The results of 4.2 million votes cast from 237 countries worldwide for the winners of the 28th annual Freddie Awards were announced at the Museum of Flight in Seattle last week.

2018 Freddie Awards: The Results are In…

The frequent travel loyalty programs and credit cards that were recognized as winners of the 2018 Freddie Awards — which are divided into categories amongst three distinct regions in the world — are as follows:

Americas

AIRLINE

• Program of the Year — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
• Best Elite Program — American Airlines – AAdvantage
• Best Promotion — Southwest Rapid Rewards
• Best Customer Service — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
• Best Redemption Ability — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards
• 210 AWARD — Avianca – LifeMiles

HOTEL

• Program of the Year — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards
• Best Elite Program — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards
• Best Promotion — MGM – M life Rewards
• Best Customer Service — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards
• Best Redemption Ability — Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards
• 210 AWARD — MGM – M life Rewards

CREDIT CARD

• Best Loyalty Credit Card — Southwest Airlines – Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card – Chase

Europe and Africa

AIRLINE

• Program of the Year — Norwegian Air – Norwegian Reward
• Best Elite Program — Aeroflot Bonus
• Best Promotion — Norwegian Air – Norwegian Reward
• Best Customer Service — Aeroflot Bonus
• Best Redemption Ability — Aeroflot Bonus
• 210 AWARD — Aeroflot Bonus

HOTEL

• Program of the Year — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
• Best Elite Program — Marriott – Marriott Rewards 
• Best Promotion — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
• Best Customer Service — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
• Best Redemption Ability — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
• 210 AWARD — IHG Reward Club

CREDIT CARD

• Best Affinity Credit Card — American Express – Membership Rewards

Middle East, Asia and Oceania

AIRLINE

• Program of the Year — Virgin Australia – Velocity
• Best Elite Program — Virgin Australia – Velocity
• Best Promotion — Emirates Skywards
• Best Customer Service — Virgin Australia – Velocity
• Best Redemption Ability — Virgin Australia – Velocity
• 210 AWARD — Saudia Alfursan

HOTEL

• Program of the Year — IHG Rewards Club
• Best Elite Program — Starwood – Starwood Preferred Guest
• Best Promotion — IHG Rewards Club
• Best Customer Service — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
• Best Redemption Ability — Accor Hotels – Le Club Accorhotels
• 210 AWARD — TAJ Innercircle

CREDIT CARD

• Best Affinity Credit Card — ADCB Etihad Guest Above Visa Card

About the Freddie Awards

Introduced in 1988 by Randy Petersen — who is the founder of InsideFlyer — the Freddie Awards 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 traveler; and to honor the efforts of an industry which counts greater than 300 million members worldwide.

The results of the first Freddie Awards were announced by the premier issue of Frequent — a humble newsletter which was the precursor to InsideFlyer — and one thing is for certain: Trans World Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways and Eastern Airlines were not winners at the Freddie Awards this year.

In 1988, thousands of voters cast ballots for the Freddie Awards. That number increased exponentially to 2.9 million ballots in 2013; and had reached approximately 3.5 million ballots in 2016. Balloting is now available in 14 different languages.

Inside Take

Marriott Rewards, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, Accor Hotels and Virgin Australia dominated the Freddie Awards for this year…

…but one highlight includes Norwegian Reward winning the coveted award of Airline Program of the Year in the Europe and Africa region for the second consecutive year — along with also winning this year for Best Promotion. The frequent flier loyalty program currently has greater than six million members and is still growing. Every time you book a trip with Norwegian or use services from the partners of  Norwegian Reward, you earn CashPoints which can be used to pay for flights.

Only one question remains: which frequent travel loyalty programs will be winners in the 29th Freddie Awards next year?

Source: Freddie Awards.