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This year the annual frequent traveler awards event, The Freddie Awards, was held in Chicago at the Hyatt Chicago Athletic Assciation downtown. The event was different than most of the other years in some remarkable ways and yet 100% the same results we have come to expect as Delta flyers.
In the past, it seemed that everywhere I went I would see airlines, hotels and more requesting you vote for them and their rewards program but, at least to me, I saw this much less than usual. Even so, I did vote and some of the programs I expected to win did. More on that later.
This year’s event was much lower key, not just in promotion, but also the event itself. While the Hyatt did a great job hosting the event, it was so much smaller than events that were held in Atlanta at the flight museum or other similar large travel themed locations.
Given the event’s smaller nature, I was able to talk with a bunch of the people in attendance. Delta Air Lines sent a high level rep, which surprised me, that I had not seen for many years so it was good to say hello. It was also fun to see so many of the BoardingArea.com bloggers I have now known for the better part of 20 years.
I will share the big winners at the end of the post but first some of my thoughts about the night itself. I fully expected, as I have mentioned recently, that Delta would not win any awards. I was right and they were not even mentioned once in any of the top 4 displayed for award after award.
What did surprise me was the MC or master of ceremonies for the event a former representative for American Airlines award program. She was remarkable in the role and I have never laughed so hard at any Freddie Awards I can ever remember attending. She roasted, hard, Southwest to the point of almost making the room uncomfortable at the level of burn – it was fantastic.
Then it came time for her to mention Delta and I loved watching the reaction from the Delta rep in attendance. The MC brought up the disastrous nightmare week when Delta’s software melted down due to Crowdstrike software and that Delta was suing both them and Microsoft over the event. Then she mentioned how odd it was that every other airline in the world was up and running in days – but not Delta – oh no it took them a week or more!
Ouch!
She egged on a bit more and I am honestly surprised she did not swing for the fences as there was so much more she could have come up with like Delta not being mentioned here tonight or how you can drain your SkyMiles account to zero with one round trip to Europe in business class. Ah well.
Delta really has zero interest in winning an award that is voted on by users. They are now, in 2025, pursing a delusional “feel good” way of integrating Delta points into all aspects of your life instead of providing real value. Between this and the loss of operational greatness they once had and even somewhat lowering of food quality and service levels will not result in user votes for the foreseeable future. Maybe that is just the way Delta likes it?
The other big surprise to me was how far Hilton has fallen and is now at risk of becoming a runner up to Delta. While they were mentioned a few times with a shot at winning awards they also won nothing. Not just that but they even failed to send a rep to the event as their ID tag was one of the last ones left laying on the table as Chris and I exited the event. It may have been due to weather as to why the rep did not show up as Southwest also did not have reps there and the MC did point out AA still managed to get 10 representatives there despite the weather in the Southern United States.
Perhaps the biggest surprise, to me, was that SAS was in the running for the best award promotion for the year, that is, the shot to win 1 million frequent flyer miles for flying all of the Skyteam partners but ended up not winning. For me this was a slam dunk and one of the coolest promotions I have ever seen from any airline.
One thing is for sure and was highlighted over and over just how valuable travel points have become for every aspect of the travel space. We all should be keenly aware that airlines now make more money off their points than flying airplanes and many would simply not survive as a going concern without their points program. Keeping that in mind I am shocked the devaluations of just about every programs keep accelerating year after year. I wonder at what point will the cash cow they have created see the milk “dry up” or sour on them?
I will be interested to see what happens for the 2026 Freddie Awards and if anything changes compared to this year. With that, here is the list of the top winners for the 2025 awards:
Americas
Airline
Program of the Year – Air Canada – Aeroplan
Best Elite Program – Air Canada – Aeroplan
Best Promotion – Air Canada – Aeroplan – Aeroplan 40th Anniversary
Best Customer Service – American Airlines – AAdvantage
Best Redemption Ability – American Airlines – AAdvantage
Up and Coming Program Award – Avianca – LifeMiles
Hotel
Program of the Year – Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards
Best Elite Program – MGM Rewards
Best Promotion – Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards – Quest For Rewards
Best Customer Service – Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards
Best Redemption Ability – Caesars Entertainment – Caesars Rewards
Up and Coming Program Award – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card – Citi / American Airlines – AAdvantage Platinum Select
Europe/Africa
Airline
Program of the Year – Norwegian Reward
Best Elite Program – Air France / KLM – Flying Blue
Best Promotion – Norwegian Reward – Spenn – New Loyalty Currency
Best Customer Service – Norwegian Reward
Best Redemption Ability – TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Up and Coming Program Award – TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
Hotel
Program of the Year – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Elite Program – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Promotion – GHA – GHA Discovery – GHA DISCOVERY D$1,000,000 Giveaway
Best Customer Service – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Redemption Ability – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Up and Coming Program Award – GHA – GHA Discovery
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card – Bank Norwegian Card
Middle East & Asia/Oceania
Airline
Program of the Year – Garuda Indonesia – GarudaMiles
Best Elite Program – Saudia – Alfursan
Best Promotion – Saudia – Alfursan – 4% Bonus Miles When Purchasing Miles
Best Customer Service – Garuda Indonesia – GarudaMiles
Best Redemption Ability – Garuda Indonesia – GarudaMiles
Up and Coming Program Award – Air India – Maharaja Club
Hotel
Program of the Year – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Elite Program – Marriott Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy
Best Promotion – Accor – ALL Accor Live Limitless – App Days
Best Customer Service – ITC Hotels – Club ITC
Best Redemption Ability – ITC Hotels – Club ITC
Up and Coming Program Award – GHA – GHA Discovery
Credit Card
Best Loyalty Credit Card – Saudia – Alfursan – Al Rajhi Bank Credit Card
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No surprises here. I moved a ton of trips this year from Delta to Southwest with all the downgrades to the Delta program. Also, Marriott has definitely regressed in service with the Bonvoy changes. Hyatt has gotten a ton of nights from me this year. Hope it registers with them eventually that the customer is the heart of their business.
What downgrades are you referring to? They have bumped up the prices of award tickets, I agree, but I haven’t seen any downgrades. And since you value what Delta offers so much, why switch to the opposite kind of airline in terms of what makes Delta so different, like first-class, the option for better seats, etc? Also, I gave Hilton a try recently and quickly saw that for all its faults, there is no comparison with Marriott, for example, the 4 pm checkout, which I couldn’t get during any of my Hilton stays as a Diamond. This is probably why Bonvoy won the Best Elite Program award. I’m also not sure what changes you are referring to with Bonvoy.
What a wasted opportunity. Instead of roasting Delta for what it deserves to be roasted for, namely the devaluation of awards, especially for first-class international flights, she roasted them for something that probably wasn’t even their fault (despite what others claim), a one-time occurrence that most of us have forgotten about.
Wow! And this was even before they insulted their very best customers and downgraded 360 boarding priority from Pre-Boarding to Zone 2! Maybe that will get the people’s votes for next year!
I find the Caesars multiple wins dubious to say the least. I’m not suggesting fraud, just that the way votes are tallied heavily skews the winner. For instance, if lots of people justifiably don’t even mention Marriott as a Best Hotel candidate but a small number of voters list them as the top choice with zero (this is hypothetical) second or third place votes then Marriott could easily win as Best Hotel Chain. That’s just a crazy system. I doubt that half the voters have even stayed in a Caesars hotel in the past couple of years.
I’d advise the Freddie people to publicly explain the way the winner is tallied before people vote rather than not at all.