Delta announces a new tie-up with Starbucks (earn miles & stars)

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Delta and Starbucks have announced a new partnership that allows customers with SkyMiles and Starbucks accounts to earn miles and stars when they buy their morning coffee and when they fly.

Miles & stars with Delta and Starbucks

As of today, customers with US-based Starbucks and SkyMiles accounts can link those accounts (via deltastarbucks.com or starbucksdelta.com) and then go on to earn SkyMiles when they make purchases with Starbucks and extra stars on the days they fly with Delta.

Once a customer’s accounts are linked, they’ll earn 1 mile per dollar spent on qualifying purchases with Starbucks and double Starbucks stars on spending made with Starbucks on days that the customer is traveling with Delta.

In addition to all of this, customers linking their SkyMiles and Starbucks accounts before the end of the year will earn a bonus of 500 miles and, if they make a qualifying Starbucks purchase, 150 stars.

Also, if you happen to be flying out of Seattle with Delta today, you should be offered a “Star Card” worth 150 stars that can be redeemed toward a “handcrafted” beverage the next time you’re visiting a Starbucks location.

Lastly, following on from the news that new Choice Benefits are coming to the SkyMiles program next year (and elite status is getting more expensive to earn), Delta has said that another new Choice Benefit that will be offered will be the option for Diamond and Platinum members to add 4,000 Stars to their Starbucks account – that’s 26 Flat Whites, 80 brewed coffees, or amongst other things, 80 bakery items.

Key terms

• Linked Account members will earn 1 mile per $1 USD (excluding dollars spent toward taxes and tips) of Qualifying Purchases.
• “Qualifying Purchase” means any purchase at a Participating Starbucks Store of food, beverage(s), and/or merchandise, excluding purchases of alcoholic beverages, Starbucks Card eGifts and physical Starbucks gift cards (“Starbucks Cards”).
• Qualifying Purchases must be made (a) using a linked payment method or preloaded Starbucks Card registered to your Starbucks Rewards account, or (b) by scanning your barcode located in the Starbucks mobile app prior to completing checkout.
• “Participating Starbucks Stores” are Starbucks locations where a Starbucks Rewards member can earn Stars (as defined in the Starbucks Rewards Terms of Use).
• Linked Account members will earn double Stars on all Qualifying Purchases on Delta Travel Days.
• On Double Stars on Delta Travel Days, Linked Account members will earn (a) 4 Stars for every $1 USD (excluding dollars spent toward taxes and tips) spent on Qualifying Purchases when paying with a preloaded Starbucks Card registered to their Starbucks Rewards account: (b) 2 Stars per $1 USD (excluding dollars spent toward taxes and tips) spent on Qualifying Purchases when paying with a credit card, debit card or mobile wallet linked to your Starbucks Rewards account; and (c) 2 Stars for every $1 USD (excluding dollars spent towards taxes and tips) spent on Qualifying Purchases when they scan their barcode located in the Starbucks mobile app and then pay with cash, credit card, debit card, or select mobile wallets at the register at Participating Starbucks Stores.
• “Delta Travel Days” means the period starting 12:01AM and ending at Midnight on the local departure date of a Delta-marketed or Delta-operated flight for which the Linked Account member has included their SkyMiles number in the itinerary; provided that if there are multiple connecting segments with a layover in such itinerary, or if the itinerary continues beyond a single 24-hour period, then the Delta Travel Day will be deemed to be the departure date of the of the first segment of the itinerary.
• Delta flights booked within 48 hours prior to the time of the scheduled departure will not be deemed to be a Delta Travel Day and you will not be eligible to earn this Double Stars offer under such itinerary.
• Linked Account members who link their SkyMiles account and Starbucks Rewards account through DeltaStarbucks.com between October 12, 2022, and December 31, 2022, will earn (a) 500 miles and (b) if you make a Qualifying Purchase, 150 Stars.
• Miles will be deposited into your SkyMiles account within 10 business days of linking SkyMiles and Starbucks Rewards accounts, and Stars will be deposited in your Starbucks Rewards account within 2 business days of the latter to occur of: (i) the date you link your SkyMiles and Starbucks Rewards accounts or (ii) the date of your first Qualifying Purchase.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the account linking page here.

Quick thoughts

For once, I’m struggling to see any major downside here. If you’re going to be making purchases with Starbucks anyway, why not make sure that you get some free SkyMiles thrown in alongside the start that you earn?

This isn’t like some partnerships where you have to choose one loyalty currency or another (and can’t have both). Here, you can have the best of both worlds, and if you remember to link your account before the end of the year (you have two and a half months!), you can earn 500 bonus miles and 150 bonus stars too. What’s not to like about that?

It should go without saying that after you sign up, you should read the terms and conditions closely and make sure that you know what kinds of purchases won’t earn you miles and stars (e.g. gift cards and alcoholic beverages) and make sure that you remember that you won’t earn double stars on travel days when you booked at the last minute booking (within 2 days of departure).

Bottom line

Delta and Starbucks have lined up to form a partnership in which customers can earn SkyMiles for select purchases made at Starbucks and bonus stars on days when customers are flying with Delta. As things stand, I can’t see any serious downside to participating in this partnership and as customers can earn 500 miles for doing nothing more than linking their SkyMiles and Starbucks accounts before the end of the year, it looks like we’re starting out with a nice free bonus.