Delta SkyMiles Members Can Now Earn Miles With Uber And Uber Eats

From road to runway, getting to your destination just got more rewarding. Starting this week, SkyMiles Members can visit delta.com/uber to link their SkyMiles and Uber accounts and automatically earn miles on eligible rides and orders.

The wait is over – starting this week, SkyMiles Members and Uber customers in the U.S. can visit delta.com/uber to link their accounts and start earning miles. First, SkyMiles Members who joined the Uber waitlist have exclusive early-access to begin linking their accounts beginning today, April 22. All other customers can link their accounts beginning April 24.

Once linked, Members will automatically earn:

3 miles per eligible dollar spent on Uber Reserve trips 

2 miles per eligible dollar spent on premium rides such as Uber Comfort and Uber Black

1 mile per eligible dollar spent on UberX rides to and from airports

1 mile per eligible dollar spent on $40+ restaurant and grocery orders with Uber Eats

Customers who use their Delta SkyMiles American Express Card on the qualifying Uber categories can earn an additional 1 mile per dollar that they can redeem with Delta.1

Evolving the airport experience

Together, Delta and Uber are also evolving the airport experience – from providing easy step-by-step instructions right in the Uber app to guide travelers from the plane straight to their ride, improved pickup and drop off experience at Delta hubs, and much more.

Delta’s New $59 Subscription Gets You Booze And Early Access To Overhead Bins. But Is It Worth It?

(Washington Post illustration; iStock)

By Hannah Sampson

Air travelers who stress over finding a place to stow their carry-on bag have a new option: pay an annual fee to board flights early — and hope it will be enough to avoid the critical mass of fellow travelers and their luggage.

Delta introduced a “new travel benefits bundle” called SkyMiles Select on Wednesday that costs $59 for a year. Its benefits — the subject of hot debate on frequent-flier forums — include priority boarding, eight drink vouchers and “a limited-edition bag tag.”

“Board sooner and find the perfect overhead bin space with Main Cabin 1 boarding,” the airline says on its website. Despite that hook, the airline is not explicitly guaranteeing travelers will always find bin space.

“Customers have told us they want more ways to access benefits when traveling with Delta, and we know priority boarding is a valuable benefit as it gives customers more time to get settled before their flight,” Delta spokesman Anthony Black said in an email. “We’ll look to expand the types of benefits they can access based on feedback from this test.”

The boarding position is hardly elite: According to Delta’s website, Main Cabin 1 boards fourth from last, after four other groups (not including military, travelers who need extra help, or people with car seats and strollers). One segment who could benefit: those who book the cheapest tickets, known as “Basic Economy,” which boards last. If they buy the bundle, they get to board earlier.

[Checking a bag vs. carrying on is the great debate of airline travel]

“There is some value here,” says Kyle Potter, editor in chief of the travel website Thrifty Traveler, who wrote about the new benefits. “Not a ton.”

Most beer, wine and spirits cost $9, so eight drink vouchers are worth more than the $59 fee. But, Potter points out, Delta credit card holders already board in the same group, and those with certain levels of frequent-flier status board earlier. Those travelers aren’t the target market for this offer, he said.

“They’re going after kind of the Average Joes and Average Janes out there who fly twice, maybe three times a year,” Potter says. “And this could give them a reason to keep going back to Delta for those two or three flights a year because they want to use those benefits.”

Delta isn’t the only airline to offer subscriptions; United sells them for its Economy Plus category and baggage, among other things. And other airlines sell early access to the plane: JetBlue’s “Even More Space” seats come with early boarding, and on Southwest, travelers can pay $15 to $25 each way to nab a boarding position before most of the rest of the plane. Both airlines highlight access to overhead bins as a perk. Delta itself sells a priority boarding add-on for $15 each way.

In messages on FlyerTalk, an online travel site, some fliers sounded intrigued by the offer. Others were not so impressed.

“I guess it’s best of the rest,” one user said about the boarding group. “But calling it priority is a stretch, even on a good day.”

Another commenter worried about what the new subscription could mean for the future of bin struggles: “If this proves popular, we might start seeing some flights that run out of overhead space in the middle of Main Cabin 1 boarding!”

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/10/18/deltas-new-subscription-gets-you-booze-early-access-overhead-bins-is-it-worth-it/

Travelore Tips: How To Earn More Frequent Flier Miles

Airlines have made frequent-flier miles more valuable than ever. But they’re becoming increasingly harder to earn. This is how you hack the system.

Many domestic airlines have quietly made a drastic change to their frequent flier programs. They're now more likely to award points based on how much you spend—not how far you fly. That means your typical economy-class ticket earns fewer miles than it used to, especially for long-distance travel.

So what's the new secret to racking up hundreds of miles? Sign up for credit cards that maximize your reward points. Here’s how to get the most out of your spending. 

Upgrade Your Rewards Card

Travel rewards credit cards earn points for every purchase you make. Those points act as currency that you can redeem for hotel stays, flights, and cash credit. But which offer the best deals? Check Card Hub, a one-stop resource that compares annual fees and other member details, to find a card that fits your needs.

Just signing up for a card usually nets you a hefty introductory bonus. Among the best is the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard, which lands you 50,000 miles (or a round-trip flight to Europe or South America) if you spend $3,000 within three months. Capital One Venture Rewards and Chase Sapphire Preferred each give you 40,000 points once you've charged $3,000 in purchases. With Capital One, that’s worth $400 in travel credit; Chase gives you a $500 travel allowance. So 40,000 points equals $400 or $500 (in travel rewards) depending on which company you go with. 

Loyalty Has Its Rewards

If you live near an airline’s hub, get a card that earns points with that carrier. You get more miles per dollar if you pay for the airline's flight with its propietary card. Say you have United’s MileagePlus Explorer card and charge a $450 United ticket on that card. You’ll earn 900 miles. Book the same flight on Delta with that card, and you’ll only receive 450 miles.

Spend Wisely

After the introductory bonus, your purchases earn points per dollar spent. Capital One bestows the miles liberally, giving you two points per dollar no matter what you buy. But Chase distinguishes between travel and dining (two points per dollar) and everything else (one point per dollar).

To eek out maximum mileage, check to see if you can buy what you want through your credit card’s shopping portal (it’s an online store found on an airline’s website), which generally yields a bigger reward than buying direct from the retailer.

Most airline and reward credit cards make deals with certain stores to give shoppers multiple miles for every dollar spent, rather than the 1:1 you typically earn. On Delta’s Sky Miles Shopping site, you can buy from brands such as Backcountry.com (three miles per dollar), Mountain Hardwear (three miles per dollar) and Nike (six miles per dollar). Electronics, sporting gear, pet supplies, newspaper subscriptions—you can purchase almost everything on your list through shopping portals. Sign up for the Wall Street Journal through Southwest’s Rapid Rewards shopping site, and you get 1,400 reward points.

Be sure to browse the portal’s site for any holiday promotions. For example, from November 1 through November 23, Rapid Rewards Shopping is giving away 300 bonus points for every $175 you spend (up to 1,200 points max).

Contributed by Kelly Bastone

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