This year marks the seventh annual TPG Awards, when The Points Guy recognizes the people, places and companies that are innovating in the fields of credit cards, loyalty programs, airlines, hotels, cruises and travel.
We are handing out a total 34 awards this year, ranging from the Best Travel Rewards Credit Card to the Dream Airline Award Redemption, the Best Destination for Stretching Points and Dollars and the Best Cruise Line for Maximizing Value — among others.
Here is an inside look at how the TPG team chose the award categories, the process through which recipients were nominated and then selected, and how we used data to help determine some of our winners.
Our list of TPG Awards winners is organized a little differently this year than in the past, as we took inspiration from the phases of planning a trip, including travel inspiration, planning and booking, enjoying the journey, and exploring and unwinding.
With those themes as our guide, we split our editorial team of travel and loyalty experts into smaller panels based on their areas of authority and asked them to create lists of awards that exemplify our core mission of helping people maximize their travel and reflect the major trends in the travel and credit cards industries (which were recently released in our annual trends report!).
Once each preliminary list of awards and nominees was created, those panels spent months thoroughly analyzing and reviewing the companies and programs under consideration, conducted rigorous internal debates and finally came up with a list of winners.
Each award was unique in terms of the factors that went into the decision-making process. For certain credit card awards, the winner came out on top based on a unique mix of affordability and a dynamic yet easy-to-use loyalty program. For certain cruise lines, it was the blend of appealing to certain types of travelers and the types of ships and itineraries on offer. Still others, such as the Best New Points Hotel, were based on our firsthand assessment from a year of extensive team travels.
Through all our discussions, however, ran the unifying thread of pinpointing the programs and other entities that provide the best value and usefulness to our own loyal audience.
For a specific subset of awards, we went a step further, though.
For the first time ever, the 2024 TPG Awards used data to determine the winners of five awards. Each finalist was given a score of zero to 10 based on the criteria for that honor, and while the full methodology is proprietary, here's a summary of each one.
To determine the credit card with the best lounge access, we analyzed the entire network of lounges open to cardholders, which made up 75% of the final score. This included the number of domestic lounges, as well as the number of unique domestic airports with an accessible lounge. We then analyzed access policies for these lounges, which made up 25% of the final score. This included guest and authorized user privileges along with the cost associated with those individuals.
To determine the top credit card lounge network, we analyzed the domestic footprint of each finalist, which made up 75% of the final score. This included the number of domestic lounges, the number of unique domestic airports with an accessible lounge and the number of confirmed, upcoming lounges. We then analyzed the amenities and access policies for these lounges, which made up 25% of the final score. This included guest and authorized user privileges along with the cost associated with those individuals.
To determine the best credit card luxury hotel collection, we analyzed the global footprint of each finalist's program, which made up 50% of the final score. Then, we scored the benefits offered to cardholders, which made up the remaining 50% of the final score. This latter category includes perks like breakfast, early check-in/late checkout, upgrades and other benefits available to travelers.
To determine the best airline loyalty program in the U.S., we numerically analyzed four key areas, each of which was weighted equally. This included the worldwide reach of an airline and its partners (25% of the final score); the ability to earn points via flying, credit card spending and other activities (25%); the value of redeeming points (25%); and the attainability and value of the program's elite status offerings (25%).
To determine the top hotel loyalty program, we numerically analyzed four key areas, each of which was weighted equally. This included a program's worldwide footprint (25% of the final score), the ability to earn points via stays and other activities (25%), the value of redeeming points (25%) and the attainability and value of the program's elite status offerings (25%).