Lyft Ends Double Dipping With Hilton And Delta Starting In July

by Gary Leff

You used to be able to earn with Delta, Hilton, and JetBlue all at the same time when you spent money on Lyft rides. Then the Lyft-JetBlue partnership ended. Still, stacking earn with both Delta and Hilton for the same transaction was nice. But it appears that’s coming to an end July 1.

Lyft is going to make you choose one partner to earn with, and if you don’t make a selection by June 30 they’re going to default to the partner you registered to your Lyft account first (which for many will be Delta, because the Hilton partnership only dates to 2019).

  • You can earn 3 Hilton points per dollar (2 points on shared rides), or

  • Earn 1 Delta mile per dollar (2 miles on airport rides)

I consider 3 Hilton points to be worth marginally more than a Delta mile, though Delta is better on airport runs. You’ll be able to change up which partner you earn with at will, so choose Hilton except for airport trips when you’ll want to switch to Delta.

There’s a lot of demand for rideshare rides again, Lyft probably doesn’t need to spend as much on marketing as they used to with pricing up 30% – 40%. And I’m not sure they ever really intended to pay out twice on these partnerships for the same transaction. I’d expect to have to choose earning with just one partner. However the double and even triple dipping made it worth choosing Lyft or Uber despite Uber’s own rewards program (which has been consistently devalued, including during the pandemic).

Delta can’t find people to clean their Sky Clubs, Charlotte airport contracts can’t find people to push wheelchairs, and Uber and Lyft can’t find people to drive – it’s the same story throughout the economy though one that’s expected to change come the fall when kids go back to school (childcare!) and pandemic unemployment ends in those states where it’s still available. Transitions – and matching employees with potential employers or even gig work – takes time.

(HT: Bill S.)