How to maximize points and cash back with Lyft
Following up with one of the earlier articles, we discussed how you can maximize Uber if you were to forego buying a car. What about its main competitor Lyft though? We’ll discuss how Lyft works and how we can maximize our purchases with them by getting cash back and miles/points.
Signing Up
Like Uber, Lyft was designed to be a ride sharing app where you would get a ride with someone and pay them via a third party. Like Uber, this has grown and adjusted with time and demand. I signed up with Lyft a year after I signed up with Uber. By chance, I was walking in New York, and one of the advertisement employees handed me a card with a promo. It stated I could get up to 5 dollars off my next 7 rides, a total of 35 dollars in savings if used appropriately. By that time I had gotten used to the system in New Jersey and how to use Public transport. I also had very specific scenarios for when I would need an Uber or Lyft. I maxed this out over a month (in December when family were visiting, and therefore multiple rides were needed) and got full value out of this. So make sure you make it count when you sign up for any app, not just Lyft!
Third Party Apps
Just like Uber, certain apps have deals with Lyft as well. This allows them to be able to give you cash every time you get a Lyft ride. One such app is Freebird, which is currently offering a promo for $4 cash back into their “rewards fund” for the next 6 rides with them. You have till the 15th November to download the app and input a code on this post on Maximizingmoney.com. The nice thing is that this is interchangeable with Uber as well.
Another app to use is the more famous Rakuten. I have been a big time user of Rakuten, for stores like Macy’s and I always check Rakuten (formerly Ebates) but only in the last few months have you been able to get $0.25 cash back from Lyft (it was previously a dollar but has slowly been going down). Although this is really not much, when doing a short ride for 7-8 dollars that’s still 3-4% cash back, which adds up if you are using a good credit card for travel like the Chase Sapphire Reserve. If you are having to make journeys longer than that, and you are a real Penny Pincher, there may be other forms of transport too, but that’s for another time!
Partners: Delta SkyMiles
Delta and Lyft officially launched their partnership back in 2017, allowing you to earn bonus SkyMiles (we’ll talk about Airline programs soon, I promise!) for every ride you take, with double if it is to or from an airport. They also have a $20 ride credit if you are new Lyft user, not as good as the sign up I got in 2017 but a sign up bonus of that magnitude is getting rarer.
All you need to do to unlock these rewards is link your Delta and Lyft accounts. Here’s how to do that:
- 1.Go to www.deltalyft.com.
- 2. Enter your first name, last name and SkyMiles number.
- 3. Continue to the Lyft part of the partnership, create an account if need be and confirm your details.
- 4. Make sure to confirm once in a while that this is indeed happening.
Partners: Hilton Honors
This was the more recent partnership and can be stacked with Delta! Here’s what you can earn with Hilton Honors:
- 3 points/dollar on rides (excluding taxes, tips, tolls and fees)
- 2 points/dollar on shared rides (same as above)
- $5 off first three rides for new users (compare that to $20 with Delta)
- You can currently earn 1,000 Hilton points on a single Lyft ride after linking your accounts between now and Nov. 15. Don’t forget!
- You can earn bonus points on up to $10,000 in Lyft rides.
To start earning points, follow these easy steps:
- 1. Visit www.hiltonhonorslyft.com.
- 2. Sign into your Hilton Honor account (or create one but you don’t get any rewards for that part)
- 3. Verify, agree to the terms and accept!
Credit Cards
Known as double dipping, and what would be triple dipping if you are getting Hilton and Delta miles (I guess quadrupling even!) you can pay with a credit card that rewards purchases depending on the category. SO my favorite is the Chase Sapphire Reserve. They are liberal with their travel category and considering how useful their points are (more on that as we get advanced), you can use them for all sorts of things! Other cards to use are the Discover credit card when the category is travel, the Bank of America cash rewards (and you are a Platinum Honors member).
Lyft Pink
Lyft has its own membership subscription, Lyft Pink — a new membership program for frequent riders.
The membership costs $20 a month and offers up to 15% savings on all rides as well as complimentary bikes and scooters (3 a month), priority airport pick up and relaxed cancellation and lost and found fees. It really depends on how much you use Lyft before paying for such a package. There may be better alternatives if you are having to pay that much. You have to spend $140 dollars approximately a month to get the 15% savings to cross $20 and be worth it. As always knowing the fundamentals to penny pinching is crucial, pay for fun and convenience. If you are spending that much, always re-evaluate if other options are better.
Samsung and Lyft
From the 29th October, Samsung and Lyft developed a partnership. Samsung users can link their account with Lyft and get 1 Samsung point per dollar spent on Lyft. Customers can also be entered into a prize draw for free Lyft for 1 year.
Ok, well that was exhausting! As you can see there are numerous partnerships that Lyft have with different companies for earning miles and points as well as ways to maximize expenditure. Something to think about when comparing this to Uber, however is the 5% off when you pay for Uber credit, something that you are unable to do with Lyft. It’s a close call, and this is when other factors like customer service, price and safety play a role. Feel free to comment any tips below and let us know how successful you have been.
Happy savings Penny Pinchers!