Travel Tidbits - 2025's Best Frequent Flyer Programs

 With U.S. travel activity still growing but fewer travelers making current plans, airfare savings will be increasingly important in the months ahead. To help travelers make the best decisions for their wallets, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2025’s Best Frequent Flyer Programs, which ranks the 10 largest domestic airlines based on 21 key metrics, ranging from the value of a point/mile to blackout dates for reward flights.

WalletHub’s report also features a custom calculator that allows travelers to personalize the results based on their own budget.

Highlights:

• Best Frequent Flyer Program: Alaska Mileage Plan is the best frequent flyer program of 2025, topping the list for the second year in a row and narrowly beating out United MileagePlus for the overall title.
   
• Savings Available to Frequent Flyers: The average airline rewards program saves frequent flyers roughly 8% on airfare, and these programs are all free to join.
   
• Less Rewarding in 2025: Only 3 of the 10 largest airlines are offering more rewards value in 2025 than in 2024. On average, the top 10 airlines are offering 5% less value than they did last year.
   
• Earn and Redeem with Partner Airlines: Six of the 10 largest U.S. airlines allow program members to earn and redeem miles with partner carriers.
   
• Best Airline Credit Card: The JetBlue Plus Card is 2025’s best airline credit card, according to WalletHub’s editors.
  
   

“Many people are going to travel this year whether they can afford it or not, but saving money is always better, and enough savings cobbled together could mean the difference between a staycation and a real getaway this summer. That’s where frequent flyer programs come into play, as membership can save you an average of 8% on airfare, and you can earn miles even when doing things like dining or shopping with partners. You may have to look a bit harder to find the right program for your needs, considering that most major airlines are offering less value this year, according to WalletHub research. But the potential savings are worth it, especially if you get the best credit card affiliated with your airline of choice. Many airline credit cards currently offer initial bonuses big enough to get you a free flight or two.”

- Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst


 

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