The airline rewards applications that give essentially the most worth

These reward applications drive an enormous a part of airways’ enterprise. For instance, American Airlines
AAL,
-2.86%
AAdvantage members spent $1,220 on flights on common in 2019 in comparison with $408 for non-members, in keeping with a Securities and Exchange Commission submitting. So airways have a powerful incentive to earn frequent flyers’ loyalty with high-value rewards. 

Yet for patrons, parsing the numerous variables that go into this worth proposition isn’t simple. For many it may be downright daunting.

A survey in December 2021 and January 2022 of two,150 U.S. shoppers by Arrivia, a journey know-how firm, discovered that 45% of Americans say they don’t know in the event that they’re getting the most effective worth from their journey rewards.

Thankfully, you don’t must determine it out for your self. NerdWallet collected a whole bunch of information factors of airline rewards applications to find out which one provides the best general worth. And in 2023, that loyalty program is: Frontier Miles by Frontier Airlines
ULCC,
-0.08%.

Yes, an airline higher recognized for its low fares and excessive charges beat out a lot greater rivals like American and Delta Air Lines
DAL,
-0.85%.
 

So, how did Frontier come to be essentially the most precious airline rewards program this yr? 

Don’t miss: ‘This is one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen’: Splurge on a stayover — or seize a cocktail throughout a layover — at this nostalgic airport resort

Miles flown, not {dollars} spent

To decide essentially the most precious airline reward program, NerdWallet carried out a deep-dive evaluation of the 2 most necessary variables: 

• How many miles you earn with a program. 
• How a lot these miles are price. 

With these, we decided a “rewards rate” for every airline program, which is roughly just like a cash-back price. 

Basically, for each $100 you spend on airfare, you possibly can count on to get about $10.10 again in worth from the highest airline rewards program, Frontier Airlines, and $3.40 again from the underside performer, Spirit Airlines
SAVE,
-0.25%.
Alaska
ALK,
-1.69%
and Hawaiian Airlines
HA,
-1.34%
additionally do properly, whereas the “big three” of American, Delta and United
UAL,
-1.07%
are clustered close to the underside. 

You is perhaps questioning, “What’s going on here?” Frontier and Spirit Airlines are each finances carriers that supply no-frills fares and a great deal of add-on charges. Why does one provide greater than double the return on spending as the opposite? 

In our evaluation, it didn’t come right down to how a lot the miles are price for these applications. We worth Frontier miles at 0.8 cent every. What mattered was how these miles had been earned: both by the gap flown or the price of the fare. 

Airlines that award miles primarily based on the gap flown, akin to Alaska and Frontier, carried out significantly better than people who award them primarily based on cash spent. Distance-based applications merely dole out extra miles per greenback spent on the airfare.

Plus: Read this earlier than taking an Uber in Cancun, the place violence between taxi drivers and ride-share apps is heating up

Is Frontier actually the most effective? Well … 

Frontier’s ultra-low fares are a part of its success on this evaluation as a result of it means flyers earn much more miles per greenback spent. If a traveler spends $200 on a 2,000-mile flight with Frontier, they’ll earn 10 miles per greenback. The similar traveler spending $300 on an Alaska flight would earn 6.7 miles per greenback. 

And that’s the place issues get somewhat sophisticated. Frontier costs much more charges than Alaska, on the whole lot from baggage to seat choice, and these charges don’t earn miles on both of these airways. 

So a Frontier flyer is simply getting the higher deal in the event that they’re prepared to forgo some fundamental facilities, like a carry-on bag and assigned seat. Any cash spent on charges with these distance-based carriers is basically wasted, by way of incomes miles, decreasing the variety of miles earned per greenback spent.

Frontier additionally has a a lot worse elite standing program general than Alaska and most different airways, and different large drawbacks, akin to miles that expire after solely six months of inactivity (yikes — as many don’t expire in any respect). 

So sure, on paper, Frontier provides the most effective uncooked return worth in miles on {dollars} spent. But in follow, full-service airways akin to Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue
JBLU,
-1.51%
— positions 2, 3 and 4 in our evaluation — are nonetheless in all probability higher bets. This is particularly true for frequent vacationers seeking to profit from elite standing and bank card advantages, or for individuals who will spend cash on ancillary prices when flying Frontier.

• Also see: How to decide on the most effective seat on a airplane

• And: Frequent vacationers: Is your airline loyalty paying off? It could also be time to change.

What else to think about

It’s clear that distance-based applications beat airfare-based applications by way of the worth of miles earned per greenback spent. But American, Delta and United, which make up an enormous slice of the air journey pie, all have spending-based applications. 

What’s a frequent traveler attempting to resolve between these airline rewards applications to do? 

Just as Costco
COST,
-0.00%
in all probability provides the most effective worth per greenback spent on many gadgets, however isn’t sensible or possible for a lot of meals consumers (who wants that a lot cinnamon?), there’s extra to think about than pure worth. Ask your self:

• Which airline provides the most effective routes from my residence airport? 
• What about operational reliability (ahem, Southwest,
  LUV,
  -2.12%
  ahem)? 
• Which has the most effective companion airways for worldwide locations? 

The record goes on, however the level is that no single variable determines the “best” airline for you. But if all these different elements are a toss-up, go together with the one that gives a greater rewards price primarily based on NerdWallet evaluation.

More From NerdWallet

Sam Kemmis writes for NerdWallet. Email: skemmis@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @samsambutdif.