Related video above: Are round-trip or one-way tickets a better deal?

Starbucks customers can now earn more than just "stars" for their purchases.

Effective Wednesday, the coffee chain is partnering with Delta Air Lines and awarding 1 mile for every $1 spent at Starbucks in an alliance between "two of America's most highly regarded loyalty programs," the companies said in a press release.

Customers must first link their Starbucks Rewards and Delta SkyMiles accounts on a special website in order to start receiving miles on purchases made at U.S. Starbucks locations. As another perk, on days that members are scheduled to fly Delta, they will earn double stars, or rewards points, on their Starbucks orders.

To entice customers to join the partnership, members who link their accounts between now and Dec. 31 will earn an additional 500 SkyMiles and, after joining and making one Starbucks purchase, they will accrue 150 stars, enough for a free coffee.

The brands have two of the country's most popular loyalty programs. Starbucks has more than 27 million U.S. members and Delta has around 100 million global members (the airline doesn't break out numbers for the U.S.).

Expanding Starbucks Rewards is a goal for the company because it gives the chain access to customers' data and ordering habits, which in turn helps the company target members with deals. Plus, members typically spend more money on each purchase compared to non-members. Partnerships like these help Starbucks "increase awareness and drive growth," as well as attract new members, the chain said in the release.

The coffee giant is also taking a page from Delta's playbook, as the airline already has a number of partnerships allowing members to accrue SkyMiles without flying, including for Lyft rides, Instacart purchases and Airbnb stays. The carrier said in the release that this new partnership helps the company "deliver more moments and interactions that matter, both in the air and on the ground."

Starbucks' newest perk to its loyalty program comes as rival Dunkin' recently made changes to parts of its own program, which has sparked some outrage among members.

CINCINNATI —

Gas prices have shot up at a ridiculous rate. The numbers are busting budgets for families all across the area.

Since you're going to be paying a lot at the pump for the foreseeable future, why not try to cut costs when you can? WLWT's Mike Dardis took a look at all those fuel programs available, to see which one will save you the most money.

If we just look at his daily commute from Mason to Cincinnati, the prices at the pump are all over the map. On this particular day, the UDF in Mason is $3.14 a gallon. Just a mile down the road, $3.24 at the Sunoco near Kings Island. BP Montgomery is $3.27 a gallon. The UDF off Dana Avenue is only $3.01. It was $3.09 at a station in Evanston and $3.29 at a Shell in OTR, 28 cents more than that $3.01 number we saw off Dana.

As you're seeing, gas prices are the highest they've been in seven years — up 40% since the start of 2021.

That's frustrating enough, but to make matters worse, many of you are losing out on hundreds of dollars a year. To claim that savings, all you have to do is what you're already doing. Dardis will show you, by crunching numbers and comparing some fuel programs.

Speedway has its "Speedy Rewards." Exxon Mobil Rewards is another option. Shell just calls it a fuel rewards program and UDF has U-Drive.

All of them save you money. But three others, which are easy to understand, actually save you more.

The average American household uses two cars, 17 gallons of gas in a tank and fills up once a week. So let's use those numbers to help measure the cost-cutting.

BPme is a solid program offered by BP. As long as you spend $100 a month on fuel at BP,
you get 5 cents off a gallon every time you stop, with perks that can make it 4 times that much. So, 5 cents, times 17 gallons is 85 cents, times 4 for the perks means you save $3.40 a week for one car and $6.80 for two.

Over 52 weeks, BPme saves the average family $353.60.

Costco is not a fuel program, it's obviously a shopping club. It doesn't pay to join for just the gas. However, if you decide to join for the shopping, the gas savings are hard to beat.

On average, Costco fuel is 22 cents cheaper per gallon than other gas stations. Twenty-two cents times 17 gallons is $3.74 for your week fill up. Two cars would mean you saved $7.48. Over a 52 week year, that's $388.96 you kept in your wallet.

Slightly better than BP is Kroger, which is gas king in Greater Cincinnati. But only if you always shop there. If you spend $1,000 a month on groceries (which is average), you'll rack up enough fuel points to earn the top savings prize of $1 dollar off a gallon, up to 35 gallons. That $35 in savings monthly is $420 bucks a year!

Thirty-one dollars in change better than Costco and $66.40 better than BP.

Kroger shoppers, sometimes they offer you 20 cents or 30 cents off a gallon, but it's basically capped at $35 for the month. So you can take the discounts as you go, or save up for the big "dollar off a gallon" haul.

There's also the GasBuddy app which you can use like Waze or Google Maps. You just plug in where you're going and it'll give you the price of every gas station along your route.

Bottom line is it pays to use at least one fuel program, otherwise, you're literally leaving money on the table. Kill two birds with one stone if you can.

In other words, if you're already shopping at Kroger, get gas at Kroger. If you're already shopping at Costco, get gas at Costco. That way you're saving money at the pump and not driving all over to find cheaper gas.

Customers at Starbucks will have new ways to pay for their drinks and food while still earning stars in their rewards program.

The changes to the Starbucks Rewards loyalty program begins Tuesday, September 15.

Customers have complained for years about the need to reload their Starbucks card in order to spend money at the coffee giant and earn loyalty stars. In order for customers to earn stars in their loyalty program, customers had to use a Starbucks card or gift card to pay. This forced regular customers to constantly reload their card to ensure there was enough money for their purchases.

Starting Tuesday, alternative ways to pay will be allowed and still allow members to earn stars for purchases. Alternative methods include debit/credit cards, cash, and select mobile wallets.

However, there’s a catch.

Customers paying with their Starbucks card or gift card will earn two loyalty stars per $1 spent, and those paying with alternative methods will earn one star per $1 spent.