What Airlines Have the Best Points Programs?
- Abigail Gaston
- Apr 17, 2018
- 8 min read
I receive a lot of questions on how I get such great deals on flights. I often plan my trips out 6+ months prior to departure, not always, but for the most part. This doesn’t just allow me a good amount of time to prepare for each trip, it also allows for opportunity and time to discover the best possible airfare price.
However, the truth is, I do not solely rely on cheap flights hunting to get the lowest possible airfare cost. Actually, if I am being totally honest, I get many amazing deals through airline memberships and airfare miles programs.
There are more airline points, miles and membership programs out there, as well as credit cards but that is a seperate discussion altogether, than I can possibly touch upon in this one post. So, let’s briefly discuss some of the free programs that I am not only familiar with, but also feel are the best in the game.
Delta Airlines:
Delta Airlines is the second largest airline in the world (second to American Airlines) and was ranked second out of all airlines for overall customer satisfaction in 2017 (Alaska Airlines took first for the 10th year in a row!). Although Delta may rank second in the aforementioned, they definitely rank first in my book with their “Delta Skymiles” membership.
Three top reasons they rank first for me is because of the following. First, they give you so much opportunity to earn points without stipulations tied to them. Second, through the wide variety of Delta Partners, you can fly all over the world and both earn and use points. Third, you do not necessarily have to get to a certain number of miles, in order to save money. The latter is my favorite!
See below for further details on Delta Skymiles:
- Free to join
- Earn one mile per dollar spent
- Multi-tiered based on spending
- Medallion Members receive additional miles per dollar spent, as well as many other awesome perks, including unlimited upgrades.
-4 Tiers: Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver -To get to these levels, earn Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs), Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) and Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs). (My experience has been that you really have to travel quite often to hit these or spend some major bucks)
- Miles awarded once trip begins; not before, this is typical for all programs
- Miles never expire
- No cap on the amount of miles you can earn
- Zero blackout dates
- Earn miles around the world with Delta partners - 20 other Skyteam airlines to earn points through (1000+ destinations to choose from)
- Additional miles earned through Delta Vacations, Delta Hotels, and Delta Rental Car Affiliates.
- Use your miles when you would like to use them
Example: You have 9,342 miles. Your airline ticket costs $246. Normally, airlines would tell you that you do not have enough miles to cover this flight. Delta, however, introduced the Miles+Cash option recently that allows you to use however many miles you have and pay cash for the rest. So, your $246 flight just got a lot cheaper; $93.42 cheaper, if you decide to use the whole amount.
- Upgrade from coach to one of the more premium seating option with miles
- Earn miles through partners, simply by entering your Skymiles number when making purchases or tagging your Skymiles number to the Delta partner you are working with.
Example: Lyft and Delta partner, so I registered my Skymiles number with Lyft and not only do I earn points whenever I use Lyft, but I earned $10 off my next ride, just by registering my Skymiles number.
- Sign up for the Delta American Express credit card (3 different options; Blue, Gold, Platinum, Reserve) and earn miles much faster. There are a lot of other great benefits to the card; including a free checked bag for your guest and you and more miles per dollar spent https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/airline-credit-cards.html.
Alaska Airlines:
As previously stated, Alaska Airlines is 10 years strong on the customer service of the year award. Alaska Airlines has to be excelling majorly in some areas, and I believe one of the areas is their “Mileage Plan” program.
Alaska Airlines services 115 destinations within the US, Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. They are quite popular for having cheaper flight routes in the US going west (Seattle, Oregon, California, etc.); however, they do partner with other airlines in order to give you 900+ destination options, all of which, you receive miles for.
See below for more information:
- Mileage Plan is a “1:1 program;” meaning, you receive one point per dollar spent.
- 19 partner airlines to earn miles with – I will be flying to Amsterdam via Iceland Air in just a few weeks and I was able to request miles with Alaska Airlines for this flight, as they are partners!
- Miles do not expire as long as you keep your account active. Small caveat; you have to spend at least 1 mile every 24 months.
- You can use miles when you have enough to cover at least a one-way domestic flight (the cheapest option). Of course, you can save miles up until you have enough to cover a round-trip ticket, or greater, but you do not have the option to use your miles as a cash discount, so to speak, like Delta.
- “Money & Miles:” Available on alaskaair.com only; offers up to 50% off most coach and first class airfares.
With this program option, the maximum discount is $100 off 10,000 miles and $200 off 20,000 miles. A nice feature to this is that you still earn 100% of the possible miles you would have earned not taking advantage of Money & Miles.
-First-Class Upgrade – Upgrades start at 5,000 miles; this includes your flight. Or, as a member, you can pay for an upgrade; see the below chart that I found on the alaskaairlines.com website.
Pay for an upgrade table
One-Way by trip miles
Price*
0 - 450 = $29
451 - 700 = $49
701 - 1,400 = $99
1,401 - 2,100 = $149
2,101 and above = $199
- Be aware that there are some blackout dates with the Mileage Plan program.
- As with pretty much any other major airline, there is a credit card associated with Alaska AIrlines and you can earn points faster through everyday purchases.
