6 ms·

Delta Lyft – Link Skymiles and Lyft

65 points by dpcx 9y ago

otoburb 9y ago
Interesting. Wondering if this means earning only redeemable SkyMiles[1][2], or actual Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs)- the ones that actually count towards status on Delta's loyalty program. Since the distinction isn't called out on the Delta Lyft site, either it's a scam, or we could perhaps cynically assume the less valuable type of SkyMiles (redeemable, not MQM). [1] https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/skymiles-program.html https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/skymiles-pr... [2] quote from the Delta SkyMiles site: "Redeemable miles differ from Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs), which are based on distance flown and help you qualify for Medallion status. Medallion status is earned through a combination of the miles or segments you fly plus your annual spending on Delta flights."
- chimeracoder 9y ago
  > Interesting. Wondering if this means earning only redeemable SkyMiles[1][2], or actual Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) - the ones that actually count towards status on Delta's loyalty program. I would bet absolutely anything that there is no way Delta's going to allow people to earn MQMs off of Lyft, except maybe a fixed number as a one-time signup promotion (the way they do for the higher-fee AmEx cards). But even that's unlikely. The whole point of MQMs is that there's basically now way to earn them except by butt-in-seats flying, measured as the crow flies. If you pay $195 or $495 for the two higher-end AmEx cards and spend $25K/year, they throw in a tiny number as a token gesture. But they introduced this system specifically as a result of people complaining that it was too easy to get medallion status on Delta without actually flying. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any generally-available way to get MQMs on Delta.
  - callahad 9y ago
    In addition to the Amex deals, it's usually possible to buy up to 10k MQMs directly from Delta at the end of each year, albeit at an obscene markup.
  - majormajor 9y ago
    You get a bump from flying more expensive fares for MQMs too, not just straight distance, but not as much as you might like if you're paying 3-4x for a fare...
    - chimeracoder 9y ago
      > You get a bump from flying more expensive fares for MQMs too, not just straight distance, but not as much as you might like if you're paying 3-4x for a fare... Hm, maybe if you're flying first class/Delta One, but I'm pretty sure you don't get any bump from any of the various fare classes that comprise Basic Economy/Main Cabin/Comfort+, even though some are more expensive than others for the same seat.
      - kobeya 9y ago
        Comfort+ (W+ fare) gives a MQM boost.
      - ubernostrum 9y ago
        You would be wrong about that. Full-fare refundable economy (fare class "Y") carries a 1.5x multiplier on MQMs. The full chart of MQM earning by fare class is available here: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/earn-miles-with-delta.html https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/...
  - kobeya 9y ago
    You can get 80% of the way to Diamond status from AMEX bonuses alone. That’s a bit more than a token gesture. In my own case I’m approaching Platinum status but wouldn’t have even qualified for Silver if not for the bonus.
- mi100hael 9y ago
  > or we could perhaps cynically assume the less valuable type of SkyMiles I'm still OK with that. I don't fly enough to get status anyway, but I usually accumulate enough points through various sources like this to get a free domestic flight every year or two.
- majormajor 9y ago
  Looking at the ones that have hit my account, they are not qualifying miles. Though it would take a silly amount of Lyft spending to have this noticably impact your status, anyway. It's just a nice little bump. 700 miles since May isn't world-changing, but it's nice (the to/from airport bonus seems like the biggest part of the deal).
tmh79 9y ago
So if you spend $1000 dollars on lyft, you're ~1/30th of the way to a free domestic flight. Seems like a better deal would be taking the cheaper of lyft or uber, not chasing the miles. I think a more useful partnership would be with the drivers, because they're usually racking up a lot more money & time with these services than the consumers are, and it would be difficult to get something useful out of this when you're getting a ~1% reward (miles valued about 1c/point) without doing a lot of volume.
- viraptor 9y ago
  There's rarely any airmiles offer that's worth chasing. (If you weren't interested in the first place) Most are just to tempt you. But it's nice as a bonus.
- cft 9y ago
  $25,000 spent on Lyft gives you one domestic roundtrip. Assuming $10 per ride, it's 2500 rides, or 10 years to earn a ticket if you take Lyft 250 days per year.
  - tootie 9y ago
    If you're the kind of person who gets elite status on Delta, you're probably traveling a lot and taking a lot of taxi rides. I only travel a few weeks a year, but I can easily rack up a few hundred dollars of Lyft fares spending a week away from home base.
    - malandrew 9y ago
      If you're racking up a lot of flying miles, you probably would want this feature for Uber instead of Lyft since Uber operates in cities outside the US. Only someone who only frequently flies delta only for domestic travel would find utility of this from Lyft and event then Uber is comparable domestically.
      - jpatokal 9y ago
        SPG (Sheraton, Westin and friends) has had a similar partnership with Uber since last year.
cft 9y ago
Is Uber linked to any mileage program?
- viraptor 9y ago
  Not at the moment, but I bet it will be soon...
- txcwpalpha 9y ago
  Dunno about mileage programs, but if you use certain Amex cards to pay for Ubers, you get double Amex MR points.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    You also get $200/year towards Uber with a Platinum or Centurion Amex.
- ropiku 9y ago
  There's an Uber + SPG (Starwood) program but you need one stay with SPG. Those points can be then transferred to airline miles.
- eddieplan9 9y ago
  Not exactly mileage program, but Verizon Up is super sweet deal. I get 20% off for both Uber rides and UberEATS.
- cycrutchfield 9y ago
  Even better, it's linked with Starwood, which is often more valuable. https://www.spgpromos.com/uber/ https://www.spgpromos.com/uber/
dawnerd 9y ago
They announced this a while back and the signup flow is STILL broken for me. Already have a Lyft account and they ask for a credit card on this signup. I'm not giving them a credit card just to link to my SkyMiles. I use apple pay in the app for a reason.
bxio 9y ago
Looks like Delta is also linking up with Airbnb http://deltaairbnb.com http://deltaairbnb.com Clever new way to attract customers and earn referral fees, but I think the SkyMiles yield from these programs is too low to bother with.
MichaelGlass 9y ago
... why don't these sites live on Lyft or Delta's domains? Feels icky typing personal information into random domain names that have other brands embedded in them.
jpgvm 9y ago
Unfortunately Skymiles are more like Skypesos. Damn near impossible to get value out of them.

