rewards programs to choose from, comparing and contrasting them based on your specific needs can be a challenge," said Christine Smith, associate travel editor at U.S. News. "Our Best Travel Rewards Programs rankings emphasize the ease of earning points and miles, and redeeming them for free nights and flights, which everyday travelers identify as a top reason to join a loyalty program."
U.S. News ranks the Best Travel Rewards Programs in two categories: hotel loyalty programs and airline frequent flyer programs. The methodologies take into account membership benefits – such as free amenities, program-affiliated credit cards and redeemable experiences – network coverage and a strong emphasis on the ease of earning and redeeming free flights or nights. Additionally, U.S. News factors in property diversity for the Best Hotel Rewards Programs and Airline Quality Rating scores for the Best Airline Rewards Programs.
About U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Personal Finance, Travel, Cars and News & Opinion, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings, news and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 30 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
NordVPN explains some security issues with in-flight Wi-Fi, and describes safety measures to protect travelers’ privacy
JetBlue has announced that it will provide free satellite Wi-Fi, called Fly-Fi, on all of its local flights. According to the company spokesman, it’s 2017 and it’s impossible to ignore the fact that people “expect to be connected everywhere.”
Worldwide, there are currently more than 70 airlines that offer on-board Wi-Fi – but none of them have offered a free Wi-Fi connection up until now. In-flight Wi-Fi is typically known for being slow and expensive. JetBlue is hoping to change that by launching a hotspot that is free and fast (up to 20 Mbps). This will allow passengers to stream movies, and to use multiple devices at the same time. The connectivity will start at the departure gate and will end upon the arrival gate.
JetBlue’s move towards free and fast Internet is an exciting development. However, it brings attention to another factor: the privacy and security of any public Wi-Fi network.
While thethreats of the usual open Wi-Fi are already well known, the security issues of an in-flight Internet connection are still somewhat obscure.
First, there's no password protection on the Wi-Fi connection, so anyone could potentially intercept personal data that’s being transmitted on a wireless network. Airplanes are unique hacking grounds – more dangerous than airports or coffee shops, as they cram passengers in one small space for hours. This gives plenty of time and opportunity for hackers to access all data that’s being transmitted over open networks. Passengers who do online banking, shopping or business emailing are especially vulnerable to identity and data theft.
Certain devices can also be misused for hacking purposes – for example,WiFi Pineapple which is small enough to be stored in someone’s carry on, can be used to pose as a Wi-Fi connection – so when a user connects to Wi-Fi, they may actually be connecting to a device that is used to steal their personal information.
How can airplane passengers protect their data?
1. Designate network as Public. First, a traveler gets to designate the Wi-Fi network as Home, Work or Public. Those who choose Home network show that they trust all the people connected to the same network - which should not be the case on an airplane full of strangers. Work network should be used for a private group at work. So the safest option for airplane passengers is Public network setting - as this option is created to make sure it’s not visible by other computers.
2. Avoid fraudulent networks. Secondly, travelers have to make sure they are connecting to the Wi-Fi network offered on the flight, and not a look-a-like network with a similar-sounding name that might be spoofed.
3. Use a VPN. Besides these local precautions, the best and most effective way for any traveler to protect their data is to use a VPN. A professional VPN service encrypts all the traffic flow between the Internet and a device and helps hide an IP address. If you are a beginner, it’s best to choose a VPN that’s user-friendly. For example,NordVPN only requires the user to log in (the first time only) and press the ON button. The app will then choose the fastest server to connect to, in a country of your choice. That’s all it takes to hide your IP address and to start safe browsing. Beware of free VPN service providers that typically rely on third party advertisers to cover the costs. Often, they are free proxy services, marketed as VPNs, when in fact proxies are not encrypted (they just change your IP address, but do not hide/encrypt it).
4. Use other precautions for safe Internet. Besides using a VPN, travelers should use antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware and automatically update their software. In addition, all Internet users are advised against opening links and attachments emailed by unknown senders, and to stay generally vigilant when going online.
Airline loyalty is a fickle beast, with most travelers willing to jump to another jet for the slightest of discounts. Nevertheless, roughly 7% of flights are paid for with points or miles, so there’s obviously value in committing to a carrier.
