I hate to bite the hand that runs this place, as I know they look in at least once in a while, and I don't mean to beat a dead horse (and I don't want to become known as Cliche-Master, either) but I just can't stop thinking about this Freddie thing.

I have noticed more and more ads in InsideFlyer lately. Which is fine, especially when the ad contains info about programs.

But I'm wondering about what that does to the objectivity of the magazine. For example, everyone tends to agree that Consumer Reports is totally unbiased because it does not accept any advertising or products to be tested. But, as we all know, when CR looks at FF programs, it typically misses the point (and the good info contained therein is lifted from IF anyway).

So I'm *guessing* that the reason that we'll never see the Freddie Category "Program that most mistreated its loyal customers this year" is that the winner would be loath to spend any money advertising in the magazine that so named them.

But such a category would be SUCH a great agent for POSITIVE change in the programs.

This is getting under my skin because I just saw an airline ad in an airline mag that claimed "Best frequent flier program" and it is among those that really screwed us this year. So it raises the delicate question: are the freddie voters making carefully considered votes, or are they just voting for the program that they use?

I'd be willing to bet that the "most used" would also win the "most mistreatment" award this year.

Uhg. The whole thing irks me.

I highly doubt InsideFlyer would ever put such a category to a vote but I would strongly suggest that they mention that many voters chose not to bother voting this year due to the program cutbacks and reduction in services.

It would be nice if they asked for the negative information in a survey and then privately shared that information with the airline(s) that received the lowest marks.

They could also list the most commonly used ff programs (ie the ones that attract postings in this forum), and ask voters to rate each of them on a scale of 1 - 10, or N/A, if the voter holds no opinion on a particular program. Having an area for comments would also be good. They could then publicly laud the top 5 programs, while telling each airline exactly where they placed & sharing relevant comments with them. This would be a much more informative survey than the current set-up, and hopefully the bottom-ranked airlines would do something to improve their act.

I hope to be not-so-earthbound in the near future, & will be looking around trying to decide which US-based program(s) I want to join. Having the information on the top 5 programs worldwide should indicate at least the best/second-best US programs. As it is, when the time comes, I'm planning to ask around in FlyerTalk, as there doesn't seem to be indepth information available elsewhere.

baobab ~ Webflyer has pretty extensive reviews of all the major programs on their website, and their reviews include input from Insideflyer readers. The reviews can be found at:

http://www.webflyer.com/@reviews/reviews.htm

The reviews include numerical grades on various aspects of all programs, and details on all sorts of stuff including earning opportunities and award opportunities.

I have been quite unimpressed with the ratings and numerical scores that Beckles mentions. A far better approach is the one which InsideFlyer/WebFlyer has recently taken where they analyze the travel patterns and preferences of travellers and make recommendations based on that.

I totally agree with Matt-- it is hard to determine the objectivity of this magazine in naming the winners of the Freddies. Please don't get me wrong. I think InsideFlyer is a great travel magazine, however, since the publishers accept advertising from airlines, hotels, etc., the revenue earned on these advertisements might have some effect on what the magazine publishes. A good example is the continued praise of InsideFlyer on CO's FF program. They rarely mention (yes, they do mention it sometimes) that it is hard to redeem the awards and that the mileage requirements are a bit high. Another example is the absence of SQ comments in InsideFlyer issues. By all means, please correct me if I am wrong, but I have not seen InsideFlyer feature or comment on SQ.

I also agree with baobab's suggestion of assigning a numerical grade for each program. I think it better reflects the quality of a program. For example, if CO wins best elite level program with a score of 6.0, it gives both the airline and FF a more accurate gauge on where the program stands-- in this case, a 6.0 would be "mediocre."

In addition to baobab's suggestion, I would also like to see all the scores adjusted on a curve. This will be interesting esp. when grading US airlines against non-US carriers.

I also think that InsideFlyer is a great magazine, but they have a Polyanna attitude when it comes to mileage redemption and FF programs. It was refreshing to hear Randy call the airlines for no mileage award increases for five years, but disappointing when they failed to condemn the American airlines awards increases which came soon after.

I doubt if my preferred airline is going to get the top bragging honors this year in the Freddies, but even if they do not I do not think that I will be heading for the exit door.

