FREQUENT FLYER MILEAGE VALUATIONS
We have rated the frequent flyer programs of the major U.S. airlines in eight areas. This is based on many years of experience in the brokerage business. Some categories such as award tickets availability and award mileage requirements are given more weight. The price we pay for frequent flyer miles is determined by a combination of the factors in this chart and other variables such as mileage supply and demand. Please keep in mind that these ratings are not set in stone. We will update on a regular basis.
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Awards Availability - AA has the most seats available at normal or "saver" levels. DL finished dead last in a poll conducted by FrequentFlier.com on award availability (normal mileage). Only 11% of those responding reported that DL bookings were "never a problem" while 63% found them "usually a problem" or "impossible". UA is better than average in this category although they are getting tighter. CO and NW seldom have seats on any routes at less than double mileage. US and HP have limited ff seat availability on their transcontinental flights. With airlines printing ff miles at unprecedented rates, it is likely that ff awards availability will tighten even more.
Route Structures - AA, DL and UA dominate in this category as they have the most domestic and international flights. CO and NW are also major players. US is only competitive in the eastern U.S. and has a fading international presence. HP is concentrated in the western U.S. and does not have international flights except for Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica.
Mileage Requirements - The carrier's ff mileage requirements are about the same for the various destinations and classes of service. The problem is that the airlines are all moving toward the "stealth" double miles awards. They do not want to announce that they have increased the mileage required for award travel so they change the name of the regular awards to "saver" and the double mileage awards to "standard". The absolute worse offender in this category is CO. NW is a close second. Finding ff seats at "saver" levels on the aforementioned is highly unlikely.
Airline Partners - AA leads the field with their Oneworld alliance. Top partners are British Air, Quantas and JAL. UA is a member of the Star Alliance along with Singapore Air, Lufthansa and Air Canada. US is also a member of the Star Alliance although their dire financial condition could lead to problems. DL has SkyTeam partnerships with Air France, Virgin Atlantic and Alitalia. CO and NW are members of SkyTeam, however, it is difficult to use CO and NW mileage for travel on SkyTeam partners. HP has a partnership with BA that requires written requests for reservations.
Future Stability - All of the carriers are experiencing difficult times because of inordinately high fuel costs. This has forced them to address other variable costs such as labor and significant progress has been made in this area. There are three airlines that are facing serious problems in 2005-2006. UA is having difficulty emerging from Chapter 11 and there is the possibility of a strike. Another troublesome issue is the pending ruling on their pension plans. DL has bet the ranch with their new lower fare structure. It remains to be seen if the cash will hold out long enough to avoid their own Chapter 11 filing. US is probably operating on borrowed time. Liquidation later this year is a distinct possibility. Keep an eye on these three carriers and use/sell/give away their frequent flyer mileage whenever possible.
Additional Costs - These costs include expediting fees, redeposit fees, change fees, booking fees and co-payment fees. There is even an account transfer fee where the carriers charge $.01 per mile to move mileage from one account to another. For example, suppose a husband had 25,000 DL miles in his account and his wife had 20,000 DL miles in her account. If he needed a first class domestic ticket requiring 45,000 miles, it would cost $200 to transfer the 20,000 miles to his account. To add insult to injury, DL adds a $25 service fee to this transaction. It seems unethical to require mileage holders to pay exorbitant fees to use the miles they have earned from patronizing a carrier. The term extortion comes to mind.
Ticketing Procedures - The airlines are about the same in this area. The mileage holder makes the reservation over the phone or via the carriers website. The actual ticket can be issued by supplying the account number, PIN and a credit card to charge taxes and fees. In most cases an e-ticket will be issued. Only UA requires the mileage holder to physically go to an UA ticket counter and show ID when "giving" a ticket to a party without the same surname.
Overall Ratings - AA leads the pack because of their extensive route structure and partnership network - plus the fact that you can actually get ff reservations much of the time. DL has ridiculous award availability but does have a strong partnership network. UA has serious problems in Chapter 11 and the morale of their troops is very low. NW and CO are not major players because of the unavailability of ff award travel at less than double mileage. US may not make it through the year unless fuel prices drop substantially. HP is essentially a discount airline with no major international routes. The bottom line is that AA, DL and UA miles have some value at this time. CO, NW, US and HP mileage is worth less.
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