Freddie Awards Voting Has Begun!
 

It's February 1 and voting has begun (and ends Feb 28th).

http://www.freddieawards.com/

I voted for United as program of the year and best elite level. It has a truly industry-leading award chart -- fewest miles for the best international premium class awards -- and its 1K program can't be beat for international upgrades from reasonable fares without a co-pay.

On the other hand, not a single one of my votes went to Northwest, Delta, or Continental. Together they've been increasing mileage costs on premium-class awards and (Continental and Northwest especially) offer generally poor award availability. This really is the leftover alliance (with stingy partners Air France and KLM). On the other hand, best redemption has to go to American... (with a nod to all Star Alliance carriers for making it possible to easily travel to Asia in business or first class on points.)

I didn't vote in the best newsletter category. I really don't have an opinion on this one. I guess DL's is pretty good for offering bonuses, I like United's emails, and I don't particularly find anything useful from Continental. But I don't really have a strong opinion.

Here's one a bit out of left field, I'm not really an active member in the Aeroplan program but I voted Air Canada as having the best website for one and only one reason. Air Canada allows you to search and book Star Alliance awards online. This is huge. (ANA is a new entry into this field, too new IMHO to warrant a vote.)

I had considered voting Hyatt as best hotel website, but decided not to since they took the ability to book gift certificate stays off-line. Removing website functionality gets a big :td: from me. Starwood is a perennial winner here but I really can't understand why, except as part of a general trend towards rewarding the program (which has a great award scheme and a good Platinum program but which is weak on the earning side outside of the SPG Amex).

Every year Randy and his team make great efforts to ensure the validity of the voting process. And I wouldn't expect him to divulge internal processes here (since that might make it easier to game the system...). But I wonder how allowing multiple votes is avoided, since all you seem to need is a unique email address. I wonder if one couldn't just create a bunch of Yahoo accounts (being careful to avoid IP matches)?

I also wonder about categories like best bonus where programs have several different bonuses up for voting. Now, maybe each bonus really is standing on its own. But it seems like a program offering lots of bonuses throughout the year could wind up competing with itself (eg Starwood partisans might be split between nights and flights, cash and points, and 5k miles for transferring 20k .. and a program with only one bonus listed might run away with the award).

Finally, I'm not a fan of 'value voting' since each person's scale is different. Some folks might think they're rating a bonus highly if they give it an 8 but another person might value it the same way and give it a 10. I understand this procedure gives smaller programs with fewer members a chance to be recognized, but it seems quite imprecise and I know that ties are often broken by several decimal places... creating an illusion of precision that likely doesn't exist. That said, there aren't usually too many surprises so it may work in practice.

Anyway, go cast your vote! :cool:

What a great opportunity for programs to hear our voices -- they do take these awards seriously, as evidenced by the campaigns that many of them mount with their members to get out the vote, and the ad campaigns they run which include the award when they win it.

What? You did not vote for United.com as the best website? :D

Uh... no. @:-)

Biggest drawback there is functionality. More often than not it times out rather than pulling up my itineraries. :eek:

Simple and functional, clean and elegant should be the key here. Can you get the information you want? Can you easily find flights and make a booking? How about awards, is there a powerful yet easy to use interface with search algorithms that actually find what you're looking for?

Thanks, gleff, for the reminder. Too bad your blog is not on the list. Would've voted you the best!

Indeed, most people cannot discriminate among consecutive options on a scale of 1 to 10. That's why surveys often use only a 5-point Likert scale. Also, an odd number of choices allows for a "neutral" response, which is not available on a 1 to 10 scale.

And yet another 10 from my ballot goes to Accor Hotels :D

Don't forget to click on the link in the email you receive... your vote does not count until you do that.

William

I agree. DL and CO did not receive any of my votes....and they also don't receive any of my dollars if I can help it. I wouldn't have voted for NW for anything, but I continue to be impressed by their website and gave them the nod for that.

Actually even Likert scales are bad but just not as bad. Some people tend to more easily give out 1's and 5's while others hardly ever do. The bigger the scale the less accurate it is. Strict comparisons would be more accurate, aside from the fact that most people do not have experience with all programs. Maybe it would be better if people would indicate what programs that they have experience with and from them which is the best. Then you can calculate a percentage of votes a program gets from the ballots where the voter indicated experience with that program.

Just an idea, I guess there is no perfect solution.

I give out 10s and 1s, period. I want my vote to have an impact.

For airlines, I voted a few AA-related things. No real reason other than the fact that they haven't screwed me over lately. I didn't capitalize on any major airline promos this past year, but I did redeem a crapload of AAdvantage miles and always seemed to get exactly what I wanted flight-wise. Next up is PVR for Spring Break - 4 seats on the same flights on our first choice of dates, all done online, all with good seat assignments confirmed, no hassle.

