To help you navigate through the most popular and effective loyalty programs of various airlines, we have put together some valuable hints on how to choose the best airline loyalty program.

Loyalty programs in the context of airlines are marketing strategies that are intended to promote customer retention by offering frequent travelers valuable rewards for choosing one airline over another. By now, it has become rather common for the majority of international airlines to have some form of frequent flyer program as well as several levels that entitle the passengers to more perks and incentives as the number of miles or flight segments increases. However, in light of the above-discussed airlines, which of them has the best loyalty program? Here’s an in-depth look at some of the biggest contenders with details of how they can help your online business.

Emirates Skywards

Emirates Skywards is another loyalty program for Emirates Airlines and is one of the most highly recognized programs in the world with more than 20 million members. What makes Skywards special is that all miles expire after a fixed period only if the account holder has activity in that account; this means that the number of miles that one has can only increase and never decrease no matter how long one has not flown. There are four different membership levels in the program – Blue, Silver, Gold, and Platinum – though each of these brings additional privileges such as lounge access, priority services, free baggage allowance, and upgrade offers.

The program also has an easy-to-use online system that allows the tracking of the available miles, redemptions of awards and upgrades, and the progress of the tier status. Emirates skywards can also be accrued not only while in the air but also through other Emirates partners such as hotels, car hire, and banks. Redemption rates are also very reasonable – for example, touring from Dubai to Europe in Economy class will cost you 20,000 Skyward miles per fare. In conclusion, if we look at the ease of earning and the usability of the Skywards together with high values of miles redemption this consideration can be considered to be a winner.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Singapore Airlines, through its KrisFlyer frequent flyer program, currently has customers with over 3 million memberships globally. One of them is that KrisFlyer miles do not have an expiration date so if they do not travel frequently with Singapore Airlines, members can stack up their miles for the long term. The KrisFlyer program has four tiers: KrisFlyer, KrisFlyer Elite Silver, KrisFlyer Gold, and PPS Club; benefits include annual upgrade to Preferred Economy, redemption of business and/or first-class seats at discounted rates, and priority booking privileges.

Specifically valuable for members originating from Southeast Asia, KrisFlyer enables the holder to use his/her miles to secure award flights on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir along with more than thirty partners including United Airlines and Lufthansa. Miles can also be used to upgrade to higher classes or get day access to airport lounges. Specialty airlines, hotels, credit card programs, and rail services or other travel transfer partnerships make it simple to earn the miles. KrisFlyer can provide useful miles, a convenient number of partners, reasonable redemption costs as well and priority rewards for members who belong to the higher tier.

Delta SkyMiles

If the loyalty program is located in the Americas, then an ideal option would be Delta Airlines SkyMiles. The rewards program is among the world’s biggest with signing up over 100 million travelers. Even when you are a basic cardholder, SkyMiles provides benefits such as priority boarding and check-in. There are four other tiers which are Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond that are associated with other benefits such as free checked bags, access to lounges, and bonuses in the number of miles.

However, despite its shortcomings, there is a notable positive aspect of SkyMiles, and that is that the miles never expire, even if the member is inactive. And as if that was not enough, Delta has quite several airline and hotel partners that will enable you to earn even more rewards. As for mileage, SkyMiles allows the use of cash + miles for award bookings to meet a better redemption rate. Also, you can use the miles to purchase Delta credits for upgrading to the seat, having additional leg space, and acquiring the day pass to the lounge. Surprisingly, despite being such a big program and having so many customers, Delta doesn’t take a hit in the quality of its customer service. As a whole, SkyMiles has the reliability, the ability the freedom to redeem the miles, and the valuable elite tiers that attract passengers continually.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

It is Cathay Pacific Asia Miles based in Hong Kong with a membership of over 9 million members across the globe. There are benefits from base-tier membership including prioritized standby as well as wait list. There are also four layers of privilege with such perks as business-class seats and upgrades, access to the lounges, and check-in baggage allowance. Like Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program, each Asia Miles never expires no matter how inactive or active a member is.

Cathay Pacific has one of the biggest list of airline and hotel partners with more than 1000 partners in total, making it easy to earn miles fast. Booking award flights is very convenient when using their site and app to make the bookings. Besides that, Asia Miles also has promotional events such as “Green Monday” which gives sales, or double miles during festive seasons. If you live in Hong Kong or are a traveler from anywhere else, have flown on Cathay Pacific frequently or otherwise, Asia Miles is a great loyalty program with great value, miles, flight options, and member benefits.

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

Turkish Airlines is a relatively young airline over the last ten years they have grown very fast, and Istanbul airport is in the middle of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The Miles&Smiles loyalty program is a perfect fit for this growth and popularity. Miles&Smiles is one of the largest programs in the world with more than 10 million members and has a simple and rather quite profuse rewards system.

Miles also has a way of expiring after 2 years of no activity on the account. However, Turkish Airlines loyalty members will not have problems in earning miles that are used in exchange for award flights not only within the extensive Turkish Airlines network but also among their many partners such as United Airlines, Air Canada, and Japan Airlines among others. It is also important to note that there are four tier levels of the site with more privileges for premium users. Accommodations, car rentals, credit cards, and so on accumulate more miles in your account.

However, there is a special one in the form of the lounge program for members of the Miles&Smiles airline in the extensive Ankara airport of Turkish Airlines. All in all, one could state that the offered by Miles&Smiles is a rather useful and extensive loyalty program for traveling by connecting the globe.

The Bottom Line

Hence, there are enough choices when it comes to picking the best airline loyalty programs based on the home airport location, global alliance favorite travel destinations, and so on. Fortunately, there are programs like Emirates Skywards, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and Delta SkyMiles that give incentives no matter where the customer is based. Some are situated in locations such as Hong Kong or Istanbul which allow for easy transit between other travel routes.

Almost all programs have their premium or top-level tiers that have enhanced services, free access to lounges, and bonus accrual of mileage. Crediting of miles through partnerships with hotels, credit cards, railways, and so on, makes the accumulation of the same possible. Redeeming award seats using miles is one of the most valuable propositions available in today’s world. In the end whichever is the best airline loyalty program suits the usual flying habits and requirements of the flyer and is preferred over years of joyful flying.

Book your Delta Airlines ticket now! Call +1 833-902-2090