Gulf Air’s frequent flyer programme has won the popular support of its worldwide members by winning the Freddie Awards in several categories.

More than 600,000 frequent travellers cast online ballots choosing Gulf Air in the Best Member Communications category within Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Gulf Air was also voted the second-best airline in three other categories - Programme of the Year, Best Award and Best Award Redemption while winning third place in three categories, - Best Customer Service, Best Elite-Level programme and Best FFP Website.

The awards were announced last week at the Freddie Awards ceremony held in Wyndham Phoenix in Phoenix, US, in the presence of over 300 airline, hotel and credit card representatives along with several members of the voting public.

“Our frequent flyer programme, which was launched more than a decade ago, has grown from strength to strength and we are delighted at this prestigious recognition that bears testimony to our commitment in providing the best service to our customers,” said Gulf Air acting chief commercial officer Danny Barranger.

“We constantly strive to enhance our services and communications to our FFP members; we have recently enhanced our member services by adding several user-friendly features to our FFP website and also strengthened our FFP management system aimed at getting closer to our loyal customers. We are encouraged by these recognitions,” he added.

The Freddie Awards are determined by a value-voting method in which voters rate the value of their programme choices on a scale of one to 10. The awards represent excellence in frequent travel programmes and rate the best frequent flyer and frequent guest programmes in eight different categories - Programme of the Year, Best Award, Best Bonus Promotion, Best Web Site, Best Elite Level, Best Member Communications, Best Award Redemption and Best Customer Service. Voters are permitted to vote for programs in one of three global regions: Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia/Pacific.

“We are delighted to receive top honours for “Best Member Communications” in the recent Freddie Awards,” said Gulf Air manager, loyalty marketing, Lesley Britton.

Introduced by InsideFlyer magazine publisher Randy Petersen in 1988, the Freddie awards are named after the late Sir Freddie Laker (1922-2006), who is well known for his pioneering marketing ideas within the travel industry in the 1970s. – TradeArabia News Service