65 points by dpcx 9y ago

Interesting. Wondering if this means earning only redeemable SkyMiles[1][2], or actual Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs)- the ones that actually count towards status on Delta's loyalty program. Since the distinction isn't called out on the Delta Lyft site, either it's a scam, or we could perhaps cynically assume the less valuable type of SkyMiles (redeemable, not MQM). [1] https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/skymiles-program.html https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/skymiles-pr... [2] quote from the Delta SkyMiles site: "Redeemable miles differ from Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs), which are based on distance flown and help you qualify for Medallion status. Medallion status is earned through a combination of the miles or segments you fly plus your annual spending on Delta flights."

chimeracoder 9y ago
> Interesting. Wondering if this means earning only redeemable SkyMiles[1][2], or actual Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) - the ones that actually count towards status on Delta's loyalty program. I would bet absolutely anything that there is no way Delta's going to allow people to earn MQMs off of Lyft, except maybe a fixed number as a one-time signup promotion (the way they do for the higher-fee AmEx cards). But even that's unlikely. The whole point of MQMs is that there's basically now way to earn them except by butt-in-seats flying, measured as the crow flies. If you pay $195 or $495 for the two higher-end AmEx cards and spend $25K/year, they throw in a tiny number as a token gesture. But they introduced this system specifically as a result of people complaining that it was too easy to get medallion status on Delta without actually flying. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any generally-available way to get MQMs on Delta.
- callahad 9y ago
  In addition to the Amex deals, it's usually possible to buy up to 10k MQMs directly from Delta at the end of each year, albeit at an obscene markup.
- majormajor 9y ago
  You get a bump from flying more expensive fares for MQMs too, not just straight distance, but not as much as you might like if you're paying 3-4x for a fare...
  - chimeracoder 9y ago
    > You get a bump from flying more expensive fares for MQMs too, not just straight distance, but not as much as you might like if you're paying 3-4x for a fare... Hm, maybe if you're flying first class/Delta One, but I'm pretty sure you don't get any bump from any of the various fare classes that comprise Basic Economy/Main Cabin/Comfort+, even though some are more expensive than others for the same seat.
    - kobeya 9y ago
      Comfort+ (W+ fare) gives a MQM boost.
    - ubernostrum 9y ago
      You would be wrong about that. Full-fare refundable economy (fare class "Y") carries a 1.5x multiplier on MQMs. The full chart of MQM earning by fare class is available here: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/earn-miles-with-delta.html https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/...
- kobeya 9y ago
  You can get 80% of the way to Diamond status from AMEX bonuses alone. That’s a bit more than a token gesture. In my own case I’m approaching Platinum status but wouldn’t have even qualified for Silver if not for the bonus.
mi100hael 9y ago
> or we could perhaps cynically assume the less valuable type of SkyMiles I'm still OK with that. I don't fly enough to get status anyway, but I usually accumulate enough points through various sources like this to get a free domestic flight every year or two.
majormajor 9y ago
Looking at the ones that have hit my account, they are not qualifying miles. Though it would take a silly amount of Lyft spending to have this noticably impact your status, anyway. It's just a nice little bump. 700 miles since May isn't world-changing, but it's nice (the to/from airport bonus seems like the biggest part of the deal).

