Freddie Awards crown TAP Portugal and Accor

After a one-year hiatus due to pandemic, The Freddie Awards are back. The award, created in the late 1980s has the distinction of being the first, and the most famous, award given by members of major loyalty programs.

Various aspects of both airlines and hotel chains are then voted on each year, and are assigned on three different zones: America, Europe & Africa and Asia & Oceania. The European winners of the 2022 edition were Tap Portugal and Accor. The Portuguese carrier made en-plein by winning in all five categories. While the Accor Live Limitless loyalty program triumphed in four out of five.

TAP's triumph

I crossed the Atlantic sitting on the throne. Review flight on Tap Portugal's A321lr.

Program of the Year - TAP Air Portugal - Miles&Go
Best Elite Program - TAP Air Portugal - Miles&Go
Best promotion - TAP Air Portugal - Miles&Go - Black Friday
Best customer service - TAP Air Portugal - Miles&Go
Improved capacity for redemption - TAP Air Portugal - Miles&Go

AWARD 210 - Virgin Atlantic - Flying Club
The 210 award is given to the best program voted for by less than 10% of voters. A way not to cut out from the awards emerging programs or carriers with lower enrollment numbers than the best-known programs.

I honestly would never vote TAP if I had to choose the best European loyalty program, it is probably the result of the many status match campaigns done, the constant offers and the partnership with Emirates, which allows one to see benefits recognized when flying with the Dubai carrier. Instead, I agree with the choice of the Flying Club of Virgin which I find an excellent program capable of give great satisfaction.

Accor All stops Marriott's dominance

In the U.S. rankings, Marriott Bonvoy made a killing on awards, while in Europe and Africa it had to settle for only one win out of five categories.

Program of the Year - Accor - ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best Elite Program - Accor - ALL Accor Live Limitless
Best promotion - Marriott Hotels - Marriott Bonvoy - Better Two-gether
Best customer service - Accor - ALL Accor Live Limitless
Improved redemption ability - Accor - ALL Accor Live Limitless

AWARD 210 - GHA - GHA Discovery

Accor Live Limitless is a program we should give more attention to, we also wrote about it recently At the launch of the partnership with Flying Blue. It pays for the fact that it has little appeal in the Italian market and that it has no partnerships that can allow you to accumulate points except by staying in the French chain's hotels. Even this ranking leaves me with some doubts; in the area of promotions Hilton Honors is certainly much more generous than Bonvoy.

The ranking in the U.S.

Among hotels, as mentioned, there was a string of Marriott Bonvoy. More closely fought was the battle among airline loyalty programs with 4 different winners in the 5 categories.

Program of the Year - Southwest Airlines - Rapid Rewards
Best Elite Program - American Airlines - AAdvantage
Best promotion - Avianca - LifeMiles - Bonus of 175% on miles purchased
Best customer service - Southwest Airlines - Rapid Rewards
Improved capacity for redemption - Air Canada - Aeroplan

Needless to say, in this case I find the ranking much more reliable Than the European one. Southwest's customer service is great so like the loyalty program. And it is right that they were rewarded.

• ALL Accor Live Limitless
• Bonvoy
• flying club
• Freddie Awards

Mastercard Gold Miles&More

6 thousand miles&more miles + free card first 6 months

Learn More "

• 6,000 Mile Registration Bonus
• Collect miles WITH EACH PURCHASE
• Your miles with no expiration*
• No fees for ATM withdrawals and foreign purchases
• Without having to change banks
• Autonomous card activation
• Multi-function mobile application
• Free travel insurance
• Free credit for up to 7 weeks
• Contactless Payment
• Mastercard® SecureCode

For full details and conditions see the page on the operator's website https://bit.ly/469QFM3

Revolut

Open the account and get a €20 bonus

Learn More "

• Convert your RevPoints at a rate of 1:1
• Fee-free withdrawals even abroad within plan limits
• Multi-currency payment
• Customizable spending limits
• Card lockable and unlockable directly from the app

.

American Express Platinum Business Card

100,000 Membership Rewards® points upon reaching €7,000 in spending in the first 3 months after Card issuance*.