I agree with most of the comments here but have some difficulty with the notion of "rating" a program. Saying CO is a 6.0, for example, doesn't tell me a lot, even if other programs are scored along the same 1-10 scale. Different things are important to different people. Someone may feel that easy, free upgrades are most important while others would rank raw mileage earning potential as most important. Still others may balance a couple of different factors. Perhaps a set of factors (such as those mentioned plus other things like ease of redemption etc.) need to be considered and rated for each program. I'm sure there will be a lot of debate about what the factors should be.

pgupta011 alludes to an interesting issue, namely that an individual's "favorite" program (not necessarily the "best") is usually synonomus with where they live and also with where they travel. Unless you live in one of the very few areas/cities that have multiple airlines with lots of flights, you're likely to find that your favorite program is the one run by the airline that you use most often, the airline that has 80% of the market in your area. I believe this is the primary reason that United ruled the Freddies for a long time. United not only has more travellers than other airlines, but their hubs are in the major business travel cities (San Fran, DC, and Chicago to name 3). It is difficult for a CO to compete in the Freddies when their hubs are Newark, Houston, and Cleveland. I also believe this is the reason InsideFlyer went to a point scale last year and why CO came out on top.

For me the ratings are not the important part of what I am looking at on our host. And I don't mind them to make money from advertiesemants (on the contrary - I hope they continue to make a lot) - it helps to finance the research staff too.

What I am looking for here (and what I find) is the ever changing basics of rules, the promotions, the rebates, the techniques (conversions, claims).

And in add of that (thank you host already for that very much) - they started/provide us the FlyerTalk-Board (thank you even more).

I agree with Rudi. I also want to know about "perks". E.g. Free lounge access on some airlines, quality of lounges (access to computers/internet, free food, free drinks, ambience), upgrade availability, diversity of special promotions etc. This is why this forum is so good.

I think the posts here will keep Randy on his toes but he does have to pay the bills -- I suspect Randy speaks his mind when he wants to but he can't whine about every little thing like we can. He is probably more effective when he comes out with a major statement every now and then rather than constant criticism.

I will probably wait until the last possible
minute to vote (Late December before I go
to Dallas for my birthday on 12-31) because
I want to review the WHOLE year of service
I've received in '98.

So far, there are a few catagories where I
can't find a definitive "winner" -- esp.
the airlines. Last year with two of the
catagories I chose the candidate that I had
the least problems with.

But I feel I have to vote... even if I end
up leaving a catagory "none of the above."

I agree with Rudi on his points, esp. the
ads part (In fact I tend to ignore most kinds
of ads... I'm too busy reading THE MAGAZINE
to care about what ads are in there!)

Ratings are nice to look at, but just because
CO won so many FREDDIES last year it didn't
switch my choice of UA as my primary carrier
(Even though EWR is not their hub.) IT is
the quality of the host as Rudi says that matters.

IF there's a special FREDDIE to be given,
"give" it to the contributors of FlyerTalk
because I think we've all helped each other
and this forum has has helped us get the most
of our programs (and perhaps struck up a few
friendship and laughter along the way.) CATMAN

pgupta ~ Analyzing travel patterns is not a valid method of determining the best program I think. As other people have mentioned, many travellers do not really have much of a choice in airlines.

For instance, I live in New Orleans. Although no one has a hub here, Delta has at least twice as many seats available out of here as any other single airline and the most flights overall (in other words, not only do they have more flights, they operate bigger airplanes than anyone else, 757's and 767's, and I've even seen an L-1011 on one occassion where a flight was cancelled). Also, Delta is the only airline in New Orleans with a club, which is important to me because I'm always too careful and arrive at the airport 90 minutes or so early typically.

Now, given that I took about 20 trips last year and live in New Orleans, what would my travel patterns show? That I like Delta a lot ...

Do I like Delta a lot? Not necessarily ...

I think I'd prefer to use United as my primary carrier, but they just don't offer the schedules I need, the destinations I need (Huntsville, AL), or the lowest prices to cities I travel to a lot (cities in the Southeast for instance).

Now, since I'm stuck with Delta at least part of the time, guess which airline I made my primary carrier? Delta, because I don't have the luxury of flying enough to make elite in multiple airlines, so I'd rather make elite in at least one to make my travel more comfortable and rewarding.

Beckles, your post illustrates the fact that the "best" program is not necessarily the one that someone should choose. I write best in quotes because it is someone elses subjective opinion. My opinion is that if an informed traveler looks at all the options and makes an informed decision, then that decision is really the best for that traveller. Like in your case Delta is really the best airline for you otherwise you would choose another. The concern I have is that an uniformed traveller would be swayed by the ratings and choose an airline which is not the best for him or her.