With that in mind, WalletHub compared the 11 largest domestic airlines’ loyalty rewards programs in terms of their expected value for Light, Average and Frequent flyers. We did so using 23 key metrics, ranging from the value of a rewards point or mile to blackout-date policies. You can find our analysis below, along with a tool to customize the results based on your own airline budget.
Just enter your annual air travel budget below, and we’ll use the report’s methodology to find your optimal frequent flyer program.
Annual Amount Spent On Airline Travel
Best Program
Delta Air Lines
WalletHub Score: 59.00
Runner-up
Virgin America
WalletHub Score: 51.45
Main Findings
Delta SkyMiles is the best frequent flyer program for the second straight year, earning an average WalletHub score of 59.90 in the three usage scenarios.
WalletHub Score By Flyer Type
Airline
Frequent Flyer
Average Flyer
Light Flyer
Delta Air Lines
59.05
61.64
59
Alaska Airlines
55.09
54.14
49.82
Hawaiian Airlines
51.24
50.24
46.2
Virgin America
51.04
43.9
51.45
United Airlines
48.15
50.23
46.87
American Airlines
49.3
44.24
49.1
JetBlue Airways
51.35
40.05
44.19
Southwest Airlines
41.04
43.82
50.4
Sun Country Airlines
40.08
38.9
45.01
Frontier Airlines
28.3
30.9
36.3
Spirit Airlines
27.85
28.05
27.16
Hawaiian Airlines offers the most rewards value ($21 per $100 spent), with Alaska Airlines coming in a close second ($20 per $100 spent).
Rewards Value Per $100 Spent
Airline
Frequent Flyer
Average Flyer
Light Flyer
Hawaiian Airlines
$21.38
$16.04
$10.69
Alaska Airlines
$19.96
$14.97
$9.98
Virgin America
$17.02
$11.35
$11.35
Southwest Airlines
$9.36
$9.36
$9.36
Frontier Airlines
$8.99
$8.99
$8.99
Delta Air Lines
$8.96
$8.96
$6.4
United Airlines
$7.91
$7.91
$5.65
JetBlue Airways
$12.49
$4.35
$4.35
American Airlines
$8.12
$5.8
$5.8
Spirit Airlines
$4.02
$4.02
$2.01
Three of the 10 largest airlines offered more rewards in 2017 than in 2016, sweetening the pot by an average of 40%.
Rewards Value per $100 Spent (2017 vs. 2016)
Airline
2016
2017
Hawaiian Airlines
$12.8
$21.38
Alaska Airlines
$14.85
$19.96
Virgin America
$14.35
$17.02
Southwest Airlines
$9.93
$9.36
Frontier Airlines
$12.31
$8.99
Delta Air Lines
$8.96
$8.96
United Airlines
$8.82
$7.91
JetBlue Airways
$14.15
$12.49
American Airlines
$9.22
$8.12
Spirit Airlines
$8.2
$4.02
*Sun Country Airlines is not represented in the chart, as it was not included in our 2016 report.
Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways are the only two major airlines whose miles do not expire because of inactivity.
Miles Expiration
Inactivity
Percentage
Miles do not expire
0.182
Miles expire after inactivity of 24 to 36 months
0.273
Miles expire after inactivity of 12 to 23 months
0.364
Miles expire after inactivity of 3 to 11 months
0.182
8 out of 11 airlines do not impose blackout dates on tickets purchased with miles.
Blackout Dates
Blackout Dates
Percentage
Blackout dates do not apply to award travel
0.727
Blackout dates apply to award travel
0.273
45% of airlines will retroactively credit members with miles earned on a flight for up to 12 months after the fact.
Retroactive Miles Credit for Members
Retroactive Period
Percentage
1 - 5 months back
0.273
6 - 11 months back
0.273
12 months and above
0.455
7 out of the 11 largest U.S. airlines allow rewards-program members to earn and redeem miles with partner carriers.