Learn More "

• Payment deferral: you have up to 58 days to debit your statement for charges made with American Express Platinum Business Card
• The Card adapts to your spending: no set spending limit and access to additional, extra-bank, free spending capacity
• €150 travel voucher, each year, to be used at americanexpress.com/travel
• Free membership in the Prestige level of the Prority Pass Program, which grants access to more than 1,200 airport lounges
• Up to €120 in discounts each year to use on the FREENOW App

Advertisement message with promotional purpose. *Offer valid from April 3 to May 14, 2025. Receive 100,000 Membership Rewards® points by spending €7,000 in the first 3 months after Card issuance, to be used, for example, to reduce your Card account balance with a Shop with Points discount of up to €400. The 100,000 bonus points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account within 8 weeks from the date on which the last qualifying transaction was made to reach the spending threshold above. You may use Membership Rewards points, for example, to claim Shop with Points discounts and reduce your Card account balance by up to €400 by selecting one or more eligible transactions. The transaction selection is indicative only, aimed solely at identifying the amount against which the Shop with Points discount will be claimed that will result in the reduction of the balance due. For more details on the Pay with Points Initiative and the Shop with Points discount, see Terms and Conditions at http://www.americanexpress.it/shopwithpoints. Alternatively, you can reduce your Card account balance by using points to claim Travel with Points discounts with your bookings on https://americanexpress.it/viaggi. The American Express Platinum Business Card portion, cash withdrawals and advances, penalties, fees and amounts subsequently credited back to the Card account as refunds do not count toward the €7,000 spending threshold. For points accumulation methods, exclusions and validity of the different initiatives, see the complete Rules of the Membership Rewards Club, the Membership Rewards Sweepstakes and the Pay with Points Iinitiative on http://www.americanexpress.it/clubmr. For more information on economic and contractual conditions, consult the General Charter Regulations and the attached Information Sheets by visiting americanexpress.com. Terms and conditions of benefits available at  www.americanexpress.it/platinoBusiness. Before applying for the Card, remember to download and keep a copy of the pre-contractual and contractual documentation related to the Card you are applying for. Issuance of the Card is at the discretion of American Express.

ITA Airways Gold American Express Credit Card

25,000 Volare points upon reaching €3,000 in spending in the first 3 months after Card issuance*.

Learn More "

• 25,000 Volare points upon reaching €3,000 in spending in the first 3 months after Card issuance*.
• Earn 1.25 Volare points for every euro spent and an additional 1.5 Volare points (for a total of 2.75 Volare points) for every euro spent on ticketing and other ITA Airways services
• Access by right to the Plus level of the Volare program
• Points Back
• Airport benefits: fast track, priority boarding and access to ITA Airways lounges.

Advertising message with promotional purpose. *Offer valid online only from April 3 to July 16, 2025 and reserved for ITA Airways Customers enrolled in the Volare program who apply for an ITA Airways Oro American Express Credit Card and become a Cardholder. You will receive 25,000 bonus points on your Volare account upon reaching €3,000 of ITA Airways Gold American Express Credit Card spending within the first 3 months of issuance, which you can use, for example, to apply for ITA Airways award tickets. Volare points will be credited to your statement within 12 weeks from the date the last transaction was made to reach the above spending threshold. For terms and conditions of all Card benefits go to https://www.americanexpress.com/it-it/benefici/carta-di-credito-ita-airways-oro/index.html. Regulation of the Flying on https://www.ita-airways.com/it_it/volare/theprogram/regulations.html. For more information on economic and contractual conditions, consult the General Regulations and the European Basic Information on Consumer Credit by visiting americanexpress.com. Before applying for the Card, remember to download and keep a copy of the pre-contractual and contractual documentation related to the Card you are applying for. Issuance of the Card is at the discretion of American Express.

ITA Airways Platinum American Express Card

72,000 Volare points upon reaching €6,000 in spending in the first 3 months after Card issuance*.

Learn More "

• Up to 72,000 Volare points upon reaching €6,000 in spending in the first 3 months after Card issuance*
• Earn 1.5 Volare points for every euro spent and an additional 3 Volare points (for a total of 4.5 Volare points) for every euro spent on ticketing purchases and other services offered by ITA Airways
• Access to the Premium Club of ITA Airways' Volare program.
• ITA Airways Lounge Access
• Free excess baggage
• Points Back, Fast Track and Priority Boarding

Advertising message with promotional purpose. *Offer valid online only from April 3 to July 16, 2025 and reserved for ITA Airways Customers enrolled in the Volare program who apply for an ITA Airways Platinum American Express Card and become a Cardholder. Issuance of the Card is at the discretion of American Express. You will receive 72,000 bonus points on your Volare account upon reaching €6,000 of spend with ITA Airways Platino American Express Card within the first 3 months of issuance, which you can use, for example, to apply for tickets ITA Airways rewards. Volare points will be credited to your statement within 12 weeks from the date the last transaction was made to reach the above spending threshold. For terms and conditions of all Card benefits go to https://www.americanexpress.com/it-it/benefici/carta-ita-airways-platino/index.html. Regulation of the Program Fly on https://www.ita-airways.com/it_it/volare/theprogram/regulations.html. For more information on economic and contractual conditions, consult the General Charter Regulations and the attached Information Sheets by visiting americanexpress.com. Before applying for the Card, remember to download and keep a copy of the pre-contractual and contractual documentation related to the Card you are applying for. Issuance of the Card is at the discretion of American Express.