Travel advice website The Points Guy just released its second annual list of the country's best airlines.
Based on ten different criteria—from on-time performance and customer service ratings to convenience, ticket prices and perks—the report analyzes the largest airlines in the United States "as measured by the number of domestic passengers, and excludes regional carriers that partner with one or more airlines."
Let's get straight to the ranking, from best to not-the-best:
1. Alaska Airlines
2. Southwest
3. Delta
4. United
5. Frontier
6. American Airlines
7. Spirit
8. JetBlue
9. Hawaiian Airlines
Alaska Airlines tops the list for the second year in a row, praised for its best-in-the-industry frequent flyer program, airfare cost, baggage handling, on-time arrivals and customer satisfaction. To note: The airlines recently purchased Virgin America and the two companies are "already flying under a single operating certificate." As a result, "rather than rank a soon-to-vanish airline, [The Points Guy] calculated separate scores in each criteria for Alaska and Virgin, and then weighted them together to give the combined entity a single final rating." So, although last year's list included ten airlines, 2018's only features nine.
All this talk about airlines has got us in the mood for a vacation, obviously. Find us scrolling through the best all-inclusive resorts in America for the rest of the day.