Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards Takes Top Honors at Frequent Flyer Awards Ceremony
Program earns Best Award Redemption, Best Customer Service, and Best Bonus Promotion honors.
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) May 3, 2005 -- For seven straight years in a row,
Southwest Airlines was honored with first place for Best Award Redemption at
InsideFlyer magazine's 17th annual Freddie Awards ceremony last week in New York
City. The airline has won this honor each of the seven years that the magazine
has awarded it. Along with the Best Award Redemption, Southwest received first
place awards for Best Customer Service and Best Bonus
Promotion.
"We are excited the flying
public recognizes the value and simplicity of the Rapid Rewards program," said
Debra Benton, Southwest's Director of Loyalty and Partnership Marketing. "We
strive to make the program Customer friendly and easy to use. The Freddie Awards
confirm that our program gives frequent flyers what they want -- outstanding
Customer Service and a simple way to earn and redeem free
travel."
Each year, InsideFlyer magazine invites
members of all frequent traveler programs to vote for the programs they feel
deliver the best combination of benefits, awards, and returns on loyalty from
the traveler's point of view. Winners are determined not only by how many votes
a program receives, but by the overall merits of each program as reflected in
"value voting," where voters rate their favorite programs on a scale of one to
ten. More than 315,000 frequent flyers submitted ballots to Freddie Awards
organizers, casting votes for programs worldwide.
Southwest also was honored with second place awards in the categories for
Program of the Year, Best Web Site, Best Member Communications, and Best Bonus
Promotion. For the second place Best Bonus Promotion, the airline was honored
for the Visa credit card promotion where Rapid Rewards Members received double
credit when purchasing airfare on southwest.com using a Visa card (October 1 -
December 15, 2004). The airline has won several Freddie Awards from InsideFlyer
over the years and has been given high marks for many program
elements.
"If loyalty had to be based on a
single factor, it would be Customer Service. Southwest's Rapid Rewards [program
not only understands this, but for the fourth straight year, and fifth time
overall, has been singled out by the traveling public as the single best
example," Randy Peterson, InsideFlyer Editor and Publisher, said during the
awards ceremony in New York City.
Southwest's
Rapid Rewards program lets frequent flyers stop counting miles and start taking
trips. "It's easy to earn trips, and it's even easier to redeem them," Benton
said. "It's a program members can actually use, not just dream
about."
Members earn credits by flying or doing
business with the program's preferred partners. A roundtrip equals two credits
(a one-way ticket equals one). Members must fly eight roundtrips or earn 16
credits in a 12-month period to receive a roundtrip award. Once the award is
earned (by flying, buying, staying, driving, surfing the Internet, or talking on
the phone), Southwest automatically sends the Ticketless Award to the Customer's
online account -- free travel fast with no hassle. Plus, Southwest allows the
member to transfer the award to anyone. The Award is free but subject to the
U.S. government September 11th Security Fee of up to $10
roundtrip.
Currently, Southwest offers Rapid
Rewards Members double credit for flights into or out of Baltimore/Washington
International or flights to or from Chicago Midway booked on southwest.com and
flown by August 3, 2005. At the elite level, Southwest offers members who fly 50
roundtrips (or earn 100 credits) within 12 months a Companion Pass, which allows
a member to designate a traveler to fly with them free of charge for 12
months.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is the
nation's largest carrier in terms of scheduled domestic departures. The airline
currently serves 59 airports in 31 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently
operates nearly 3,000 flights a day and has 31,000 employees systemwide. The
carrier will begin service to Pittsburgh on May 4, 2005.
http://www.southwest.com
Media Contact:
Public
Relations of Southwest Airlines
+1-214-792-4847
Customers:
+1-800-I-FLY-SWA or +1-800-435-9792
en Espanol:
+1-800-VAMONOS or
+1-800-826-6667
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb236232.htm