By Ed Perkins

Just about all of my reports on frequent flyer matters have centered on the main U.S. "legacy" lines that have been around for a long time. And there's a reason: The major-legacy-line programs have far more members and their programs are generally similar, involving partnerships with other lines, awards for travel all over the world, and often options for premium travel and upgrades. But the smaller, innovative lines are gaining ground every day in the marketplace. Today, I'm covering three of the larger recent startup lines.

AirTran's A-Plus Rewards program bases earnings and awards on numbers of flights.

Each one-way coach flight earns one credit, with a 50 percent bonus for a paid ticket in business class. You need 8 points for a one-way AirTran coach ticket, 16 points for a one-way business class ticket, 4 points to upgrade a paid coach ticket, and 100 points for an annual companion pass. AirTran has a co-branded credit card, hotel, rental car, and other partners. It also arranges award tickets on other airlines. Points expire after two years with no meter-reset provision.

AirTran's program is generous. Assume that the average AirTran trip is 600 miles, one-way. The 16 points you need for an award round-trip would require 9,600 miles of flying, far fewer than the 25,000 you'd need on a legacy line. And AirTran says that if an upgrade seat is open, you get it when you make your reservation.

JetBlue's TrueBlue program bases earnings and awards on points, determined by what you spend for tickets, not how many miles you fly, and you earn big bonuses for piling up lots of points during a year and for using JetBlue's credit card. The maximum base earning rate for booking online and using a JetBlue credit card is 8 points per dollar spent, plus significant bonuses for heavy use. Points required for a "free" trip amount to 100 times the dollar value of the fare for an available seat. JetBlue offers no premium service or upgrades. JetBlue has a co-branded credit card plus hotel, car rental, and other travel partners. For now, it has no airline partners, but its financial arrangement with may mean reciprocal benefits sometime later. Points expire after 12 months, but any earning resets the meter.

Virgin America's Elevate program is similar to TrueBlue. You earn points based on what you spend and the points required award flights depend on the fare. The maximum base-earning rate is 5 points per dollar spent, plus some bonuses. Points required for a "free" trip amount to roughly 50 times the dollar value of the lowest available fare for an open seat on a flight you select. Virgin America has a co-branded credit card plus several hotel, car rental, and other partners. For now, it has no airline partners, but speculation says that it will someday develop agreements with the other Virgin brands. Points expire after 18 months with no meter-reset provision.

I tested the generosity of the similar JetBlue and Virgin America programs with sample trips totaling 25,000 miles -- the amount of flying necessary to earn a "free" 48-state round-trip on a legacy line -- with an average one-way flight length of 1,250 miles and an average price for a cheap round-trip ticket of $300.

-- A JetBlue traveler would earn 24,000 points. The minimum point requirement for a long-haul flight would be 15,000 points, so that JetBlue's program figures out to being almost twice as generous as a legacy line's -- and you don't have to sweat out limited seat availability.

-- A Virgin America traveler would earn 15,000 points. The minimum point requirement for a long-haul award flight would be about 9,000, so Virgin's program's generosity is very close to JetBlue's.

Overall, all three smaller lines are more generous than their giant competitors, at least for earning "free" 48-state coach trips, and you should have less difficulty finding award seats. However, the giants still have the edge of worldwide partnerships, scope, and potential opportunities for premium class travel.

 

© Ed Perkins

Travel | Small-Airline Frequent Flyer Programs