Apr 25, 2013 | 2013 Freddie Awards
The earliest Freddie Awards only had a few hundred voters. It was a young industry and there weren’t that many people playing the game. To help get out the vote, Randy would take a bundle of ballots wherever he was traveling. When staying at a hotel, he’d wake up early and go down the hallway on every floor and slide a ballot under the door of each hotel room. He got caught a few times when security would notice and ask what he was doing. He says, “I never got thrown in jail but they were trying to figure out what I was doing.”
The original ballots were paper ballots and needed to be stamped and mailed. Freddie voting has gone from mailing, to faxing, to online and now voters are turning to mobile devices. Over 25 percent of the votes this year came in via a mobile device.
Randy says Freddie Awards ballots have “gone through everything except the Pony Express.”
Apr 24, 2013 | 2013 Freddie Awards
The House of Miles staff arrives safely at the Hilton Tysons Corner.
The “Strong” in our “Flying Strong” luggage tags means:
A. The type of coffee you need when you wake up at 5 a.m. to catch your flight on time.
B. How you feel after making it to the hotel with all of your luggage and co-workers accounted for.
C. A word in one of the mottos of a charity embraced by the Milepoint community.
D. How you feel when you push your neighbor’s arm off the plane armrest, thus winning round one of Armrest Wars.
Apr 24, 2013 | 2013 Freddie Awards
The idea behind the Freddie Awards was a simple one. Freddie Awards founder Randy Petersen was frequently asked, “Who has the best frequent flyer program?” The answer was easy for him to answer for himself, but the best program isn’t the same for everyone. What’s good for Bruce in Seattle or Bob in Fort Lauderdale is different than what is best for Sharon in Memphis because the airlines serving the areas are different and people have different types of redemption patterns. Maybe they want upgrades and status instead of free flights and discounts.
Randy started the Freddie Awards as a way to make it easier to answer the question he was repeatedly getting asked as frequent flyer programs became more popular. With the results of the Freddie Awards voting, he could tell people which program won Program of the Year or Best Elite Program and the answer would be more objective and universal than his personal opinion.
This year, over 2.9 million people voted in the Freddie Awards and in less than 24 hours, this year’s winners will be revealed.
Apr 24, 2013 | 2013 Freddie Awards
From the “You can check in but you can never check out” department, here’s a sneak look at the new logo proudly displayed on the custom room key cards at the Hilton Tyson’s Corner—host hotel for this year’s Freddie Awards.
Apr 22, 2013 | 2013 Freddie Awards
We were excited to see the Fed Ex delivery gal this morning, as she brought us a very special, top-secret package. Enclosed was this year’s brand new Freddie trophy. Nope, we can’t reveal the trophy to you just yet. We couldn’t even give the cheerful delivery woman a peek.
You don’t have too much longer to wait though, the unveiling will be at this year’s Freddie Awards, just 3 days away.
Apr 26, 2012 | 2013 Freddie Awards, Best Customer Service
The top four finishers in this category are Jet Airways JetPrivilege, Etihad Guest, Gulf Air Falconflyer and Virgin Australia Velocity.
Accepting the Freddie Award for JetPrivilege is Siva Ramachandran, Regional Vice President – Americas. “It’s great to be appreciated. This airline prides itself on customer service. Thank you very much.”
Congratulations to JetPrivilege with a great win with an 8.87 value vote.
This is not the first dance with a Freddie Award for Best Customer Service for Jet Airways JetPrivilege. The program has won the award two other times. Members tell us the customer service representatives are very helpful and concerns are quickly addressed.
