Starting October 12, (well yesterday for me) Delta and Starbucks began offering users the ability to link their SkyMiles and Starbucks Rewards accounts to earn simultaneous rewards. Quick recap of the details:
- 1 mile earned for every $1 spent at Starbucks
- 500 miles upon initiation
- 150 starts upon initiation
- Double stars on Delta travel days
If you are already a member of either or both programs, you likely already are informed. And that is good, because I am not writing this for that purpose. We are here today to be critical. Ahem, first question then: Why?
As you might guess, every business decision is rooted in either improved image or improved profits or both. Will this get you to think more highly of us or our products? Or will this get you to buy something/more of something from us? (For those of you who are marketing whizzes, I am aware that it is more nuanced, but you get the gist.)
This incentivizes me to specifically buy from Starbucks because I can’t miss out on earning miles! They already have me suckered with those challenges and games. When given the option between comparably priced coffees, Starbucks wins with the additional non-coffee benefits.
Maybe this is just about two companies working together to increase consumer loyalty. However, my concern, as a skeptical consumer, is about how this will affect me. With linkages between programs, should I be aware of privacy issues that could result? Would Delta know more about where all I buy my coffee? Would Starbucks learn more about my itinerary? Is Big Brother going to be tracking me even more highly as a result?
As of now, they have not provided updated privacy policies to explain how information linked in this program will be protected. In each company’s announcement and on the sign-up pages, they only link to their existing privacy policies.
I have to admit, I am a sucker for seemingly free things, but I will look some more into it before I sign up. (But if I am being 100% honest, I will probably sign up eventually.)
For more information about the program, go to https://www.deltastarbucks.com
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