New American Airlines Partnership With Uber Is A GREAT Double Dip Opportunity!

Love them or hate them, Uber is a disruptive force in an industry that probably hasn’t seen quite this much change since the days of the horse-drawn buggy.

As Uber has grown, they’ve made a number of strategic partnerships that directly benefit customers. One of my favorites is the partnership with Starwood Preferred Guest, where I can earn Starpoints for every Uber ride.

American Airlines and Uber announced a partnership yesterday that brings immediate benefits (though only for a limited time) to AAdvantage members who use Uber.  View From The Wing had the breaking news yesterday.  Here are the key bits for elite members and credit card holders:

1. Free ride for Executive Platinums. Executive Platinum members “who hold that status as of March 1, 2016” (in other words, not folks who had the status in 2015 but did not requalify) will receive single use code worth up to $25 in March.  This will be valid for existing Uber users.
2. Triple miles on Uber. Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator cardholders will earn 2 extra miles per dollar on Uber through July 31. The full bonus will post after the promotion ends. (Cardmembers with the product that earns only half a mile per dollar will earn 2.5 miles per dollar through this promotion, while all others will earn 3 miles per dollar.)  This applies only to the Barclaycard AAdvantage co-brand cards, not to Citibank co-brand cards.

As Gary notes, the double-dip opportunity through July is a pretty awesome one.  An SPG Platinum member who stayed 75 nights last year can earn 4 Starpoints per dollar on Uber rides during a stay at a Starwood property and earn 2 bonus AAdvantage miles at the same time (if they hold the Barclaycard AAdvantage credit card).  That’s an insane value per dollar spent, though most folks won’t spend thousands of dollars on Uber over the course of 5+ months.

There’s some video of the rest of the integration between AA and Uber that Gary has in his post.  Unlike him, I see a little more value in the app integration, in that it appears to quickly show the wait time for all the different flavors of Uber on the screen.  I probably won’t use the maps but I’m guessing some will find these useful.  I gravitated to Uber before Lyft was really on the scene, but I understand some people use both interchangeably.  Uber is making it easier to pick them with bonuses like these.

The bottom line here is stacking your earning.  If you don’t fly as much as a couple hundred thousand miles a year for work like I do (and I sincerely hope you don’t), you need to take advantage of opportunities like this to grow your balances.  Get earning!

The post New American Airlines Partnership With Uber Is A GREAT Double Dip Opportunity! was published first on Pizza in Motion.