For hotels, I moved all of my votes from last year from Starwood to Marriott except one - SPG Amex continues to get my vote, even though they're sort of in my doghouse for excluding me from certain promotions. On a base level, I couldn't find a GOOD reason to vote for another credit card. I didn't think Diner's deserved this award BEFORE they watered down the card the way they have. Anyway, for the hotels, I have found too many problems with Starwood lately. Basic process problems. And I was fortunate enough to be able to go completely nuts on their Visa 2x promo that just ended. :)

Thanks for the reminder gleff ^

I used to vote the Diners as best, but definitely not this year after their "enhancements". I now keep it solely for car rentals.

SPG Amex rates #1 credit card in my book.

For next year's Freddies I'll have to take a second look at the new US Mastercard, 2-years fee-free and 50% mileage bonus for the first 12 months of charges is certainly innovative.

Thanks for the reminder, I voted! ^

Thank you,

I have voted as well!!!!! ^

I voted 16 hours ago - and still haven't received an email to confirm my vote. Does this mean my vote was discarded?

I would email HOM on this. My email confirmation came back almost instantly.

Voted and confirmed.

Definitely - although I think their little contest for 50 cent flights is lame, the product itself breaks out of the mold of airline cards, which are all woefully underpowered compared to SPG Amex. Since it's a Mastercard, there is no way for them to give away as much per-dollar juice as an Amex, but the added benefits around the edges make it a card worth carrying whether you are a basic US member or a top-tier elite. The basic member gets a few elite perks, and the top-tier member can rack some significant bonus miles. ^

pinniped and gleff - to which mastercard do you refer w/ this 1st yr promo ? I somehow missed the original mention of the affinity.

FWIW, after the yanking of starwood PLAT from the AMEX CENT package, now I'm giving strong through to opening an AMEX/HH. Time to share the wealth a bit. Has there ever been a confirmation of HH Diamond bestowed for high volume AMEX/HH charging ?

I haven't voted yet, per se, but leaning to spg/amex card, starwood still for the hotel chain, and for the airline SWA. SWA is in such a transition w/ their new yield management scheme w/ seating its a little early but I still can get seats on SWA at least when and to where I need them.

=========
separately, pinniped, when you posted this statement <And I was fortunate enough to be able to go completely nuts on their Visa 2x promo that just ended.>...do you refer to the Canadian spg/visa ? If not, what Visa card had a 2x promo ?

There are so few travelers who are actually qualified to vote.

Most of us stick to our favorite programs, having our biases and never truly know the quality of service/flights/properties that the other guys offer.

That being said, I'll still vote.

--

Sweet Willie, not to create a raging debate per se, here...but I find your last post eerie.

Could you not better say that there are so many *variations* of travel needs, experiences, goals, restrictions, and on and on that its tough to bring all experiences together in one voting effort which I suppose is one underlying freddie goal ? My travel patterns may be different from yours or the next guy's....but they are nonetheless my patterns, which respond to and are based on my collective needs for both business and pleasure travel.

How in the world could there ever be a "qualified traveler" ? Who would define "qualified" ?

Take a traveler who spends 50 nights a year in one hotel chain - BUT is bound to that hotel chain by corporate contract and has NO vote to jump to another chain. Contrast that with my experience, free to choose brands...10 nights (1/5th the stays of the other traveler in my example)...so I look around, shop, make informed decisions, and then select the brand of hotel...who is the more qualified ? I selected mine based on numerous input...the other traveler had no choice at all...all he is doing is reporting on his stays, while I am voting w/ my wallet based on promotions, locations, prices, etc. We both feed into the freddie collective input process...I submit neither of us is "more qualified than the other"... no ?

Am I correct in understanding that you did not like the way I said what I did or... could you clarify?

FWIW, I have never been called eerie, clarify?

--

Sweet Willie, let me respond to your Q with a Q:
"There are so few travelers who are actually qualified to vote" <-- please clarify

It's the US Airways Juniper card. www.50centflights.com

Rumors, but no confirmation. I've called a couple of times over the past few months and can't find anyone on either the HH side of the Amex side who will fess up to knowledge of any Diamond level of charging.

It was the Marriott Visa card - U.S. based. From Oct 1 (I think) to Jan 31, you earned double base-stay points on all Marriott stays when you used the card to pay for the stay. So, every dollar spent at Marriott for those four months earned 25 pts./$ for a Gold member.

I interpreted Sweet Willie's post to mean that very few of us really experience enough of the travel providers to critically assess enough of them to make a really qualified decision. That same thought has crossed my mind every time I've voted in the Freddies. It's a popularity contest: I vote for the one I like the most, even though I have no knowledge of a dozen or more of the choices.

I agree with that partially - I think most of us have a good feel for the biggies, so when I vote for AA, it is definitely with solid working knowledge of most of the other major programs. For hotels it gets harder: how do I compare Marriott to Fairmont? And I don't know much of anything about a lot of those on the list...

Still, I cast my votes... :)

See: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509447

Not confirmation sufficient for my liking, but there are certainly plenty of reports. See, for instance, this current discussion:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=520435

I believe I have a solid enough foundation to assess the wide spectrum of loyalty programs. Note, though, that I choose my region -- I'm in North America -- and am not asked about, say, Emirates Skywards with which I'm insufficiently familiar.

