Traveling Soon? Book a Trip With One of the Top 10 Airlines in the World

From Town & Country

It's no secret that air travel isn't the most glamorous-or comfortable-experience. We've all heard the horror stories about inexplicable delays, questionable in-flight meals, and lost baggage nightmares. But some airlines are really trying to make flying a more enjoyable and luxurious process-and that's why the travel experts at the Points Guy decided to rank the best and worst airlines.

The Points Guy just unveiled the 2019 edition of the 10 best and worst airlines in the United States. The ranking was determined based on various factors, including timeliness and comfort and cabin features. The team also analyzed each airline's cancellation statistics, route network, ticket value, fees, customer satisfaction, and the quality of the frequent flyer program. The ranking also assessed the number of lost baggage, airport lounge quality, and how many passengers were bumped from flights.

Delta took the top spot in the 2019 rankings, followed by former best airline title holder Alaska and Southwest, which came in third. Two of Delta's standout statistics were the fact that 92.7 percent of Delta flights arrived on time, and that only 32 passengers were bumped from Delta flights of the over 136 million passengers.

Although Alaska was not in the number one spot this year (the airline previously landed in the top spot in TPG's 2018 and 2017 ranking), second-best airline Alaska was recognized for their top notch loyalty program and their in-flight convenience: it's the only airline with power outlets at every single seat. The third best airline, Southwest, was praised for its low fees and high customer satisfaction rating.

On the lower end of the scale were Allegiant, Spirit, and Frontier, which came in last place. Spirit was recognized for being one of the most cost-effective airlines to fly, but has the stingiest seat pitch (just 28 inches on average). Frontier was dinged thanks to its frequency of delays (TPG found that 24.6 percent of Frontier flights were delayed) and the number of bumped passengers (a whopping 1,365 fliers of the 20 million total).

See TPG's full ranking, in order from best to worst airline, here:

1. Delta

2. Alaska

3. Southwest

4. United

5. Hawaiian

6. American

7. JetBlue

8. Allegiant

9. Spirit

10. Frontier

The Points Guy only analyzed airlines based in the United States for this ranking, but if you're looking for the best airlines to fly beyond just domestic flights, we've got you covered. Back in November, AirlinesRatings.com released a full report on the best airlines in the world for 2019. AirlineRatings.com, a safety rating website, based its ranking off of 12 pieces of criteria, including fleet age, passenger reviews, profitability, investment rating, staff relations, and product offerings.

Singapore Airlines took the top spot in that ranking, followed by Air New Zealand, Qantas Airways, Qatar Airways, and Virgin Australia to round out the top five.

See the full list of AirlineRatings.com's best airlines in the world for 2019 below:

1. Singapore Airlines

2. Air New Zealand

3. Qantas

4. Qatar Airways

5. Virgin Australia

6. Emirates

7. All Nippon Airways

8. EVA Air

9. Cathay Pacific

10. Japan Airlines

Want to find out what a flight on the best airline in the world is really like? Head to TripAdvisor to read reviews of Singapore Airlines.

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