Air France’s wins hands down

Flying Blue is the most advantageous program for travelers according to specialist Point.me, which praises the ease of accumulating miles and obtaining award tickets and upgrades.

Free tickets, free options, upgrades… These are all rewards that frequent travelers can get, provided they accumulate enough points (or miles) and sign up for the airlines’ loyalty programs. To determine the most advantageous, Point.me, a global specialist in these programs, compared 62 by evaluating nine criteria, including the amount to spend before getting a free flight (“award ticket”), the ease of claiming your rewards or the quality of customer service.

Verdict? The Flying Blue program, created by the Air France – KLM group, receives the gold medal with an overall score of 93.06 out of 100, far ahead of Air Canada Aeroplan (77.43/100), number two in the ranking. The specialists at Point.me particularly praise the “large number of partners who make it easy to accumulate miles even without ever boarding an Air France or KLM flight“And for good reason, Flying Blue allows you to accumulate miles with around thirty partner companies (Transavia, ITA Airways, Korean Air, Delta Air Lines, etc.) as well as several hotel groups (ALL d’Accor, Hyatt, etc.) and car rental agencies (Avis, Hertz, etc.).

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Points earned… without taking a plane

The top of the ranking (see top 10 below) is dominated by North American loyalty programs, including those of United Airlines (3rd, 72.22/100) and American Airlines (6th, 68.06/100). Two other Europeans are among the most advantageous: British Airways, tied with its main competitor Virgin Atlantic (4th, 69.10/100).

Point.me notes that the majority of points earned do not come from the purchase of airline tickets but from partners and especially from credit cards created by airlines. Many of them affiliate with a banking organization to create a co-branded card (as is the case of Air France with American Express) in order to build customer loyalty and allow them to boost their earnings. Their holders can thus accumulate miles during their daily expenses (groceries, restaurants, etc.) without necessarily taking the plane.

Top 10 Best Airline Loyalty Programs: