If you’re a regular traveller, airfare savings are likely to be very important to you, which is why frequent flyer programs can be hugely attractive. Airline reward programs give frequent fliers a percentage off their airline spending, and 7% of flights are paid for with points or miles, on average. To help travellers in the US make informed decisions around committing to a carrier, the personal-finance website WalletHub has released its 2019 Best Frequent Flyer Program report.
Frequent flyer programs offer rewards to travellers using them. Image: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc./Getty Images
It ranks the 10 largest domestic airlines on 23 categories, ranging from the value of a point/mile to blackout dates for rewards flights. On that basis, it has placed the Delta SkyMiles program in first place, for the fourth straight year. United Airlines’ Mileage Plan comes in second place, JetBlue Airways’ TrueBlue program is in third place, and the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program comes in fourth place. The Hawaiian Airlines program, HawaiianMiles, is in fifth place, and it actually offers the highest-value rewards, at $21.29 per $100 spent.
An average of 7% of flights are paid for with points or miles. Image by FatCamera/Getty Images
WalletHub’s report found that Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways are the only two major airlines whose miles do not expire because of inactivity. Other findings include that the Barclaycard Arrival Plus and the Lufthansa Credit Card were 2019’s best airline credit cards. The good news for travellers is that eight of the 10 airlines don’t have blackout dates for tickets purchased with miles. Five of the airlines will retroactively credit loyalty program members with miles for a flight up to 12 months later, and seven of them will allow rewards program members to earn and redeem miles with partner carriers.
WalletHub has released its report on 2019’s Best Frequent Flyer Program. Image by AzmanL/Getty Images
The report also features a custom calculator that allows travellers to personalize the results based on their own budget. To read it in full, please visit here.
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