The editors of InsideFlyer magazine have combed through airline and hotel
frequent flyer award charts, past and present, and have selected the Top
10 Awards of All-Time based on monetary value.
To be included on the list, an award had to have been a part of a
program’s standardized and published award chart (as opposed to a
promotional award offer).

Coming out on top as the most valuable frequent flyer award ever was an
upgrade option offered by the Delta Frequent Flyer program in the late 80s
and early 90s that earned members a value of $700 per 1,000 miles spent.
Holiday Inn earned top honors among hotel programs, with a circa 1983
vacation award that was quickly discontinued because it threatened to
bankrupt the young Priority Club program.

Other interesting findings: * Continental OnePass’ Million Aire Reward
holds the highest maximum value among all awards at $334,568. * Seven of
the top 10 awards were offered by airlines, while only three hotel awards
made the list. * The TWA Frequent Flight Bonus Club was the only program
to have more than one award listed (two) * Seven of the awards that made
the list were only available in the 80s, and two were only available in
the 90s.

“In conducting our research, we discovered programs simply aren’t offering
the same types of awards offered 10 or 20 years ago,” says Randy Petersen,
publisher and editor of InsideFlyer magazine. “But, though today’s member
is not privy to these super-valued awards, this is in part offset by the
increased volume and variety of awards available today.”

The article, titled “Best Value: The Top Ten Awards of All Time,” can be
viewed in its entirety at http://www.insideflyer.com/ , the online site of
InsideFlyer magazine.

InsideFlyer.com is a product of Frequent Flyer Services and is included in
the WebFlyer Network of sites. Frequent Flyer Services, including
InsideFlyer magazine and The Official Frequent Flyer Guidebook, is the
largest publisher of frequent flyer information in the world.
——-