The Best Frequent Flyer Programs to Strive For
I travel a lot for work, but most of the time I don’t book plane tickets. That’s great, but it means that by the end of the year, I’m almost always several thousand miles away from almost every major airline. After this happened on the Gagillionth time last year, I started getting very specific with the person booking my tickets with which airlines I would prefer to fly and it paid off. This year I achieved Elite Status on American Airlines flights and a few weeks later on Delta flights.
When you fly infrequently, the airline’s status doesn’t really matter. When you fly all the time, it can make a big difference. Frequent flyers can get privileges as small as free checked baggage and big ones like free upgrades to First Class. What benefits you get depends in part on your status level and in part on which airline you have that status with.
The Points Guy recently reviewed all of the existing frequent flyer programs to determine which one would be the best.
Overall, the company honored Alaska with the top award for Best Elite Program. United is in second place, followed by Delta, followed by America, JetBlue and Southwest.
Alaska won in large part because of how it calculates its elite status. Most airlines have adopted a method where you not only have to travel 25,000 miles to reach their low end, but spend $ 3,000. Alaska has no financial commitment and also offers the best bonus miles when you earn status.
While the combination of money and miles should give you status at about the same time, my American status, for example, was delayed by more than $ 120 for a month. I crossed the 25,000-mile threshold before I reached the cash requirement. On the Delta, I have long exceeded my need for money, but I am still 3000 miles short.
For low-level passengers who fly 25,000 miles and spend $ 3,000 on a pear, which happens to me on multiple airlines, The Points Guy says it’s best to aim for the Alaska MVP program, followed by American, Delta and United. … JetBlue and Southwest do not offer status at this level.
The Points Guy website has a tool with which you can enter your personal travel habits to determine which frequent flyer program might be right for you. Once you decide which one you want to choose, it will definitely be profitable for you to book all your flights with this airline.
The site notes that if the program is right for you based on your miles and money, it may not be ideal due to your location. For example, Alaska has the best frequent flyer program, but if the majority of your flights are to places where Alaska is not served (which is a lot), you might be better off choosing someone like United or Delta. …