Earlier this year, Starbucks made a move that will be all too familiar to travelers: The company converted its loyalty program to a spend-based scheme, rewarding members according to the amount of their purchases rather than the number of their visits.
As was the case with similar conversions by Delta and United, the change meant that the majority of program members would earn fewer rewards for their patronage.
Related:Putting a Price Tag on Airline Service Disruptions
This week, Starbucks gave Rewards members reason to hope that the new program may be worthwhile after all, with the addition, albeit on a limited-time basis, of its first program partner.
Through November 9, Starbucks Rewards members who link their Starbucks and Lyft accounts can earn 125 points for their first Lyft ride, and five points for each subsequent ride taken between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. local time, Monday through Friday.
Separately, Starbucks customers will receive a $5 Starbucks Card with every purchase of a $20 Lyft gift card, until supplies run out.
The Lyft tie-up is a very modest and tentative one, to be sure. But it shows that Starbucks is willing to invest in its program and understands the value of meaningful partnerships. It’s easy to imagine points-earning for Lyft rides evolving into a permanent program feature, followed by similar earning and redemption opportunities with other companies. And before you know it, Starbucks Rewards could become a genuinely robust program.
One can hope, right?
Reader Reality Check
What would make the Starbucks loyalty program relevant to you?
More from SmarterTravel: Hey Big Spender, Redeem Those Travel-Rewards Points Now! How NOT to Survive an Airline Crash What Is the Best Travel Rewards Card? (2016 Edition)
After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
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Today’s announcement that Southwest has a new marketing relationship with a rideshare company was no surprise. As rideshare services have become an ever-larger part of the travel landscape, such tie-ups have proliferated. It won’t be long before every airline and hotel loyalty program has a rideshare company on its roster of points-earning partners.
As changes to hotel-program award prices go, the latest for InterContinental’s IHG Rewards are decidedly modest: Prices for award nights at 400 hotels will change by either 5,000 or 10,000 points, half moving up, half moving down. If it were just that 50-50 split, Rewards members might dismiss it as a wash and count their blessings. After all, “It could have been worse.”
A key selling point of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft is their transparency. Users know where their ride is, how soon it will arrive to pick them up, and how much the fare will be to their destination.
Alaska Airlines is justly lauded for its Mileage Plan loyalty program, which among other features boasts 17 airline partners, allowing program members to earn and redeem miles for flights throughout the world.
In February, when Starbucks announced it was converting its frequent-drinker program to a revenue-based scheme, there was a collective groan from the caffeinated crowd. As with similar conversions by the major airlines, Starbucks’ new earning rules would mean fewer rewards for most customers.
Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood has left one key group vocally underwhelmed: members of Starwood’s Preferred Guest program, particularly Starwood elites who have become accustomed to perks and services that play no part in Marriott’s Rewards program.
Until yesterday, American Airlines customers dismayed at the airline’s August 1 pivot to a spend-based mileage program had a fallback option: Earn miles for their American flights in Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan program, which still awards miles the old-fashioned way, according to the distance flown.
Enter the Liberty Richter “Kitchens of India” sweepstakes by June 15, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a six-day trip for two to New Delhi, India, including air, transfers, and hotel.
By traditional measures, Alaska Airlines is a carrier of decidedly modest size, even after its acquisition of Virgin America. Its own flight network is small, compared to those of American, Delta, and United. And it’s not a member of one of the three global airline alliances.
On Friday evening—traditional timing for bad-news announcements that companies hope will go unnoticed by the public and unreported by the media—American published the new mileage-earning rates, effective from August 1, for travel on AAdvantage partner airlines.
Enter the Babich Wines “Trip to New Zealand” sweepstakes by August 31, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a seven-night trip for two to New Zealand, including air to and within New Zealand; hotels in Auckland, Marlborough, and Queenstown; choice of activities; and a NZD$1,000 gift card.