Delta Air Lines will link its lucrative SkyMiles loyalty program with Above This spring, the businesses announced Tuesday that the airline was ending its eight-year partnership with a smaller ride-hailing competitor Lyft.
Once customer accounts are linked, Delta SkyMiles members can earn one mile per dollar spent on UberX airport rides, two miles per dollar spent on “premium rides” like Uber Comfort and Uber Black, and three miles per dollar on Uber Reserve rides . Uber said on Tuesday. For Uber Eats' food delivery service, members earn one mile for each dollar on orders over $40 at restaurants and grocery stores.
“With record numbers of travelers taking to the skies, we’re focused on helping you make your airport journey as efficient, affordable and effortless as possible,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a press release.
Delta and other airlines have expanded their partnerships to gather and use frequent flyer miles, a part of loyalty programs which have earned the airlines billions of dollars. Other Delta partners are: Starbucks, hertz And Ticketmaster.
Customers who’ve linked their Lyft accounts to Delta can earn miles through April 7, a Delta spokesperson said.
“Customers with linked accounts will receive direct communications from Delta and Lyft about the transition in the coming days,” the spokesperson said. “We are grateful for our partnership with Lyft, which benefits loyal customers who have collectively earned billions of miles.”
“Years ago, we partnered with our first airline to unlock more opportunities to improve and innovate around travel experiences, turning those customers into Lyft loyalists,” Lyft said in an announcement. “We continue to expand our horizons by partnering with major brands that share our customer obsession, such as Alaska Airlines, Chase, DoorDash, Mastercard, Hilton, Disney and Bilt.”
Delta didn’t comment on why it’s changing its ride-hailing partner but not Delta's bank card partner American Express offers some cardholders credit to make use of on Uber for rides and food deliveries.
Delta, which reports quarterly results on Friday, estimated at an investor day in November that it could receive about $7 billion from the AmEx partnership in 2024 and set a long-term goal of $10 billion a yr.
Lyft had 24.4 million energetic riders at the top of the third quarter, and customers booked greater than 216 million rides on the platform within the three months ended Sept. 30, a record and a 16% increase from a yr ago.
Uber, then again, had 161 million monthly energetic users on each its ride-hailing and food delivery platforms at the top of September, and its customers reported greater than 2.8 billion trips, including delivery, freight, ride-share and personal rides within the third quarter, 17% greater than in the identical period last yr.
Uber launched a shuttle service from Manhattan to New York's LaGuardia Airport last yr.
Delta and Uber announced the brand new partnership on the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas, where Delta also announced it could launch a synthetic intelligence-based “assistant” in its app and make upgrades to its in-flight entertainment systems.
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