Delta ranks in the middle for mileage award availability

In an annual survey of airline frequent flier programs, Delta Air Lines ranked in the middle for mileage award availability.

Delta came in 10th place out of 25 carriers worldwide in the IdeaWorksCompany survey results released Wednesday. Atlanta-based Delta was part of a three-way tie for the No. 10 spot with Air China and British Airways.

What the survey found was that 74.3 percent of queries for Delta SkyMiles award flights resulted in round-trip award seats. That’s slightly above the average of 72.4 percent.

In the No. 1 spot was Southwest Airlines, the second-largest carrier at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. For Southwest, 100 percent of queries yielded award seats in the survey.

In the No. 2 spot was JetBlue Airways, which launched service to Atlanta this year with a route to Boston.

The list included other big U.S. carriers, including United in 13th place and American in 18th place.

The survey is based on 7,420 booking and fare queries made on airline frequent flier websites in March 2017.

According to IdeaWorksCompany, frequent fliers are “better served by the reward programs at value-oriented airlines.”

Airlines know “that nothing can match the allure of a practically free fight to an exotic destination,” according to the report. “This survey provides proof that some airlines deliver this promise much better than others.”

About the Author

Kelly Yamanouchi

As business team lead, Kelly Yamanouchi edits and writes business stories. She graduated from Harvard and has a master's degree from Northwestern.

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