The extension of airline rewards programs to all types of everyday purchases now includes ride sharing apps like Lyft and Uber. Lyft and Southwest Airlines recently announced a partnership where Lyft riders will receive points for their first ride in a number of cities. Similarly American Airlines and Uber have teamed up to offer deals to top tier customers of the AAdvantage program. As ridesharing apps continue to team up with airlines, it will have an even larger disruptive effect on the taxi industry, which operates a monopoly over airports in many cities. As these programs become more extensive, it will inevitably increase the point balance of avid ride sharers.
