Airline Loyalty Programs Ranked

JetBlue's TrueBlue frequent-flyer program members are the industry's most satisfied, according to the J.D. Power 2017 Airline Loyalty Program Satisfaction Study.

Earning a score of 800 on J.D. Power's 1,000-point scale, TrueBlue narrowly edged Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan (796) and Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards (793) in overall member satisfaction.

Delta Air Lines' SkyMiles program (766) beat out the industry average of 760 to finish fourth. However, American Airlines' AAdvantage and United Airlines' MileagePlus fell short of the benchmark, earning 729 and 727 points, respectively.

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The study was based on four key factors—earning and redeeming rewards, program benefits, account management and member communication—and found that airline loyalty programs that reward customers with more than just miles tend to be the most successful when it comes to member satisfaction.

"As loyalty programs have exploded in popularity over the past several years, airline loyalty program managers understand the critical role that ancillary benefits that fall outside the airline industry can play and they devote careful attention to partners included in their programs," said J.D. Power Travel Practice Lead, Michael Taylor in a statement.

"Flexibility in how miles are redeemed is valued by members. After all, if you win a pie-eating contest, you may want to be rewarded with something besides another pie."

J.D. Power found that customer satisfaction improves dramatically when members are able to earn rewards that can be used for things like restaurants, car rentals and product purchases. On average, satisfaction increases between 68 and 77 points. By comparison, earning airline flights adds just two points to overall fulfillment.

Frequent fliers' favorite benefits are lowest price guarantee and waived same-day change fees, which account for 109- and 104-point increases in customer satisfaction, respectively.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, status members (814) are more content with their airline loyalty program than general members (744). However, there's incentive for airlines to help more members achieve status since those passengers are more likely to advocate for the carrier and its rewards program.

According to J.D. Power's research, airlines have plenty of room to improve when it comes to explaining the membership process and recognizing members' preferences.

While customer satisfaction increases by 52 points when there is a clear understanding of how to redeem points, only 52 percent of members indicated that they fully comprehend the redemption process.

Meanwhile, just 26 percent of program members say their airline consistently recognizes their preferences despite the fact that doing so increases customer satisfaction by 48 points on average.

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A program that gets the basics right and offers bonus rewards is also more gratifying to customers. Overall satisfaction is a whopping 99 points higher among members who haven't run into issues with their program compared to those who have experienced hiccups along the way.

At the same time, offering extra points or bonus rewards to a member can increase their satisfaction by an additional 52 points, J.D. Power discovered.

Frequent fliers will hope airlines take these insights to heart heading into 2018.

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