How To Earn Frequent Flyer Miles On Lyft And Uber

Earning points or miles from flying has long been the main focus of airline loyalty programs. Over the years, the popularity of these programs has grown, along with the offerings and earning options. It is now standard to earn points or miles and elite status credits from many sources. Flying with other airlines is common, as is credit card spending and earning from hotels, car hire, and retail. Ridesharing is a relatively new addition to this list.

As of mid-2024, there are options with a few airlines to earn points or miles from bookings on Lyft and Uber. You will not earn massively here, but combining it with other earnings will soon make a difference to your loyalty program balance.

Earning from Lyft

There are options with Delta SkyMiles and Alaska Mileage Plan

To date, Lyft has added the most options for earning points or miles in North America. These can be earned with two airline loyalty programs – Delta Air Lines SkyMiles and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. There are other possible partners, too, including Hilton Honors and Bilt. Note that you can only choose one of these programs to earn at any time.

Image: Lyft

To start earning miles with either airline program, you need to connect your Lyft account and airline account. This is simple to do, following these steps:

• Firstly, you need to set up accounts with Lyft plus Delta SkyMiles or Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
• There is then a dedicated page (linked from either program) where you enter both account details to link the accounts (you can link to both airlines).
• You must then select the one program to earn miles. This is chosen in the ‘Rewards’ tab in the Lyft app.
• Rides are booked and paid as normal in the Lyft app. Miles will be credited automatically after the ride to the chosen loyalty program.

Miles are earned with Delta SkyMiles as follows:

• One mile per dollar spent on all rides in the US.
• Two miles per dollar spent on all rides to/from US airports.
• There is (as of mid-2024) a promotion with Delta SkyMiles. New members will receive 50% of the first two rides (up to $10).

Miles are earned with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan as follows:

• One mile per dollar spent on all rides in the US and Canada

Further benefits with Delta credit cards

For those who travel often, there is another incentive to collect miles with Delta Skymiles. The co-branded Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card offers (among many other benefits) up to $120 annual credit towards rideshares, including rides with Lyft in the US.

Photo: Delta Air Lines

Related

5 Unique Benefits of the Delta Skymiles Platinum American Express Card

The card offers an array of key benefits.

Earning from Uber

You can earn in the UK and Canada, but not yet in the US directly

Uber falls behind Lyft in terms of its loyalty program links. It is not yet partnered with any of the US airline loyalty programs. However, it does have a partnership with British Airways Executive Club, allowing Avios to earn on rides in the UK and with Air Canada Aeroplan.

Photo: Ondrej Zabransky | Shutterstock

To start earning Avios, the accounts need to be linked as follows (the process is very similar for Aeroplan):

• Firstly, you need to have set up accounts with both British Airways Executive Club and Uber.
• In the Uber App, you then enter the Settings menu and select ‘Rewards.’
• This gives you the option to link accounts with British Airways Executive Club by entering account details.
• Note that one British Airways Executive Club account can be linked to one Uber account (this is relevant for Executive Club Household account holders).

Avios are earned with British Airways Executive Club, as follows:

• One Avios per £1 spent on all Uber rides in the UK.
• One Avios per £1 can also be earned for train and coach bookings through Uber.
• One Avios per £1 can also be earned for Lime e-bike and scooter rides.

Image: Uber

Avios are earned with Air Canada Aeroplan as follows:

• One point per dollar spent on all Uber Premium and airport rides in Canada. Uber Premium includes Uber Comfort, Uber Comfort Electric, Uber Business Comfort, Uber XL, Uber Premier, Uber Premier SUV, Uber Black, and Uber Black SUV.
• Two points per dollar spent on all Uber Premium airport trips and airport Reserve trips.
• Three points per dollar spent on all Uber Premium airport Reserve trips.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Earning points elsewhere and transferring to airlines

This may not give the best value, but it is an option

It seems likely that more airlines and loyalty programs will soon add options to earn from rideshares. There are some other current ways to earn, though. Points can be earned in hotel loyalty programs and transferred into some airline programs.

You should check the value you get here, however. In general, you will get better value when keeping the points in the first earned program and using them there. Transfers remain an option, though, if you really want to earn as much as possible with an airline program.

For ideas on how to value airline points and miles, see our guide

Options for this currently include:

• With Lyft, points can be earned in the Hilton Honors loyalty program at the rate of three points per $1 spent. From Hilton Honors, transfers are possible to many airline programs – including British Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, KLM-Air France, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, and Qantas.

• With Uber, points can be earned in the Marriott Bonvoy program at the rate of two points per dollar (with UberXL, Uber Comfort, Uber SUV, and Uber Black). From Marriott Bonvoy, transfers are likewise possible to many airline programs – including United Airlines (there are additional bonuses for transfers as a preferred partner), Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, KLM-Air France, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, and Qantas. These mostly transfer at a 3:1 ratio.

Increasing options for intermodal earning

Earning with train travel is on the increase in Europe too

These opportunities to earn points or miles from ridesharing services are part of a growing trend for more earning options. The industry is also seeing several loyalty programs add ways to earn from train travel.

There are several airline partnerships in Europe for this, allowing earning from certain train journeys.

These include:

• British Airways Executive Club and Uber (as already discussed)
• Avios and trainline across Europe
• Austrian Airlines
• Air France-KLM
• Lufthansa.

Related

5 Frequent Flyer Programs That Let You Earn Points On Trains

With many ways how to earn miles while not flying, intermodal transportation became one of the mediums airline loyalty programs have long explored.

Do you use Uber or Lyft? Have you chosen to also earn airline points or miles from these? Do you find this a useful source of earning? Feel free to discuss further in the comments section below.