Frequent fliers lose a friend as Freddie Awards fold

[straitman]

Frequent fliers lose a friend as Freddie Awards fold.

By David Grossman, special for USA TODAY


There is bad news for those of us who live and die by frequent traveler points and programs. Around this time of year, I always look forward to learning which programs have been highest rated by frequent travelers in the annual Freddie Awards competition. Sadly, it appears there will be no Freddie Awards this year, or perhaps ever again.

Much to the dismay of many frequent travelers, Randy Petersen, publisher of InsideFlyer magazine and the undisputed expert on frequent traveler programs, has decided to call it quits. For the past 21 years, Petersen's InsideFlyer magazine gave frequent travelers the opportunity to vote for their favorite programs in what many have dubbed "the Academy Awards for frequent traveler loyalty programs."

In addition to consumers, many of the 120 airline and hotel loyalty programs that participated in the annual competition are sad to see the Freddies end. "The Freddie Awards have been especially meaningful to us over the years because the recognition comes directly from frequent fliers who know our program and our people best," says Rick Rasmussen, director of Customer Loyalty and Marketing Programs at Alaska Airlines.

 

[Mal]

Randy actually announced this (quietly) late last year. There's an interesting thread at FT about it and his reasonings:

Cancellation of the Freddie awards? - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[UP4014]

Times change and the people with it. I'm sure the airlines at the lower end of things are quietly pleased.

 

[QF WP]

So will Freddy Jnr be retired to the House of Miles :?:

 

[anat0l]

So will Freddy Jnr be retired to the House of Miles :?:

I think that was the idea. Either that or he will continue to be a travelling mascot passed from FT member to FT member.

Just because the awards have stopped doesn't mean Freddie Jr has to stop flying.

 

[QF WP]

Does Freddie Jnr have a Ba97 page dedicated to it's flying exploits??

 

[anat0l]

Does Freddie Jnr have a Ba97 page dedicated to it's flying exploits??

Not as far as I'm aware of, but he does have a Flight Memory.

No prizes for guessing who helped fill up Australia domestic

 

[QF WP]

Hmmm, one day I should probably transfer all of my BA97 flights to Flight Memory...

Golly, I'm only just ahead of Freddy Jnr on miles flown :shock:

 

[serfty]

Hmmm, one day I should probably transfer all of my BA97 flights to Flight Memory.. ...

I have given up on Flight memory - the GUI for entering your flight data sucks big time, taking around 2 minutes per segment.

 

[samh004]

I have given up on Flight memory - the GUI for entering your flight data sucks big time, taking around 2 minutes per segment.

It is a bit annoying… hopefully they know this and will eventually roll out an update to the software to make it more intuitive.

 

[anat0l]

I have given up on Flight memory - the GUI for entering your flight data sucks big time, taking around 2 minutes per segment.

It is a bit annoying… hopefully they know this and will eventually roll out an update to the software to make it more intuitive.

It does take a bit type them in, but once I got a rhythm I was averaging usually under a minute per flight (not including unreasonably long internet waiting time).

Of course, when you need to do that for a bit more than a handful of flights - let alone hundreds - you're not going to look forward to it (nor the fact that the bulk upload function is a premium member function).

 

[samh004]

It does take a bit type them in, but once I got a rhythm I was averaging usually under a minute per flight (not including unreasonably long internet waiting time).

Of course, when you need to do that for a bit more than a handful of flights - let alone hundreds - you're not going to look forward to it (nor the fact that the bulk upload function is a premium member function).

I can relate, when I entered upcoming flights in recently I was doing it fairly fast by the end of it, though still made some mistakes.

The annoying part is entering in all the little details, like seat numbers I wont know for a while, and what type of plane it is, and it’s registration, etc… and then also thinking back to my youth and trying to remember what year I took a flight to the Cayman Islands and who it was probably with…

 

[pauly7]

MMMM who is Freddie? Clearly not a big loss for me!

 

[samh004]

MMMM who is Freddie? Clearly not a big loss for me!

The Official Freddie Awards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Awards

 

[pauly7]

The Official Freddie Awards

Freddie Awards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks Sam!

RIP Fred, I never knew you but you rocked.

 

[straitman]

Thanks Sam!

RIP Fred, I never knew you but you rocked.

Some of us have had the privilege (or otherwise) of carting Freddie Jnr to various parts of the world :?:

 

[Skoogle]

Some of us have had the privilege (or otherwise) of carting Freddie Jnr to various parts of the world :?:

And there was that time he was getting fresh with the SYD FLounge attendant, but we don't speak of it.

 

[straitman]

And there was that time he was getting fresh with the SYD FLounge attendant, but we don't speak of it.

Quiet now :!:

 

[QF WP]

Ah, then Flight Memory sounds like it needs a decent upgrade before I am going to want to start entering all of my sectors.

I hope to see it at ozfest