World's Best Airline Rewards Programs Independently Ranked by point.me; Air France-KLM Flying Blue Named #1 Globally

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Sep 12, 2024, 06:00 ET

62 global airline reward programs were independently ranked by point.me, the reward travel search platform, with a specific and rigorous quantitative and qualitative methodology across nine categories
Flying Blue, the reward program of KLM and Air France, named best for travelers globally, followed by Air Canada Aeroplan and United MileagePlus
Regional leaders include Air Canada Aeroplan (North America), Avianca LifeMiles (Latin America), Qatar Airways Privilege Club (MEA), Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and ANA Mileage Club (tied) (APAC)

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- point.me, the points and travel reward search platform, released today its first annual rankings of 62 global airline loyalty programs. The objective is to provide consumers transparency and greater confidence in earning and redeeming points, with the independent perspective point.me provides.

Flying Blue – the reward program for Air France and KLM – was named by point.me as best-in-class globally for ease of earning miles, competitive redemption rates, and flexible routing rules to make booking flights easy.

Benjamin Lipsey, SVP Customer Loyalty and President of Flying Blue said:
"We are pleased to top the rankings released today by point.me. By harnessing the power of point.me, Flying Blue broadens its reach, captivating travelers and fostering loyalty, even among those who have yet to experience our airline firsthand. point.me elevates brand awareness and cultivates a community of avid explorers drawn to the promise of Air France, KLM, and all our partners."

"Getting real value from airline loyalty points is often significantly harder for passengers than it needs to be," said Adam Morvitz, CEO of point.me. "These rankings draw on our team's collective travel expertise and deep data-led insight from our reward search engine."

In this first annual ranking of airline loyalty programs, point.me and its team of 55 of the world's top points and miles experts ran extensive data analyses and identified the best programs against nine different traveler needs. These include ease of earning points and miles, booking reward tickets, availability of flights across different routes and partner programs, and customer service, including change fees, how quickly issues are resolved, and communication.

The full results and complete methodology are available in a report released today: World's Best Airline Rewards Programs, which features comments from some of the world's leading reward travel experts.

Top Ten Airline Reward Programs Globally

Airline reward program	Rank	Overall score %	Key Benefits
Flying Blue	1	93.06	● Ease of earning points through its extensive partnerships and great redemption rates.
Air Canada Aeroplan	2	77.43	● Reward seat availability on partner airlines with the most extensive network globally and generous routing.
United MileagePlus	3	72.22	● Competitive in many metrics and excellent for less frequent flyers.
British Airways Executive Club	4	69.10	● Great availability and excellent ease of earning.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	4	69.10	● Excellent customer service and reliable reward seat allocations on popular routes.
American Airlines AAdvantage	6	68.06	● Global travel, owing to its alliances with partner airlines as well as its strong domestic footprint.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan	7	65.97	● Enhanced seat availability and "free" 24-hour stopover options.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club	9	62.85	● Extensive route network made bigger with partners, plus competitive prices
JetBlue TrueBlue	10	61.81	● Customer-friendly policies like points pooling and no expiration on points, and great fares on East Coast routes
Avianca LifeMiles	10	59.72	● Competitively priced redemptions and ability to easily accrue miles.

Best performing loyalty programs by region

point.me's analysis and report also determine the best reward programs by region, to help travelers navigate based on their personal location. In its first annual ranking, the following airlines were top in their respective regions:

Region	Airline reward program
North America	Air Canada Aeroplan
Europe	Flying Blue (Air France-KLM)
Latin America (LATAM)	Avianca LifeMiles
Middle East & Africa	Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Asia/Oceania	3-way tie: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and ANA Mileage Club

The full results and methodology are available in a report released today: World's Best Airline Rewards Programs.

About point.me

point.me is a first-of-its-kind reward travel discovery tool and points concierge service. It provides travelers with a better way of comparing and booking flights with points – sharing real-time results from over 150 airlines, 30+ reward programs, and all major credit card reward programs.

point.me's points and travel reward search platform aims to democratize the reward space by helping travelers redeem their points for flights with ease and transparency. point.me members also have access to point concierges, alerts, and the unique 'Explore' tool, which allows them to fulfill their travel aspirations and search for reward flights by interest or destination.

SOURCE POINT.ME