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Freddie Awards 2022
I had the distinct pleasure of attending the 2022 Freddie Awards in New Orleans this past week, and it was everything I’d hoped it to be. If you’re unfamiliar with the Freddie’s, they are effectively the People’s Choice awards for loyalty programs around the world. Randy Petersen, the godfather of points and miles, started the Freddie’s back in 1988. He named it after Sir Freddie Laker and this year over 4.2 million people voted around the world. It was a real treat of an experience…I’m not sure if you can tell of not, but I loved talking shop with so many industry insiders and travel lovers.
I’m not sure they’ll invite me back, lol.
It was held at the National World War 2 Museum in New Orleans and there was a very excited, positive energy to the event that hasn’t had a live gathering since 2019. I was able to attend with my wife, and nabbed seating at table #2 with the Freddie’s MC Scott McCartney, the longtime Wall Street Journal columnist who I’ve been a fan of for many years. We were also seated next to executives of both Accor and Shangri-La who both won awards…our table was quite victorious! Both Gary Leff and Ed Pizzarello presented awards, along with the lovely Jeanne Hoffman of Le Chic Geek.
What I enjoyed most was putting faces to names I’ve emailed with, blogs I’ve read, and executives I’ve seen in the press.
So who won?
Some winners weren’t a surprise at all, with Marriott taking a lot of trophies home along with Singapore, TAP, and Air Canada. I was surprised by how few awards Hyatt won, and the credit card winners. What it really shows me is the rabbit hole of points and miles is quite a vacuum chamber, and the Freddie’s highlights the loyalty programs that appeal to the masses. Here’s a list of the winners:
The Winners Americas:
Airline
Program of the Year — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
Best Elite Program — American Airlines – AAdvantage
Best Promotion — Avianca – LifeMiles – 175% Bonus on Purchased Miles
Best Customer Service — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
Best Redemption Ability — Air Canada – Aeroplan
210 AWARD — Air Canada – Aeroplan
** The 210 Award is given to the best scoring program that is ranked by fewer than 10% of voters. It’s meant to recognize an up and coming program delivering value to members that may not yet be on the radar of as many frequent travelers.
Hotel
Program of the Year — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
Best Elite Program — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
Best Promotion — Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards – Earn for Next Year
Best Customer Service — Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards
Best Redemption Ability — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
210 AWARD — Hyatt Hotels – World of Hyatt
** The 210 Award is given to the best scoring program that is ranked by fewer than 10% of voters. It’s meant to recognize an up and coming program delivering value to members that may not yet be on the radar of as many frequent travelers.
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card — Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
The Winners Europe and Africa
Airline
Program of the Year — TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Best Elite Program — TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Best Promotion — TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go – Black Friday
Best Customer Service — TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Best Redemption Ability — TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
210 AWARD — Virgin Atlantic – Flying Club
** The 210 Award is given to the best scoring program that is ranked by fewer than 10% of voters. It’s meant to recognize an up and coming program delivering value to members that may not yet be on the radar of as many frequent travelers.
Hotel
Program of the Year — Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Elite Program — Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Promotion — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy – Better Two-gether
Best Customer Service — Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Redemption Ability — Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
210 AWARD — GHA – GHA Discovery
** The 210 Award is given to the best scoring program that is ranked by fewer than 10% of voters. It’s meant to recognize an up and coming program delivering value to members that may not yet be on the radar of as many frequent travelers.
Credit Card
Best Affinity Credit Card — American Express – Membership Rewards
The winners Middle East Asia/Oceania
Airline
Program of the Year — Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
Best Elite Program — Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
Best Promotion — Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer – Earn Status Credit without Flying
Best Customer Service —Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
Best Redemption Ability — Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
210 AWARD — Garuda Indonesia – GarudaMiles
** The 210 Award is given to the best scoring program that is ranked by fewer than 10% of voters. It’s meant to recognize an up and coming program delivering value to members that may not yet be on the radar of as many frequent travelers.
Hotel
Program of the Year — ITC Hotels – Club ITC
Best Elite Program — ITC Hotels – Club ITC
Best Promotion — ITC Hotels – Club ITC – Reduced Requalification Requirements
Best Customer Service — Marriott Hotel – Marriott Bonvoy
Best Redemption Ability — ITC Hotels – Club ITC
210 AWARD — Shangri-La – Circle
** The 210 Award is given to the best scoring program that is ranked by fewer than 10% of voters. It’s meant to recognize an up and coming program delivering value to members that may not yet be on the radar of as many frequent travelers.
Credit Card
Best Affinity Credit Card — American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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