The 2020 Freddie Awards winners were announced last night. Loyalty program guru Randy Petersen started the Freddie Awards in 1988 to recognize the world’s best frequent travel programs. Awards are open to all airline, hotel, or credit card loyalty programs that issue miles, points, or other credits in a frequent flyer program or frequent guest program.
Members of travel loyalty programs determine Freddie Award winners through online voting. This year members cast more than 4 million votes.
Nominees are determined by contacting travel loyalty programs to establish their listing as well as their nomination for entry in the Best Promotion category. InsideFlyer magazine and the Freddie Awards Committee may also participate in submitting entries for Best Promotion.
Voters cast ballots for their favorite travel loyalty program in one of three geographical regions for airline and hotel programs in five categories plus a selection for best loyalty program credit card.
A 210 Award is given to the best scoring program that is ranked by fewer than 10% of voters. It’s meant to recognize an up and coming program delivering value to members that may not yet be on the radar of many frequent travelers.
There are some clear cut winners among hotels and airlines and a lot of carryover from the 2019 results.
In the America’s, airline winners were unchanged from 2019 with Southwest Airlines winning every category except Best Elite Program and Best Promotion. Marriott continued to dominate the hotel category with wins in three of five categories including Program of the year.
In Europe, Accor made a clean sweep of all five hotel categories replacing IHG for Best Promotion and Best Redemption Ability and Marriott for Best Elite Program. Norwegian Air strengthened its claim as the most popular European program.
Middle East & Africa voters placed Virgin Australia first in all airline categories for the second year in a row. ITC Hotels and Marriott claimed victories in hotel categories at the expense of IHG and Hyatt.
Here are the 2020 winners:
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 — Southwest Airlines > Rapid Rewards
210 AWARD — Air Canada > Aeroplan
Hotel
Program of the Year — Marriott Hotels > Marriott Bonvoy
Best Elite Program — Hyatt > World of Hyatt
Best Promotion — Marriott Hotels > Marriott Bonvoy
Best Customer Service — MGM – M life Rewards
Best Redemption Ability — Marriott Hotels > Marriott Bonvoy
210 AWARD — ALL > Accor Live Limitless
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card — Southwest Airlines > Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase
Europe & Africa
Airline
Program of the Year — Norwegian Air Shuttle > Norwegian Reward
Best Elite Program —Aeroflot > Aeroflot Bonus
Best Promotion — Norwegian Air Shuttle > Norwegian Reward
Best Customer Service — Norwegian Air Shuttle > Norwegian Reward
Best Redemption Ability — TAP Air Portugal > Miles&Go
210 AWARD — TAP Air Portugal > Miles&Go
Hotel
Program of the Year — ALL > Accor Live Limitless
Best Elite Program — ALL > Accor Live Limitless
Best Promotion — ALL > Accor Live Limitless
Best Customer Service — ALL > Accor Live Limitless
Best Redemption Ability — ALL > Accor Live Limitless
210 AWARD — Choice Hotels > Choice Privileges
Credit Card
Best Affinity Credit Card — Norwegian Air Shuttle – Norwegian Reward > Norwegian Card from Bank Norwegian
Middle East & Asia/Oceania
Airline
Program of the Year — Virgin Australia > Velocity
Best Elite Program — Virgin Australia > Velocity
Best Promotion — Virgin Australia > Velocity
Best Customer Service — Virgin Australia > Velocity
Best Redemption Ability — Virgin Australia > Velocity
210 AWARD — AirArabia > AirRewards
Hotel
Program of the Year — ALL > Accor Live Limitless
Best Elite Program — Marriott Hotels > Marriott Bonvoy
Best Promotion — Marriott Hotels > Marriott Bonvoy
Best Customer Service — ITC Hotels > Club ITC
Best Redemption Ability — ITC Hotels > Club ITC
210 AWARD — Wyndham Hotels > Wyndham Rewards
Credit Card
Best Affinity Credit Card — American Express > Membership Rewards from American Express
My Take
Rating frequent flyer and frequent guest programs is hard. It depends on knowledge of multiple programs. Determining best customer service and best award redemption ability requires having experience redeeming rewards and dealing with representatives in multiple programs. Furthermore, the level of customer service (and to an extent ease of award redemption) often varies depending on the level of elite status. The higher the status, the better the customer service.
