Membership Rewards wins without belonging to an airline

Best Loyalty Credit Card — Middle East & Asia/Oceania · American Express Membership Rewards

American Express Membership Rewards wins Best Loyalty Credit Card in Middle East & Asia/Oceania.

And there’s an interesting distinction here.

Membership Rewards isn’t an airline program.

It isn’t a hotel program.

That’s largely the point.

Transferable currencies changed the loyalty hobby by giving members optionality. Instead of choosing the airline before earning the point, members can choose later.

Frequent travelers rather like options.

Especially when award availability decides it doesn’t like them.

American Express built an ecosystem where points could become miles across multiple programs.

In a region with an extraordinary collection of airline loyalty currencies, flexibility itself won the Freddie.

Sometimes the best airline mile isn’t an airline mile.

At least not yet.