Frequent Flyer Partnerships
Airline
Number of Partners
United Airlines
39
Delta Air Lines
28
American Airlines
24
Alaska Airlines
17
Hawaiian Airlines
7
JetBlue Airways
6
Virgin America
5
*The following airlines are not represented in the chart, as they do not have frequent flyer partnerships with other airlines: Southwest, Frontier, Sprit, and Sun Country airlines.
Airline miles cost an average of 62% more than they’re worth when purchased rather than earned.
Markup on Purchased Miles
Airline
Markup
Spirit Airlines
86.7%
United Airlines
69.97%
Delta Air Lines
65.96%
American Airlines
63.65%
Alaska Airlines
63.13%
Frontier Airlines
62.05%
Hawaiian Airlines
56.36%
Virgin America
56.35%
JetBlue Airways
50.95%
Southwest Airlines
43.27%
*Sun Country Airlines does not allow for the purchase of miles.
Earn miles when booking through 3rd party websites
6.00
6.00
6.00
0.00
6.00
6.00
6.00
6.00
6.00
6.00
6.00
6.00
Layover in award flight
5.00
0.00
0.00
5.00
5.00
0.00
5.00
5.00
0.00
0.00
5.00
5.00
Expired-mile reactivation
1.00
0.00
1.00
0.00
0.00
1.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Retroactive flight credit for members
3.00
1.29
0.86
1.29
0.43
1.29
1.29
0.00
0.43
0.14
1.29
0.00
Retroactive flight credit for non-members
1.00
0.00
0.00
1.00
0.00
1.00
0.00
0.00
0.45
0.27
0.00
0.18
Award-ticket redeposit fee
3.00
0.00
0.00
3.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Ease of achieving elite status
3.00
0.71
0.35
1.04
0.96
2.43
1.77
2.47
3.00
2.47
1.39
2.43
Transferring miles between accounts
1.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.00
Membership perks - Frequent Flyer
5.00
3.50
3.67
1.50
4.50
3.00
4.00
0.67
1.00
3.67
4.50
3.50
Membership perks - Average Flyer
5.00
0.00
3.67
1.50
4.50
0.50
3.17
0.67
1.00
2.67
0.00
0.00
Membership perks - Light Flyer
5.00
0.00
0.00
1.50
0.00
0.50
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Purchasing Miles
5.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
5.00
Score not based on consumer spending
75.00
40.73
49.36
33.07
38.82
38.37
32.69
26.74
21.25
27.58
31.45
31.20
Frequent Flyer Score
100.00
49.30
59.05
41.04
48.15
51.35
55.09
27.85
28.30
51.24
51.04
40.08
Average Flyer Score
100.00
44.24
61.64
43.82
50.23
40.05
54.14
28.05
30.90
50.24
43.90
38.90
Light Flyer Score
100.00
49.10
59.00
50.40
46.87
44.19
49.82
27.16
36.30
46.20
51.45
45.01
*Alaska’s partnership with Delta is ending in April 2017 **Airline coverage numbers for Alaska Airlines include merged numbers of both Alaska and Virgin America Airlines. ***Virgin America Elevate members can now convert their points to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles for redemption on the Alaska Airlines network, following Alaska Air Group’s December 2016 acquisition of Virgin America.
Ask The Experts: Assessing The Value Of Frequent Flyer Programs
With a quantitative analysis in hand, we turned to a panel of leading hospitality and consumer studies experts to learn more about the inner-workings of frequent flyer programs and how they affect the way we travel. You can check out their bios and responses to the following questions below.
Who benefits more from airline rewards programs: consumers or the airlines themselves?
To what extent do airline rewards programs influence consumer behavior?
How do you think mergers, acquisitions and alliances of individual brands impact airline loyalty?
To what extent, if at all, do you expect airline rewards programs to change in the next 5 to 10 years?
Why are each airline's miles worth different amounts? How does this affect consumers?
Associate Professor of Economics at University of Oklahoma
Who benefits more from airline rewards programs: consumers or the airlines themselves?
Reward programs should help major airlines who otherwise may choose not to offer these programs. On the other hand, it amounts to a hurdle for smaller airlines to directly compete with major airlines. Consumers benefit from the rewards, but there may also be negative impacts if rewards programs reduce competition and raise prices.
