Link these programs to earn more points and miles

Travel hacking does not only mean using credit card sign up bonuses to earn points and miles towards your travel goals. An underrated way to earn more points and miles on things you’re already spending money on is through linking partner programs.

Here are just a few of the programs we suggest looking into to maximize your points and miles earnings.

Delta Airlines and Starbucks

Given how common Starbucks are in the United States (and many other countries), this is an easy way to earn airline miles. All you have to do is link your Starbucks account to your Delta SkyMiles account and you earn 1 mile per dollar spent at Starbucks. Will this earn you a free flight every month? Not unless you’re spending tens of thousands at Starbucks. This is a good way, however, to earn points without much effort. Just link your cards and forget about it as you earn miles in the background.

We don’t fly Delta very often, but this gives us options if we’re trying to get to a certain destination. New York’s JFK Airport is a Delta hub that has a lot of international destinations, so if you earn enough Delta miles, you can take a positioning flight from your home airport to JFK. From JFK, you can redeem those saved-up miles for a great international trip.

Link your Starbucks account to Delta here: More Sips, More Trips

Marriott and Uber / Uber Eats

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points for your rides or take out and get to your next free hotel stay faster! Similar to Delta and Starbucks, you just have to link your accounts and then the points add up.

Keep in mind that points are not earned on every Uber ride – you only earn on Uber XL, Uber Comfort, Uber SUV, and Uber Black. While it’s not all rides, these types of trips earn you 3x Marriott Bonvoy points.

Members with linked accounts earn 2x Marriott Bonvoy points on eligible restaurants. That number jumps to 6x, however, when the food is delivered to any restaurant in the Marriott portfolio.

Get started today – Marriott x Uber

Lyft and Delta Airlines or Hilton Honors or Alaska Airlines or Bilt

If you’re a Delta devotee, this pairing combined with the Starbucks program can help you earn that free flight faster. Linking your Delta SkyMiles to Lyft earns 1 mile per dollar on all rides and 2 miles per dollar on airport rides.

If hotel points are more your speed, consider linking your Hilton Honors account to Lyft. You can earn 3 points per dollar spent on Lyft rides towards your next stay at a Hilton property.

Alaska Airlines offers 1 mile per dollar on Lyft rides – not the highest accrual, but this can help you get miles for a specific trip you have in mind.

Bilt Rewards allows people to earn 2 miles per dollar on their Lyft rides.

It’s important to note that you can only link to one of these four programs – you cannot link your Lyft to all four. Link your Lyft now.

Earning points and miles doesn’t have to be challenging, and it definitely doesn’t have to be time consuming. If you want a lower-effort way to still work towards those big redemptions, look into linking your rewards accounts.