Every year, the TPG Awards honor the best in credit card, loyalty and travel programs. Please click here to learn more about our winner selection process and methodology for the 2024 TPG Awards.
The TPG Awards have honored the top travel brands, credit cards and loyalty programs since 2018. But this year, we took a new approach to multiple honors, using data to select five award winners.
For the first time, we used objective data to identify the Best US Airlines Program, including how you earn and use rewards, what elite status benefits you can enjoy and how far the program can take you around the world — both within your network and with partner airlines.
The six finalists for this award are:
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- Delta SkyMiles
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Southwest Fast Rewards
- United MileagePlus
It was a close battle between the top four programs, but only one winner could rise to the top at this year’s TPG Awards.
And the winner is … American Airlines AAdvantage.
Here’s a closer look at how we work and how AAdvantage won the Best US Airline Loyalty Program award.
Our way
We’ve earned these six major airline loyalty programs in four categories:
- You step on it: This was a combination of airports served by the airline operating the program and the number of partner airlines in the program.
- Leading: This analyzes the earnings rates on the carrier’s cobranded credit card program, and what you earn per dollar spent on flights with the specified airline. It also considered leading non-flying partners, including transferable credit card funds, vacation packages, cruises, experiences, car rentals, transportation providers, shopping and dining.
- It’s liberating: This was a combination of the value of each currency in TPG’s November 2024 estimates (all six plans are supported by data for more than a year) and the cost of the lowest home redemption value available when searching across the network, using useful internal tools. such as calendar views and external tools such as Seats.aero.
- Benefits: The last section focuses on the provision of special status for each airline. Part of this involves how these categories can be accessed through various airline discounts and cobranded credit cards. Another section analyzed each program’s elite status benefits, including advance upgrades, assisted seat selection, baggage allowances and benefits when traveling on partner airlines.
All raw data were converted into points on a scale from zero to 10 and weighted according to our proprietary formula, each category making up 25% of the final score.
Related: Best airline credit cards
With a score of 100, the final rankings are as follows:
1. American Airlines AAdvantage: 70.98
2. United MileagePlus: 69.47
3. Delta SkyMiles: 63.29
4. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: 62.02
5. Southwest Instant Rewards: 52.68
6. JetBlue TrueBlue: 49.02
Why American Airlines AAdvantage wins
American Airlines AAdvantage just edged out United MileagePlus, and Delta SkyMiles took third place, just ahead of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
American Airlines flies to more domestic airports than any other US airlinewith 225 great destinations on offer, according to the October 2024 Air Travel Consumer Report. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier also scored highly for the number of airline partners it has as a member of the Oneworld alliance, which includes British Airways, Qantas, Iberia and Cathay Pacific. and notable airline partners such as Etihad Airways and Hawaiian Airlines.
Using our monthly data-driven estimates, TPG values AAdvantage miles slightly more than other US airlines. The program’s decision to keep an open award chart for partner-driven redemptions has long made AAdvantage miles valuable. Not to mention, domestic flights start at just 5,000 AAdvantage miles. While this isn’t the lowest rate in the category, it’s still a great deal for easy-to-earn miles.
Advantage stood out for its premium benefits for its AAdvantage Executive Platinum members. This status (equivalent to Oneworld Emerald) offers premium lounge access to Oneworld lounges, including Qantas’ best lounges at Melbourne Airport (MEL) and Sydney Airport (SYD) and the first-class Pier lounge operated by Cathay Pacific in Hong . Kong International Airport (HKG). These partner room benefits exceeded all other premium class benefits except MVP Gold 75K for the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and MVP Gold 100K, which also offers Oneworld Emerald status.
Related: TPG readers’ favorite vacation spots around the world
Some notable things in our analysis
Southwest and JetBlue’s lack of membership in the global alliance hurt their scores in the press category. Although Southwest’s business model has not partnered with other airlines, we hope to see JetBlue increase its airline partners as it competes with the major airlines in the US.
It’s worth noting that the TrueBlue program took top marks in the leading categories, with top rewards on its cobranded cards and the carrier’s base rate of 6 points per dollar spent on flights (the last of which is affiliated with Southwest).
And what Southwest lacks in airline partners, it makes up for in how domestic award prices fare. We found seats as low as 2,025 Instant Rewards points, an incredibly low domestic flight rate and a low price of less than half the cheapest price of the “Big Three” carriers (American, Delta and United). JetBlue was a close second here, with prices starting at just 3,600 TrueBlue points.
Bottom line
In close competition, American Airlines’ AAdvantage program narrowly beat out United MileagePlus and Delta SkyMiles to win the award for Best US Airline Loyalty Program at the 2024 TPG Awards.
Despite the shift to variable rates, increasing premium spend requirements and the drop in value of some of our favorite sweet spots, the Advantage program remains impressive in the ever-changing loyalty landscape.
As one of the world’s largest airlines and a member of the Oneworld alliance, it allows members to easily earn and redeem miles at often attractive rates and offers many benefits to elite members.
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