Thoughts on the 2016 Freddie Awards

This past weekend, I had the chance to travel out to Las Vegas to attend the Freddie Awards. Its my favorite event to attend each year, and I’m truly appreciative to have the chance. I thought I’d share some observations of some of the award winners, as it seemed like this year there were some noticeable change.

Background

The Freddie Awards are named after Sir Freddie Laker. the founder of Laker Air, Britain’s first all-jet air carrier (way back in 1966).

All of the awards posted below, are courtesy of the 2015 Freddie Awards

Before getting to the awards, I would also highlight that it was recognized, that American Airlines had started their AAdvantage program, and United Airlines started the MileagePlus within a week or so of each other in 1981. So, like you’d expect, there were some birthday wishes.

Now to the awards!

Freddie Awards for the Americas

Airline

Program of the Year — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
Best Elite Program — American Airlines – AAdvantage
Best Promotion — Avianca – LifeMiles
Best Customer Service — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
Best Redemption Ability — Avianca – LifeMiles
210 AWARD — Avianca – LifeMiles

Hotel

Program of the Year — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards
Best Elite Program — Hyatt – Gold Passport
Best Promotion — MGM – M life
Best Customer Service — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards
Best Redemption Ability — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards
210 AWARD — MGM – M life

Credit Card

Best Loyalty Credit Card — Starwood – Starwood Preferred Guest from American Express

In the Americas things seem very “Status Quo” like, not many changes over the past few years.

Airlines:

Best Elite Program – American Airlines AAdvantage – I’m curious how this one will do next year. They’ve won for the past few years, and rightly so, as an Executive Platinum (EXP), I’ve really found that they take very good care of me, I’d imagine other EXP’s feel similarly.

Hotels:

MGM’s M Life program is making further inroads. I haven’t had too much experience with M Life, other than the reciprocal status from Hyatt Diamond. I am curious if the reciprocal status has had a positive impact on their ratings.

Credit Card:

American Express’ Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) card beat the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards card for the first time in 3 years. Ironic, because American Express wasn’t a sponsor of the Freddie Awards this year, but they sure brought the whole team up on stage to accept the award!

Freddie Awards for the Europe & Africa

Airline

Program of the Year — AIR FRANCE/KLM – Flying Blue
Best Elite Program — Lufthansa – Miles & More
Best Promotion — AIR FRANCE/KLM – Flying Blue
Best Customer Service — AIR FRANCE/KLM – Flying Blue
Best Redemption Ability — AIR FRANCE/KLM – Flying Blue
210 AWARD — Norwegian Air – Norwegian Reward

Hotel

Program of the Year — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
Best Elite Program — Starwood – Starwood Preferred Guest
Best Promotion — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
Best Customer Service — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
Best Redemption Ability — IHG – IHG Rewards Club
210 AWARD — IHG – IHG Rewards Club

Credit Card

Best Affinity Credit Card — Flying Blue American Express Card

Airlines:

Air France/KLM really took the day. I was surprised to see Norwegian Air’s Norwegian Reward program receive the 210 Award, which signifies an up and comer. There is no doubt that Norwegian Air is an up and comer, but I guess I don’t really associate Low Cost Carriers (LCC) and strong loyalty programs. I’d love to be proven wrong though!

Hotels:

The winners were very similar to last year, although looking back at the 2014 Freddie Awards, its interesting to see the progression that Accor made, to split the category fairly evenly with Starwood.

Freddie Awards for the Middle East & Asia/Oceania

Airline

Program of the Year — Virgin Australia – Velocity
Best Elite Program — EL AL – Matmid Club
Best Promotion — EL AL – Matmid Club
Best Customer Service — Virgin Australia – Velocity
Best Redemption Ability — Virgin Australia – Velocity
210 AWARD — Jet Airways – JetPrivilege

Hotel

Program of the Year — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
Best Elite Program — Hyatt – Gold Passport
Best Promotion — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
Best Customer Service — IHG – IHG Rewards Club
Best Redemption Ability — IHG – IHG Rewards Club
210 AWARD — ITC Hotels – Club ITC

Credit Card

Best Affinity Credit Card — ADIB Etihad Guest VISA Card

This is a huge, diverse region, including major heavyweights in the airline industry, but it was interesting to see how the awards fell.

Airlines:

El Al, I assume, has a very loyal base, and their promotion of 40% off awards, I imagine, would get a great deal of votes, as it did. Virgin Australia’s Velocity program on the other hand, I’m not nearly as familiar with, despite it winning pretty consistently over the years. As a result, I will be changing that in the coming months, since there are clearly values to be found.

Hotels:

This was another surprise for me. I know Taj Hotels Inner Circle has won in the past, but it was still surprising to me, to see them in the running for so many of the awards (I just wish I had taken photos!). Its definitely a program that I plan on looking into more.

Wrapping Up

As I’ve mentioned before, this is one of my favorite nights of the year. To paraphrase Gary Leff who was the MC said, it is a night to celebrate the successes of our favorite loyalty programs. Besides, its always nice to learn that there are programs that are really highly regarded and worth looking into–even if they might be outside of your comfort zone.