Bike sharing rewarded in new Lufthansa mobility app

Lufthansa Innovation Hub has launched a rewards app aimed at rewarding people using transportation services such as bike sharing. Launching under the motto “loyal to the way you move”,  RYDES bills itself as the first app in Europe to reward points for each journey with a “digitally booked mobility service”. Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings is supporting the launch as one of three low-cost carriers offering an instant reward if a digital flight ticket is uploaded to the app. Users can also win points by using car, bike and eScooter sharing services as well as travel on Germany’s Deutsche Bahn train systems. Kick scooters will also soon be added, LIH said. READ: Lufthansa expands inflight entertainment. "With Rydes, we are launching a whole new type of loyalty program that does not reward loyalty to a type of transport and thus reacts to the changing mobility behavior of parts of the young, digital-savvy generation,’’ said the RYDES project director at Lufthansa Innovation Hub, Renee Braun. “It works for all mobility providers, it is 100 percent digital, the rewards are curated for the target group and can be redeemed transparently and very easily," The app requires users to scan their digital tickets and then it books points for each trip into a personal account. These can be redeemed for rewards such as free minutes from sharing services or vouchers with partners such as Eurowings, Amorelie, Tinder and Amazon. Challenges allow users to accrue additional points. Lufthansa says an “Up in the Air “ challenges provides instant rewards for those upload flight tickets from Eurowings, easyJet or Ryanair. A “Transporter  Challenge” sees car-sharing service MILES reward the booking of a rental van with 1000 extra points. The app is available for both IOS and Andriod devices for those willing to trade their data for rewards. The innovation hub is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa that aims to improve the passenger travel experience well and to make the company’s data available to technology pioneers. It says it is responsible for pursuing business opportunities “arising from the interface between Lufthansa and global travel technology”, analyzing the opportunities quickly and converting them into new business for the airline group.