Plastic typically has its own mind and not always does a leading loyalty program have the leading credit card. This year they do as KrisFlyer sweeps all airline programs and the Best Loyalty Credit Card category with the American Express Singapore KrisFlyer Credit Card. But there is something telling about this finish—it is the only category in which they won a Freddie Award in which the category rating was below 9.X. But that is not unusual as it also happened in the Americas where the plastic winner was rated below the average of the other winning categories. Is it because the credit card is managed outside the loyalty program? One more interesting quirk about this category this year is that for the first time in any credit card region, a hotel credit card finished in the #2 spot. The Marriott Bonvoy credit card in the region is known as The Best Shihan Card. First released in early 2021, it is the first hotel industry credit card in South Korea and has proven to be not only very popular but highly rated as well. GarudaMiles Citi Card and American Express Membership Rewards almost tied for the third place though by just a one/hundredths of a point did GarudaMiles rank higher. As for American Express Membership Rewards, they are no stranger to this category having won Best Loyalty Credit Card in 2017, 2019, and the most recent year, 2020. What is surprising is that a perennial winner, the ADIB Etihad Guest credit card did not even place anywhere near the top. And just as in other categories, Vistara Club Vistara is in the ratings with their plastic product.
Full Voting Results
Rank
Best Loyalty Credit Card (Middle East & Asia/Oceania)
Rating
1
American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card
No stranger to winning this category, Membership Rewards won Best Loyalty Credit Card in 2018 breaking a streak by upstart Norwegian Reward and their Norwegian Card from Bank Norwegian which won in 2020, 2019, and 2017. Prior to that, it was a nice streak by Flying Blue in the years 2013-2016. Membership Rewards is also a frequent winner in the Middle East & Asia/Oceania region as well. They (Membership Rewards) play well with others and have a value proposition that is hard to beat when maximizing all your loyalty currencies—flexibility. And very close right behind was the TAP Miles&Go Millennium BCP Credit Card. Miles&Go won all the other airline categories in this region and we’re sure would have loved this one. It is issued as a Visa. Perhaps the interesting card in the top five is the Accor ALL Visa Payment Card. Hotel loyalty credit cards are still rarities and it’s nice to see such a strong showing as this one by ALL.
Full Voting Results
Rank
Best Loyalty Credit Card (Europe & Africa)
Rating
1
American Express Membership Rewards
8.68
2
TAP Millennium BCP Credit Card
8.42
3
ALL Visa Payment Card
8.18
4
Lufthansa Miles More Gold Credit Card
7.92
5
Air France KLM American Express
7.59
6
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card
7.58
7
Bank Norwegian Norwegian Card
7.56
8
Turkish Airlines Miles Smiles Credit Card
7.43
9
British Airways Executive Club American Express Card
7.37
10
UIA Alfa Sky Pass Card
7.34
11
Czech Airlines Raiffeisenbank OK Plus E Mastercard
This category can claim the title of being the most interesting. For instance, TAP Miles&Go won this category in 2017, 2019, and 2020 and look what they did this year, they grew out of it and won overall Freddie Awards for all major airline categories. The winner in 2016 was Norwegian Reward as they ascended toward relevancy with a strong loyalty offering. This year they were #4 in this category and the 2015 winner, Aegean Miles Bonus was in a very positive place with their #3 finish. Flying Club is a program that rests in the cradle of an airline that has won a lot of awards over the years with the style of delivery and service for their inflight cabins. But they’ve escaped attention to their loyalty offering in a very competitive European marketplace. For many years SAS ruled the loyalty space, Turkish has garnered attention as has Aeroflot. Virgin Atlantic might be handicapped by its routes but certainly not by its product and its loyalty program. Recent moves to establish a more far-reaching loyalty currency could make for a large change here. All we know is that this year, Flying Club and its members earned the respect they deserve.
This is a category in which there seems to not be any competition. TAP Miles&Go easily wins this Freddie Award with almost a whole point and a half rating higher than Air France KLM Flying Blue in the #2 spot followed by Lufthansa Mies & More in the #3 spot. Neither of these two programs are strangers to top finishes in this category. Flying Blue won it in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and most recently in 2020, while Lufthansa won in 2012. 2018 and 2019 Freddie Awards in this category were won by Aeroflot who likely was hampered by world events this year. But the distance between Miles&Go and Flying Blue this year is certainly attention-getting. Very rare for any program to win a category by that margin.
Full Voting Results
Rank
Best Redemption Ability – Airlines (Europe & Africa)
Another category in which TAP Miles&Go show excellence this year, a full point higher rating to capture another Freddie Award in 2022 than Lufthansa Miles & More in the #2 spot besting Air France KLM Flying Blue in #3. Both Flying Blue and Lufthansa have won this award before, Flying Blue in 2016 and Lufthansa in 2015. And if you are wondering, SAS EuroBonus won in 2014. Aeroflot had a three-year streak from 2017-2019 and Norwegian Reward won in 2020. No one program owns this category which we think is a good thing. Congrats to Miles&Go, may this start something for you but also to the past winners …. but a little bit more of how you say—thank you.
Full Voting Results
Rank
Best Customer Service – Airlines (Europe & Africa)
Another outstanding rating by Miles&Go on their way to a sweep in this region for 2022. In both the Americas and Middle East Asia/Oceania, the margins between #1 and #2 were a quarter to a half-point, this margin is a full one and a quarter-point in ratings. What promotion could rank this high? the Miles&Go Black Friday which offered “Between 26 November until 1 December TAP Miles&Go Club offered a total of 144,000 bonus miles and 8,000 status miles with a 12-month mileage purchase subscription.” Uhhhhh, 144,000 bonus miles and additional status miles will do it almost any time. As mentioned, Flying Blue was #2 with this: “Gain Double XP >>> Members automatically gained double elite qualifying points to maintain their current status and reach the next one faster on all Air France and KLM-marketed flights taken between July 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021.” Lufthansa has a top-three finish with this: “Earn Additional Status Miles in 2021 >>> From 1st January to 31th of December 2021 members earned double status miles for flights, double HON Circle miles with flights in First and Business Class and Frequent Travellers & Senators were also able to earn status miles when using their Miles & More Credit Card.” But we’re still thinking about those 144,000 bonus miles from Miles&Go.