For airlines in the Americas, I agree with American Airlines AAdvantage as having the best elite program. Delta Air Lines, however, has an excellent top tier Diamond status that offers free CLEAR membership and choice benefits including four space available upgrades to business class on international flights, credit vouchers, and airline lounge membership. American Executive Platinum status works better for me because of the opportunity to earn up to 10 international upgrades per year and ability to book first class on American’s international partners.
The results for hotels in the Americas surprised me a bit. Although I’ve spent more than 1,330 nights in Marriott and Starwood properties during my life and have been pleased with those stays, I would say Hyatt has a better program at least for those able to reach its highest level. Data breach(es) discovered in 2018 and devaluations of benefits in the Starwood merger taint my evaluation of Marriott.
Freddie Awards are essentially popularity contests that reflect the level of satisfaction with loyalty programs voters belong to or have heard about. Loyalty programs participate in the awards, but some don’t want to win. A few years ago, the head of Delta’s SkyMiles program said it would be a failure if Delta won. Its goal was not to be the best as judged by customers but to generate a high level of loyalty and revenue while costing the company as little as possible. Delta thinks that happens with a finish in the middle of the pack.
What’s your take on the Freddie Awards? Do you think it is better for loyalty programs to try to win a Freddie Award or be in the middle of the pack as far as member satisfaction? Please comment below. Thanks.
Salsaworldtraveler'sblog 
Have you ever flown Norwegian Air? I’m looking to book a flight to Paris and want an unfiltered opinion from a trusted person.
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Hi! I’ve heard good things about but have never flown Norwegian Air. It is a well regarded low-cost airline. Norwegian has a new fleet featuring the 787-9 my favorite aircraft. These days it is important to understand cancellation policies. There are reports of difficulties getting refunds when passengers cancel because of Covid-19. That has been a problem with many EU carriers and even United. Good luck with the trip to Paris.
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Thank you! Yes. I’d planned to get travel insurance. The rate is so low I can’t pass it up
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Many airlines have altered their cancellation policies due to the virus. Depending on your dates of travel, it may be possible to cancel for any reason and get a full refund (better than a credit or voucher). Medical insurance for travel is a very good idea to be on the safe side.
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Thanks for this information! Ill look into the airline’s policy first.
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Wow, Virgin Australia won all categories on Middle East & Asia/Oceania. It must be a really awesome airline. I wonder why there’s no Middle East and Japanese Airlines….
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I’ve never flown Virgin Australia so can’t really argue much about the awards except for customer service. I agree that considering Virgin Australia is competing against airlines like JAL, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and Qatar to name a few it is very surprising to see VA in first place for customer service.
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Yes, it is kind of surprising. But perhaps the juries have their own deliberations to decide who the winners are.
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Maybe most of the voters were from Australia. But the results in this year are the same as last year.
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That might be the reason. Come to think about it, I guess the jury know what they do. The public opinion is sometimes led by ads. And ads don’t necessarily reflect the actual experience, don’t they? There’s so many ads of Middle Eastern airlines at sports match and all and it could frame (false) images about them.
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I don’t have any experience with the rewards programs, so this is helpful to have these awards, along with your thoughts, to help others know what to look for in such programs
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I thought you were a Marriott guy from way back. 🙂 The “best” program depends on many individual goals, preferences and circumstances. One size definitely doesn’t fit all here.
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I accumulated a good number of Marriott points because of a timeshare purchase several years ago. But I’ve never really looked into how to most effectively use those points except for the occasional free night or two at one of their hotels. Since it is the only points program I’ve ever used, that may explain my Marriott bias…
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Free nights are a great use of your points. If you plan to increase travel after you retire, you may want to look into loyalty programs more closely. With your dedication and math skills, you would become expert very quickly.
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we hope to travel more when we retire. when we do, you will be one of the first people we contact for advice!
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I’d be happy to help. Flying international first or business class and staying in luxury hotels in exotic locations for “free” is a great way to see the world.
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sounds quite appealing to me!
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Freddie Awards Winners Are In – Survey Says…
loyalty and revenue
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I think loyalty leads to revenue. Or the other way around, less loyalty by airline, less revenue. I stopped flying Delta because the ff program had so any cutbacks.
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