Vote for your favorite travel loyalty programs

Voting is now open for the 2016 Freddie Awards, where travelers decide which airlines and hotels have the best loyalty programs in the world.

2016 is the 28th year of the Freddie Awards. Created in 1988 by Randy Petersen, the publisher and editor of InsideFlyer magazine, the “Freddies” are named in honor of Sir Freddie Laker and have grown in stature and importance to become the most prestigious member-generated awards in the travel loyalty industry. The goal of the Freddie Awards is to give voice to the frequent flier and to honor the efforts of an industry that counts more than 300 million members worldwide, according to the Freddie Awards website.

Travelers from around the world can vote for their favorite loyalty programs, including airline frequent flier programs, hotel loyalty programs and co-branded "affinity" credit cards. Travelers can cast ballots in nine different languages, including English, German, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian, Korean and Arabic.

The Freddie Awards recognizes frequent traveler programs within three separate regions: the Americas, Europe/Africa and the Middle East/Asia/Oceania. Travelers who choose to participate can cast votes in 11 categories:
  • Program of the Year(Airline)
  • Program of the Year (Hotel)
  • Best Promotion (Airline)
  • Best Promotion (Hotel)
  • Best Redemption Ability (Airline)
  • Best Redemption Ability (Hotel)
  • Best Customer Service (Airline)
  • Best Customer Service (Hotel)
  • Best Loyalty Credit Card
  • Best Elite Program (Airline), and
  • Best Elite Program (Hotel)
Last year, travelers from the world over contributed nearly 21 million page views during voting. This year's voting closes on March 31.

Voting for one's favorite programs could yield more than a warm and fuzzy feeling. This year, InsideFlyer has partnered with Gogo to give away a 10-Use in-flight Wi-Fi Pass, a $160.00 value, to one voter each day of the voting. Voting also enables a traveler to sign up for a Points Loyalty Wallet, which allows them to manage all of their loyalty programs in one location, move points and miles between programs, and reward themselves with gift cards. A Points Loyalty Wallet allows the tracking and organization of more than 100 airline, hotel, retail and credit card programs from around the globe.

In addition, voters will be able to save 20 percent on a Priority Pass membership. As previously reported by TheTravelPro, Priority Pass is not tied to a specific airline but instead offers access to over 850 lounges through cooperative agreements with various airline lounges around the world.

See my previous posts for the winners from the 2015 and 2014 Freddie Awards, or visit www.FreddieAwards.com.

Visit my main page at TheTravelPro.us for more news, reviews, and personal observations on the world of upmarket travel.



Photos by Carl Dombek
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