Skift Take
JetBlue has one of the least generous frequent flyer programs in the United States. But it's easy to understand, and travelers seem to appreciate that. Many just prefer belonging to a program that makes it simple to redeem for free tickets.
U.S. airline passengers generally prefer easy-to-understand loyalty programs, even though they tend to offer fewer perks and may require more points for redemptions than more complicated schemes from global legacy airlines, according to a new survey from J.D. Power, the rankings agency.
It found passengers prefer the loyalty program from JetBlue Airways, giving the airline 800 points on a 1,000 point scale. Close behind were Alaska Airlines (796) and Southwest Airlines (793), while the three largest U.S. carriers, Delta Air Lines (766), American Airlines (729), and United Airlines (727), performed the worst.
Smaller airlines, including Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines, were not ranked, but offer subpar loyalty programs.
J.D. Power said it questioned nearly 3,400 travelers in September, querying them based on four factors, including ease of earning and redeeming, program benefits, and the quality of