To what extent do airline rewards programs influence consumer behavior?
Often times there are time limits on accrued miles so consumers have an incentive to concentrate their travel with fewer airlines. As a result, consumers do not necessarily always fly with the airline offering the cheapest flight, especially if the cost is paid by a third-party (e.g., their employers).
How do you think mergers, acquisitions and alliances of individual brands impact airline loyalty?
M&A and alliances all create larger networks. A larger network is good for both the airlines and consumers. It allows airlines to better exploit economies of scale, and allow consumers to choose from a large set of routes, destinations, more flight time choices etc.
It's unclear to me how M&A impact loyalty - it enhances one brand and gets rid of another. For alliance, it makes competing airlines more similar to each other, reducing product differentiation and in turn brand loyalty. But then alliance often occurs between airlines who complement rather than directly compete with each other.
To what extent, if at all, do you expect airline rewards programs to change in the next 5 to 10 years?
A major change that happened recently is switching from miles-based to dollar-based reward, creating winners and losers. I would expect to see more changes in the same spirit. The U.S. airline industry is quite concentrated at this moment, so any further consolidation is less likely. Without further economies of scale to exploit, airlines may try to optimize their margin from each passenger. We may also see more U.S. operations from international airlines.
Why are each airline's miles worth different amounts? How does this affect consumers?
One airline's mile does not have to be the same as that of another airline - they are different "products" after all, just the same as different airlines can charge different prices on the same route. Imagine, for a second, that airlines allow their reward miles to be traded among consumers. Not only would we see a mile's worth differing across airlines, but also across time for the same airline.
Professor of Marketing in the Robert H. Smith School of Business
Who benefits more from airline rewards programs: consumers or the airlines themselves?
Although both benefit, I am sure airlines benefit more than do consumers. That's why they have them. Consumers benefits individually, but airlines benefit in the aggregate.
These rewards programs are offered to entice consumers to become loyal as well as to reward consumers who remain loyal. Consumers can get used to the perks very quickly.
To what extent do airline rewards programs influence consumer behavior?
Although they are called "rewards," these programs are as much incentive as they are reward.
Airlines rewards programs (like rewards programs in other industries) make it more difficult for consumers to switch to other carriers. The reward program makes consumers look first at that airline's offering on any route; consumers may even be willing to pay more (or put up with an inconvenient route) to travel on that airline. This kind of behavior is especially likely as consumers near an important goal, e.g., achieving the next status level.
In turn, what consumers expect and enjoy are the following: 1) the concrete benefits (e.g., free baggage, earlier boarding, upgrade); 2) the feeling of status (I'm special). In fact, as you go up the status levels, it becomes harder and harder to switch to a different carrier. That is because the benefits get larger and harder to give up. I've heard people say that xxx airline sucks, but they travel on it because they have high status.
Why are each airline's miles worth different amounts? How does this affect consumers?
These miles are worth different amounts because each airline has developed a different system over time. Some reasons are just institutional (i.e., based on the airline's infrastructure, the managers who developed the initial program, etc.). For consumers, it's all quite confusing. It's even more confusing since the airlines changed their system from miles-based to money-based (Starbucks did the same with its loyalty program.) Now, United, for instance, gives you miles based on how much you paid for the ticket. I can't figure it out, and I don't have the time or energy to delve into the exact system. I feel they've made it opaque on purpose. And it's hugely beneficial for them.
This report compared the frequent flyer programs operated by the 11 largest airlines in the U.S., based on number of passengers, using publicly available information and company policies posted online. We did so for three different consumer profiles, designed to illustrate how programs compare across spending levels. Where policies were incomplete or ambiguous, we confirmed them with the respective airline’s customer service department. Once data collection was complete, we reached out to the public relations departments of each airline to confirm our findings. However, Spirit Airlines and Sun Country Airlines either did not meet our deadline for input or did not provide any corrections regarding company policy and pricing.
The scoring framework used to evaluate each program, and ultimately identify the best option for different types of consumers, can be found below. Generally, full points were awarded to the best-performing program for that metric, while the zero-point level was set slightly below the worst program’s value. Most of the metrics were first graded on a 100-point scale. Point allocations for more-binary metrics that did not use this 100-point scale are explained below. Airline ticket cost data is accurate as of January 16.
