Frequent Flyer Program Award Redemption Satisfaction: The Best and Worst Airlines for 2013
While most frequent flyer programs look similar in many respects, 
experienced travelers have come to understand that, with apologies to George Orwell, some programs are more equal than others.
If you are interested in award redemption, you will wish to read further: the most frequent of frequent flyers, (those who know the various programs better than anyone) rated Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan the best for the second year in a row. They were also quite happy with Southwest Rapid Rewards, American Airlines AAdvantage, JetBlue TrueBlue, and United Airlines MileagePlus, in that order.
Frequent Business Traveler and FlyerTalk, the world’s largest online travel community, teamed up to ask frequent travelers a simple question: exactly how satisfied were they with the programs they participate in. Survey respondents rated their level of satisfaction with the award redemption process of their programs by indicating whether they were “very satisfied,” “satisfied,” or “not satisfied.”
Members of Delta SkyMiles and Air Canada Aeroplan were by far the least satisfied with the award redemption aspect of their programs; 67% and 68% of the respective program’s members said they were “not satisfied” with their ability to redeem awards. After that came US Airways Dividend Miles with a 45% dissatisfaction rate, followed by Air France-KLM Flying Blue and British Airways Executive Club with slightly lower 40% rates.
If you don’t see your favorite frequent flyer program in the rankings, it’s because airlines that received fewer than 93 responses weren’t included as the findings weren’t statistically significant.
Click here to continue to Page 2 – Detailed Results and Comparison Chart
