Air Canada Tops Global List of Most Generous Airlines

Here at RewardsCanada.ca and FrequentFlyerBonuses.com, we cover the bonus and promotional offers of more than 160 airline and hotel reward programs around the world.

We’re often asked, which is the best airline or hotel program for value?  And while there are many variables to weigh and consider when answering that question, one common theme has emerged as a key differentiator; frequency of bonus offers.

Think about it.  We all know reward currencies differs from program to program and each market has dominating players when it comes to price and choice, but all things being equal, a travel reward program’s true or hidden value can be determined by how frequently it dishes out bonus points.

Ask any reward program optimizer and the difference between using reward points for a conventional domestic flight versus an exotic international destination in business class, comes down to bonus miles and points.

So which airline is the most generous when it comes to frequency of bonus offers?  We crunched the numbers by looking at the total number of bonus and promotional offers from each airline from August 1, 2013 - July 31, 2014.  Congratulations to Air Canada!!

Here is the press release we have going out today announcing this ranking:

Air Canada Tops Global List of Most Generous Airlines

Airline leads industry in frequent flyer bonus offers

When it comes to rewarding frequent flyers no one does it more often than Air Canada.  According to reward program expert Patrick Sojka, Air Canada leads the pack in the highly competitive space of frequent flyer reward programs by regularly issuing more bonus mile offers than any other airline.

Sojka, the founder of RewardsCanada.ca and FrequentFlyerBonuses.com and best known for his annual ranking of credit card offerings in Canada, regularly tracks and reports on the bonus miles and points issued by all major airlines, hotels and credit card companies.

By definition, bonus points are an enticement tool offered by reward programs in the form of limited or one-time deals. These offers allow members to earn extra points by booking on a specific date or choosing a particular flight.  According to loyalty marketing research firm Colloquy, bonus point are big business and account for approximately 40 percent of all points and miles issued each year by reward programs in the U.S. In Canada the ratio is likely similar.

Since the value of reward program currencies vary across airlines, frequency of offer is the strongest indicator of the generosity of an airline’s reward program.

“It would surprise people to learn how significant bonus points are to achieving reward goals,” added Sojka.  “Frequency in this category matters and through the Aeroplan program, Air Canada has done a great job staying top of mind with its members.”

The following is the first ranking of its kind, based on tracking the bonus offers of more than 125 global airline reward programs from August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014.

Rank	Airline Program	Number of Promotions
1	Air Canada Aeroplan	122
2	Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	100
3	Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	92
4	American AAdvantage	87
5	Air France KLM Flying Blue	82
6	Iberia Plus	81
7	United MileagePlus	79
7	Miles & More (Lufthansa Group)	79
9	Qatar Airways Privilege Club	77
10	British Airways Executive Club	66
11	Qantas Frequent Flyer	64
12	Emirates Skywards	59
13	Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	54
14	Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	47
15	airBaltic PINS	44

The Top 15 Airline Bonus Miles Issuers are based on bonuses posted to FrequentFlyerBonuses.com during the time period of August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014

We'd love to hear your comments about our new ranking of airline bonus miles issuers! Do you take advantage of bonus mile promotions? Do you feel better connected with a program after you have achieved a bonus? Leave us your comments below!