Consumer Profiles: We created three consumer spending profiles (Light, Average and Frequent) to evaluate how well each airline meets the needs of travelers with varying budgets. We based the airfare budget of a “Light” flyer on travel expenditure data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. We determined the budget of a “Frequent” flyer by applying average airfare rates to a travel schedule that comprises monthly domestic flights supplemented by an annual trip abroad. The “Average” flyer’s budget was determined by averaging the “Light” and “Frequent” flyer’s budgets. Exact values can be found below.
Light Flyer: Spends roughly $467 on annual airline travel.
Average Flyer: Spends roughly $3,105 on annual airline travel.
Frequent Flyer: Spends $5,743 on annual airline travel.
1. Airline Coverage (total score: 17 points)
a. Number of daily flights (max score: 7 points) We collected the average number of daily flights by the individual airlines according to their official websites.
b. Number of countries served (max score: 5 points) We tabulated the total number of countries served by each airline directly (i.e., not including countries served by partners/alliances).
c. Number of destinations served (max score: 5 points) We determined the total number of destinations served by each airline directly (i.e., not including destinations by with partners/alliances).
2. Partner Coverage (total score: 8 points) We chose to grade partner airlines separately in order to avoid overlapping data and the resulting double counting. However, the strength of a given airline’s partnership network is indeed relevant to the value of its rewards program, so it was important that we take this into account where possible.
a. Partner airline earning and redemption (max score: 3 points) We collected the total number of partner airlines that allow you to both earn and redeem miles. Partners with which you can only earn, not redeem, received ½ the points.
b. Number of daily flights (max score: 3 points) We added together each partner airline’s average number of total daily flights.
c. Number of countries served (max score: 1 point) We tabulated the total number of countries served by each airline’s partners/alliance-mates.
d. Number of destinations served (max score: 1 point) We determined the total number of destinations served by each airline’s partners/alliance-mates.
3. Value Earned per $100 Spent (total score: 20 points) Three underlying components are required to calculate how much value a user would derive from one year of membership in each airline’s rewards program: i. Amount Spent, ii. Miles Earned and iii. Redemption Value. In other words, if you spend X amount, you will earn Y miles, which can be redeemed for Z dollars in airfare. Below we will explain how we calculated each component.
i. Amount Spent: We used the aforementioned consumer spending profiles to determine how much Light, Average and Frequent flyers spend on airfare each year.
ii. Miles Earned: The task of determining the number of miles that each type of flyer would earn with each airline was complicated by the fact that there are two ways to earn. Some airlines provided a certain number of miles per dollar spent (e.g., 3 miles per every $1 spent), in which case overall earnings can be determined with simple multiplication. But others allocate earnings based on the number of miles a member flies (e.g., 1 rewards mile per 1 mile flown).
For the latter group, we collected the prices of round-trip tickets (economy fares) for popular routes from the airline’s hub. Ticket prices were obtained for weekend travel during each destination’s high and shoulder travel seasons. In all cases, ticket prices were collected at least one month in advance. For each route, we then collected the round-trip distance between the two cities in terms of miles. Finally, we divided the average distance by the average ticket price, thus obtaining per-dollar pay-out rates for the airlines that rely on a mileage-based system. Multiplying these ratios by the amount each type of traveller spends gave us each person’s overall earnings with each airline. Note: Temporary promotions, such as holiday deals or bonus miles for reservations made on specific websites, were not taken into account. Earning rates were calculated for the second year of program membership.
iii. Redemption Value: In order to determine the redemption value of a mile earned from each airline, we divided each airline’s average ticket price in dollars by the average number of miles needed for an award flight. Taxes and surcharges were deducted from the dollar value of the award flight if miles did not cover them.
iv. Value Per $100 Spent: To calculate the overall value each type of flyer would earn per $1 spent, we multiplied the number of miles earned by the respective airline’s redemption value and divided by the consumer’s annual spend. For example, assuming that an airline offers 3 miles per $1 spent and its miles are worth two cents apiece, a “Light” flyer would earn roughly $28.02 in free airfare over the course of a year ($467 * 3 *0.02). And that translates to $6 in value per $100 spent ($28.02 / $467 *100).