tmh79 9y ago

So if you spend $1000 dollars on lyft, you're ~1/30th of the way to a free domestic flight. Seems like a better deal would be taking the cheaper of lyft or uber, not chasing the miles. I think a more useful partnership would be with the drivers, because they're usually racking up a lot more money & time with these services than the consumers are, and it would be difficult to get something useful out of this when you're getting a ~1% reward (miles valued about 1c/point) without doing a lot of volume.

viraptor 9y ago
There's rarely any airmiles offer that's worth chasing. (If you weren't interested in the first place) Most are just to tempt you. But it's nice as a bonus.
cft 9y ago
$25,000 spent on Lyft gives you one domestic roundtrip. Assuming $10 per ride, it's 2500 rides, or 10 years to earn a ticket if you take Lyft 250 days per year.
- tootie 9y ago
  If you're the kind of person who gets elite status on Delta, you're probably traveling a lot and taking a lot of taxi rides. I only travel a few weeks a year, but I can easily rack up a few hundred dollars of Lyft fares spending a week away from home base.
  - malandrew 9y ago
    If you're racking up a lot of flying miles, you probably would want this feature for Uber instead of Lyft since Uber operates in cities outside the US. Only someone who only frequently flies delta only for domestic travel would find utility of this from Lyft and event then Uber is comparable domestically.
    - jpatokal 9y ago
      SPG (Sheraton, Westin and friends) has had a similar partnership with Uber since last year.

cft 9y ago

Is Uber linked to any mileage program?

viraptor 9y ago
Not at the moment, but I bet it will be soon...
txcwpalpha 9y ago
Dunno about mileage programs, but if you use certain Amex cards to pay for Ubers, you get double Amex MR points.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  You also get $200/year towards Uber with a Platinum or Centurion Amex.
ropiku 9y ago
There's an Uber + SPG (Starwood) program but you need one stay with SPG. Those points can be then transferred to airline miles.
eddieplan9 9y ago
Not exactly mileage program, but Verizon Up is super sweet deal. I get 20% off for both Uber rides and UberEATS.
cycrutchfield 9y ago
Even better, it's linked with Starwood, which is often more valuable. https://www.spgpromos.com/uber/ https://www.spgpromos.com/uber/

dawnerd 9y ago

They announced this a while back and the signup flow is STILL broken for me. Already have a Lyft account and they ask for a credit card on this signup. I'm not giving them a credit card just to link to my SkyMiles. I use apple pay in the app for a reason.

bxio 9y ago

Looks like Delta is also linking up with Airbnb http://deltaairbnb.com http://deltaairbnb.com Clever new way to attract customers and earn referral fees, but I think the SkyMiles yield from these programs is too low to bother with.

MichaelGlass 9y ago

... why don't these sites live on Lyft or Delta's domains? Feels icky typing personal information into random domain names that have other brands embedded in them.

jpgvm 9y ago

Unfortunately Skymiles are more like Skypesos. Damn near impossible to get value out of them.