Best and Worst Frequent Flyer Programs for Availability

(photo: jaunted.com)

SmarterTravel.com recently issued a report comparing the availability of domestic coach tickets using frequent flyer miles. Based on a survey conducted by IdeaWorks, 6,720 test bookings were made on the websites of 24 of the world's largest frequent flyer programs during March and April 2011 for travel dates between June through October 2011.

These are the results showing the percentage of successful on-line award bookings for U.S. and Canadian programs among 20 top routes.
1) Southwest  99.3%
2) Air Canada  82.1%
3) JetBlue  79.3%
4) United  71.4%
5) Continental  71.4%
6) Alaska  64.3%
7) American  62.9%
8) AirTran  47.1%
9) Delta  27.1%
10) US Airways  25.7%

It's no secret that airlines do not publish the number of seats available for award redemption so this list is the closest to any hard data that passengers will have. Visit SmarterTravel.com for the full article.