4. Miles Restrictions (total score: 33 points)
a. Miles expiration (max score: 7 points) We determined if and when miles expire due to account inactivity with each loyalty rewards program.
b. Booking blackout dates(max score: 7 points)
If a rewards program does not have blackout dates for award flights = Full points
If a rewards program has blackout dates = No points
c. Advance booking (max score: 3 points) Airlines allowing members to redeem miles up to one year in advance received the highest scores, while those that allow award flights to be booked only 90 days in advance received no points.
d. Short-notice booking fee (max score: 3 points)
If the airline does not charge a fee for booking an award flight within 6 days of departure = Full points
If the airline charges a fee for booking an award flight within 6 days of departure = No points
e. Earning limits(max score: 2 points)
If the airline does not impose any limit on earning miles = Full points
If the airline imposes an annual or per-transaction limit on earning miles = No points
f. Earn miles booking through third-party websites(max score: 6 points)
If the airline allows you to earn miles on flights booked through third-party websites = Full points
If the airline does not let you earn miles on flights booked through third-party websites = No points
g. Layovers in award flight (max score: 5 points)
If miles can be used to book flights that include layovers = Full points
If miles cannot be used to book flights that include layovers = No points
5. Additional Features & Policies (total score: 22 points)
a. Expired-mile reactivation (max score: 1 point)
If the airline allows you to reactivate expired miles for free = Full points
If the airline allows you to reactivate expired miles for a fee = No points
b. Retroactive flight credit for members (max score: 3 points)
If the airline allows retroactive mile credits to be claimed for flights taken in the last 24 months = Full points
If the airline provides retroactive mile credits only for flights taken less than 3 months ago = No points
c. Retroactive flight credit for non-members (max score: 1 point)
If the airline allows retroactive mile credits to be claimed for flights taken in the last 12 months = Full points
If the airline provides retroactive miles credits only for flights taken less than 1 months ago = No points
d. Award-ticket redeposit/cancellation fee (max score: 3 points)
If the airline does not charge a fee to re-deposit miles in the event of award ticket cancellation = Full Points
If the airline charges a fee to re-deposit miles in the event of award ticket cancellation = No points
e. Ease of achieving elite status(max score: 3 points) We calculated the amount that a member of each airline’s rewards program would need to spend on a monthly basis in order to accumulate the requisite miles for top membership status. Spending assumptions reflect the lowest economy fares.
f. Transferring miles between accounts (max score: 1 point)
If the airline allows program members to transfer miles between their accounts for free = Full points
If the airline only allows spouses to transfer miles between accounts for free = 0.5 points
If the airline charges a fee to transfer of miles between accounts = No points
g. Valuable membership perks (max score: 5 points) After examining all of the airline rewards programs, we created a list of membership perks that we believe to be most valuable for consumers. We then used our consumer profiles to determine which perks each type of airline patron would receive based on the membership-status level for which they could expect to qualify.
Free checked baggage = 1.5 points
Complimentary upgrades = 1 point
Priority check-in/security/boarding = 1 point
Complimentary companion upgrades = 0.5 point
Expedited baggage services = 0.5 points
Free in-flight Wi-Fi = 0.5 points
h. Purchasing Miles (max score: 5 points) In order to determine whether members of each airline rewards program can purchase miles at fair value, we calculated the cost of buying the maximum number of miles permitted by each program as well as their average redemption value.
If the airline earns a profit of 25% or less on the transaction = Full points
If the profit margin is higher than 25% = No points
Alina Comoreanu Alina is a Research Analyst at Evolution Finance. She is a Business Administration graduate. Previously she worked as a desktop publisher for a daily newspaper and for the National Census&Statistical… 1438 Wallet Points
Airline loyalty is a fickle beast, with most travelers willing to jump to another jet for the slightest of discounts. Nevertheless, roughly 7% of flights are paid for with points or miles, so there’s obviously value in committing to a carrier.
