Voting opens for 2018 Freddie Awards

Voting is now open for the 2018 Freddie Awards, where travelers decide which airlines and hotels have the best loyalty programs in the world.

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 ... travelers contributed nearly 25 million page views in voting," Petersen told TheTravelPro in an email. Since their inception, the Freddies have become known as "the voice of the frequent flier," providing a forum to 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 nine different languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Turkish, Hindi, Russian 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)
Voting closes on March 31. The awards will be presented on April 26 at a special ceremony at the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle.

For more about the Freddies, see my previous articles detailing the winners from the 20172016,  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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