While I feel I'm relatively well-traveled, I have not experienced a significant number of flights on all the major carriers. For instance, I've had very few flights on Air Canada metal. Still, I'm familiar with the high (and low) points of Aeroplan and even chose to vote for it as having the best website (strictly due to the ability to search *A awards online - a great leap forward that has since been matched by NH).

Still, this isn't a survey of 'first class cabin seat products' which might require sampling each competing carrier several times. This is about the value proposition offered by loyalty programs. I'll concede that many travelers aren't familiar with the offerings outside of their usual carrier or hotel chain. But I do feel that a reasonable number of Flyertalkers and Inside Flyer subscribers likely are.

pinniped and gleff - thanks for follow-up as always. USAir = no go for me for grographical reasons though I am intrigued to see how available they make awards as a new entity (still have the US AIR ccard but its collecting dust); Marriott same until starwood mucks up a good deal, if they do. Starwood is still king across all brands, hotels, airlines, and all credit card affinity programs, for most bang for buck currency. I think you two well-informed affinity experts still agree w/me on this one ?

gleff, rhetorical Q regarding being qualified and such, and I sincerely value your conclusions and opinions on this one:
< do you think we ever have to truly "experience" the flight or overnight stay to be "qualified" for such a subjective, off-the-cuff award voting process as freddie awards ? I mostly gave up on freddie awards when Continental Nonepass won year after year, knowing I, as a simple mid-tier elite, could not get a simple award seat to a simple destination choice of mine, over years of trying (they have improved slightly in last year or so I must confess :)). Yet others felt differently and were clearly enjoying success w/ Continental, so Nonepass won year after year. WHo was more qualified to vote on Continental ? I say all of us. So, yes, it was a popularity contest and presumably "the majority" won. That I never flew Continental, though I surely tried, never made me more or less qualified. In fact, my null experience made me highly qualified to withhold my vote.

Half the factors, maybe even more, of how we decide the brands we buy, whether it be soup, toilet paper, or airline or hotel, are based on study/experience/perception/intuition and on and on, it seems to me. Does one literally have to buy and use the Walmart's cheap brand of single-ply toilet paper to know they won't like it and thus would never vote for it in my newly-announced "Mr. Whipple" toilet paper awards ?

Well, I don't actually want to FLY USAirways -- but I have no problem using their miles for int'l F awards on their *A partners! Had no problem booking (2) F awards on NH and TG on my preferred set of dates for a trip I'm taking in April...

You still might want to look at the card - if nothing else, it's 15k free miles and a lounge pass.


Yep - I still think of SPG Amex as the gold standard against which all others are compared. No question about it. In an industry where competitors are usually so quick to match each other pretty well, I'm surprised that no one has stepped up with any meaningful head-to-head competition with SPG Amex as a primary-spend credit card. HH Amex gets about 75% of the way there. Marriott Visa isn't even in the same ballpark, although I certainly like to use that card at Marriotts.

pinniped, my thoughts *exactly*...surprising to me also that no other hotel program has tried to perfectly copy starwoods affinity program, per se, as well as the tie-in the ultra-powerful AMEX program.

Hotel programs just don't seem to get that the <no blackout> is a powerful inducement, and coupled w/ the AMEX leverage, makes them (starwood) untouchable in present format. Marriott's blackouts and then anemic Visa = a double negative for me.

I also agree HH is nudging closer than anyone at least for volume credit card users' perspective. If they *ever* confirmed Diamond could be earned the "new-fashioned" way - via charging - I believe they could really pick up some huge incremental affinity point sales (ie profit via their affinity program). Maybe this will happen in '07. Some hotel or airline ought to discover this untapped profit center.

Thought my conclusions were still in line w/ some of you active ccard affinity fiends. Thanks for the confirmations.

P.S. BTW - A friend just confirmed to me this AM he has a true 2% AMEX cashback card...second yr in a row he has earned a true 2% cashback on over half a milll in charging activity. he believes there is a small tier/ramp up scheme, but once it hits 2% it apparently stays there and does not cap or max out annually. I have asked him for the official AMEX affinity code for this program.

Finally, didn't mean to hijack this thread about freddie voting...if this post is off topic, feel free to whack it or move it. Maybe its time to create an all-inclusive folder for earning affinity points the NEW FASHIONED WAY - via credit card - irrespective of the actual hotel or airline or card type. I am not familiar w/ a folder for such discussion and am tired of bumping against those who earn the "old fashioned way" (butt in seat or butt in bed). We each have different goals and needs and invariably I get the feeling that SIB or BIB types resent those who come into the programs via these NEW FASHIONED avenues. Certainly there seems to be huge resentment that high activity on ccards should ever be linked to top tier of any program. This HAS to change. Profit is profit. For this year, 2007, I believe affinity programs will start to show more respect to this novel revenue stream and I hope you guys will help elevate this issue.

it takes soooooo long if you want to vote for everything!

You CAN skip categories, you don't have to vote in each one. As I mentioned I really didn't have a strong opinion on best newsletter...

Ditto.

My votes went to United and Marriott...on average, an 8

Well said, I'm buying you a drink or two at the KC BBQ Do.