As much as airlines get a bad rap for customer service, a new survey shows they’re doing something right: increasing the number of flights that accept rewards points.
CNBC reported that 74% now accept reward travel, citing an annual survey by Switchfly — that’s up from 66% when the survey was last put out in 2010.
“What I am surprised by is that we continue to see improvement year over year,” Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks, which conducted the survey in conjunction with Switchfly, told CNBC.
According to the article:
Sorensen thinks three factors are pushing airlines to free up more reward seats. First, competition from credit cards like Capital One, which offer reward bookings without blackout dates, may be forcing airlines to make more seats available so airline frequent flyer programs are more attractive.
The biggest U.S. airlines, including American (AAL), Delta (DAL), and United (UAL), all upped the number of reward seats available on their flights. Meanwhile, there are also airlines that have reward seats on every flight, including Southwest (LUV).
In other airlines news, starting this fall US Airways will cease operations as it completely folds into its new parent American Airlines.
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