This category matters equally to all when you ask most frequent flyers. And for good reason. If you can’t use your loyalty points, then what is the reason to collect them? In yet another category rating of 9.X, KrisFlyer proves consistency among all the categories it won a Freddie Award this year. They have consistently been near the top but unable to break through and maybe it did make a change in the industry (Covid+) for them to reset the expectations of their members. But they aren’t alone at the top. Right behind then in yet another very promising rating is the Vistara Club Vistara program rating in the high 8.X and again Garuda shows its promise with yet another top-three finish. Interesting that two Oceania programs—Air New Zealand and Qantas are side by side in numbers four and five while the former #1, Virgin Australia Velocity settled into the number eight spot. And as with other categories, the disappointment of no Chinese program in the top ten and the first Middle East-based program in this category, Emirates Skywards, could garner only a #10 finish for the highest rating.
Full Voting Results
Rank
Best Redemption Ability – Airlines (Middle East & Asia/Oceania)
Consideration for this award came down to just two candidates (the separation to the #3 rating was more than a half-full point): GarudaMiles and Airpoints. And the award goes to GarudaMiles. While Garuda is the country’s (Indonesia) flag carrier, it isn’t the largest airline though it flies both international and domestic flights. Competing against the likes of Lion Air which is the largest low-cost carrier in Southwest Asia has been a challenge but looking at the rating in this category for GarudaMiles bears out that this frequent flyer program is playing a large role in Garuda’s present and future plans including being part of the SkyTeam alliance. And just 2/10ths behind in ratings is Airpoints. Air New Zealand while not the home of a Freddie Award, is constantly rated in the top five over the years. They formerly had a strategic alliance with now-competitor Virgin Australia and have benefited from being a member of the Star Alliance.
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
