Voting open for the 2017 Freddie awards

Voting is now open for the 2017 Freddie Awards, where travelers decide which airlines and hotels have the best loyalty programs in the world.

2017 is the 29th 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.

"Last year we had 3.5 million voters and served well over 20 million page views," Petersen told TheTravelPro in an email. "It's always a reminder to us that this is about 'the voice of the frequent flier" and I'm pretty happy that ... our fellow travelers have a place to they can let the world know who has their loyalty."

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 13 different languages, up from nine last year. Votes can be cast in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch,. German, Italian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

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)
Voting closes on March 31. The awards will be presented on April 27 at a special ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City in the metropolitan New York City area.

For more about the Freddies, see my previous articles detailing the winners from the 2016,  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.



Photo provided by The Freddie Awards
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