Jet Blue
Jet Blue is largely a domestic and Caribbean airline. Even further, they are most popular for serving US cities toward the east and south east. Still, just like with many smaller airlines, they partner with other airlines around the world, so to provide you with increased options.
Jet Blue's rewards program is called "TrueBlue." I flew Jet Blue for the first time this past January and registered as a TrueBlue member prior to my flight. I really enjoyed my Jet Blue experience; they offer many free amenities and truly do have extra leg room, as advertised. I was also able to claim my points through Hainan Airlines; the Jet Blue partner that flew my boyfriend and me to Beijing.
See below for TrueBlue membership specifics:
- Earn at least three points per dollar spent.
- Purchase your vacation or flight via the jetblue.com website, earn three bonus miles (total of six miles per dollar spent).
- Purchase through jetblue.com and purchase “Blue Plus,” fare and earn four additional miles (total of seven miles per dollar spent).
- Purchase through jetblue.com and purchase “Blue Flex” fare and earn 5 additional miles (total of eight miles per dollar spent).
- Multi-tiered Program:
"TrueBlue Mosaic" – In one Calendar year, you have to fly 30 segments and have earned 12,000 base flight points – OR – have earned 15,000 base points in one calendar year. Benefits include two free bags, zero change /cancelation fees, seats with even more legroom, complementary alcohol beverages and more.
- Points do not expire.
- Jet Blue has zero blackout dates; however, zero blackout dates are not guaranteed on partner airlines.
- Earn points through “True Blue Badges.” Badges can be collected through flying, interacting with partners and on social media. Click the following link to see how this works https://trueblue.jetblue.com/web/trueblue/how-it-works-bonuses-and-badges.
- Earn point through “Family Pooling.” Pooling can consist of up to 2 adults and 3 children and all can contribute to the family Trueblue membership. Membership must be initiated by individual over the age of 21.
- You can earn points via their website, just by taking surveys https://www.pointsforsurveys.com/general/pfs-lp-gen-arrowtest?jtype=d&offer_id=2099&affiliate_id=2384&aff_sub=&cpid=9184&transaction_id=10216964cfa56b081f63eb6665c795&ip=192.58.138.160&.
- Looking to earn points quicker? You've guessed it, you can do so with the Jet Blue credit card!
Southwest Rapid Rewards Program
Southwest Rapids Rewards is ideal for travel within the US, Mexico and the Caribbean. Southwest services over 100 destinations and is known for having budget-friendly airfare, without over charging for everything else, as well as a good customer service reputation.
Below you will find specific information regarding the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Program:
- As a Rapid Reward program member, you will earn points for every dollar spent on flights, hotel stays, and car rentals; you may also earn points with Rapid Rewards Shopping and Dining.
- Points do not expire as long as you make at least one transaction using your points every two years.
- Earn points for every dollar spent; sometimes Southwest offers double points.
- You can earn points with the many hotel partners Southwest airlines has but Southwest does not seem to have any airline partners.
- Zero blackout dates.
- Receive rewards for giving your opinion
- Four Membership Levels: basic, A-List, A-List Preferred and Companion Pass.
- You can earn points faster through the Southwest Visa credit card; below is a link providing different benefits
United Airlines:
United Airlines’ Mileage Plus program is pretty robust. United Airlines is great for travels all throughout the US, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America. With their partners, United Airlines services over 1,100 destinations.
- United Airlines not only allows you to earn miles with their 35+ partner airlines; they allow you to use them on flights taken with partner airlines.
- You can also earn miles on qualifying cruises, car rentals, and hotel stays, as well as retail partners and dining. One area that you can earn additional points is via train, which is different from some other airlines. What is even greater is that you can also use your miles toward all these things as well.
- United Airlines is partnered with Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Hertz rental car.
- Miles do expire after 18 months, so you have to be active in using them
- There are five levels to the Mileage Plus program; Basic, Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum and Premier 1K
- Basic members will earn 5x the flight cost in miles. Premier members earn 7x to 11x the price in miles.
- Yet again, you can earn miles faster through the United Airlines Mileage Plus Explorer Credit Card
American Airlines:
American Airlines Group is noted to be the largest airline in the world in terms of the amount of actual planes in their convoy, revenue and profit earned, and number of passengers serviced. American Airlines is part of "One World" group, which consists of 13 airlines.
American Airlines' free membership group is called AAdvantage. Below you will find additional information regarding the AAdvantage membership program:
- Earn miles through flights with American Airlines, One World, and other partnering airlines (see website for a full list of partners).
- Zero blackout dates; if the seat is available, it is yours.
- You can choose to use your miles toward "MilesSAAver" to book an economy ticket that costs you less miles.
- Use your miles to upgrade to Business Class or First Class.
- Multi-Tiered: The more you use your AAdvantage membership, the faster you will reach the "Elite Status" membership levels; Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, Platinum and Gold tiers.
- Apply for the AAdvantage Platinum Select card with Citi Bank, and you got it, you will reach the above statuses faster! https://secure.fly.aa.com/citi/aadvh-plat.
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