Delta hyperlinks loyalty program with Uber and ends partnership with Lyft

Travelers wait for an Uber rideshare vehicle at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on February 8, 2023.

Mario Tama | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines will link its lucrative SkyMiles loyalty program with Above This spring, the companies 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 every 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 collect and use frequent flyer miles, part of loyalty programs that have earned the airlines billions of dollars. Other Delta partners are: Starbucks, hertz And Ticketmaster.

Customers who have 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.”

Travelers wait for rideshare vehicles at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, USA, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“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 a statement. “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 did not comment on why it is changing its ride-hailing partner but not Delta's credit card partner American Express offers some cardholders credit to use on Uber for rides and food deliveries.

Delta, which reports quarterly results on Friday, estimated at an investor day in November that it would receive about $7 billion from the AmEx partnership in 2024 and set a long-term target of $10 billion a year.

Read more CNBC airline news

Lyft had 24.4 million active riders at the end of the third quarter, and customers booked more than 216 million rides on the platform in the three months ended Sept. 30, a record and a 16% increase from a year earlier.

Uber, on the other hand, had 161 million monthly active users on both its ride-hailing and food delivery platforms at the end of September, and its customers reported more than 2.8 billion trips, including delivery, freight, ride-share and private rides in the third quarter, 17% more than in the same period last year.

Uber launched a shuttle service from Manhattan to New York's LaGuardia Airport last year.

Delta and Uber announced the new partnership at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas, where Delta also announced it would launch an artificial intelligence-based “assistant” in its app and make upgrades to its in-flight entertainment systems.