Why can Didi be used to save money on "food, accommodation, and transportation"?

Recently, Didi has taken another step forward in upgrading its membership system.

"Taking a Didi ride" has long been a must - have for everyone's daily travel. Relying on more than a decade of experience, this leading company in the transportation industry has provided users with many common ride - hailing privileges, such as quick response and free cabin upgrades, leading the entire industry to continuously create value for users.

With this membership upgrade, Didi not only continues to put effort into ride - hailing services but also further expands its boundaries beyond ride - hailing privileges.

If you click into the membership center, you'll find that it's no longer just a "warehouse" for ride - hailing vouchers, but an "privilege map" spanning "food, accommodation, and transportation".

This time, Didi's official has divided it into five major categories and more than twenty privileges, and has integrated eight levels from V1 to V8.

Take the cooperation between Didi and Haidilao in July this year as an example. Didi's mileage members at levels V7 and V8 can exchange for limited - quantity Haidilao Gold Sea and Black Sea privileges. There are not only new product tastings, dine - in vouchers, and birthday gifts. After V8 members exchange for Black Sea privileges, they also have a "priority dining" fast - track and an exclusive reservation channel, as well as complimentary dishes.

"Priority dining" has always been one of the most "precious" privileges at Haidilao. There are quite a few people who have worked hard to become Black Sea members just to avoid waiting in line. Now, as long as you take enough Didi rides, even if you only go to Haidilao twice a year, you can still "jump the queue".

So far, following Huazhu Group, Hilton, and Atour, Didi's mileage membership system has added another highly - talked - about piece of the puzzle in the catering field.

But what's more worth asking is: Why does Didi choose to interconnect membership privileges with more and more external brands?

What are Didi's new membership privileges?

Didi's mileage membership is a membership privilege system created by Didi for users. You can become a member by accumulating mileage points through rides and unlock privileges at different levels from V1 to V8. After this upgrade, users can enter the Didi membership page to receive a limited - quantity membership upgrade gift coupon package worth up to 300 yuan. The coupon packages available for members at different levels vary.

According to official disclosures, Didi's new - version membership system has been re - organized into five "drawers":

Efficient Travel

• Quick Response: When V5 - V8 members are queuing for a ride during peak hours, they have a chance to get a faster response. Among them, V8 members enjoy unlimited quick responses; if there is no response within the specified time, they can get a ride - hailing voucher as compensation;

• Free Cabin Upgrade: V8 members can upgrade from an economy car to a premium car once a month;

• Cancellation Fee Waiver & Express Compensation: The platform will cover the costs in case of temporary cancellations or fee disputes.

Comfortable Business Travel

• Airport/High - speed Rail VIP Lounges: V8 members can use them once a month;

• Direct Access to Hilton, Huazhu Group, and Atour Memberships: Members from V3 to V8 are eligible to exchange for corresponding privileges. The higher the membership level, the more they can enjoy room rate discounts, free room upgrades, and breakfast vouchers.

Lifestyle Co - branding

• Haidilao Gold Sea/Black Sea Queue - Jumping Vouchers and Complimentary Dish Vouchers: Limited - quantity exchanges are available for V7/V8 members;

• More brands in cinemas, fitness, retail, etc. will be connected in the future.

Shared Two - wheelers and Other Travel Vouchers

• V7 and V8 members can ride Qingju bicycles for free 30 - 60 times a month;

• Combo voucher packages for chauffeur - driven services, express delivery, moving services, train tickets, and air tickets are available for redemption, with a maximum monthly savings of 160 yuan.

Exclusive Status and VIP Customer Service

• V7 and V8 users will get 7×24 exclusive customer service, and their feedback will be processed with priority;

• V7 and V8 users can enjoy customized privileges, exclusive app icons and skins, and reduced marketing ads.

The development of Didi's membership system didn't happen overnight. It started back in 2016 when Didi began to focus on service upgrades and providing a better travel experience. Initially, Didi emphasized using mileage to upgrade membership levels, aiming to help users get a ride more quickly and better solve pain - points in the travel process, making every journey more comfortable.

Subsequently, Didi extended its privileges to the "100 - meter area outside the car" by integrating membership privileges such as airport VIP lounges and multiple - use bike cards. In the past two years, Didi's membership system has placed more emphasis on ecological co - branding, incorporating Huazhu Group, Hilton, Atour, Haidilao, etc.

It's obvious that in the process of upgrading the membership system, Didi has a relatively clear path - from improving travel efficiency and experience, to exploring the "travel + lifestyle scenarios", and then to "cross - scenario" development and "expanding the traffic entrance".

Thus, Didi has transformed more than a decade of accumulated travel - scenario experience into a "universal currency" for a cross - scenario lifestyle network.

The most precious thing in the membership system is "certainty"

According to the person in charge of Didi's membership, the average Didi membership user has been using the platform for over six years to take rides. This means that Didi has relatively high user stickiness in the travel field.

As a professional ride - hailing platform, Didi has been continuously enriching users' travel privileges over the years. For daily rides, there are quick responses and discounted express rides. If you want to enhance the experience occasionally, there are free cabin upgrades. If there are sudden changes in your itinerary, you can cancel the ride without a fee. These unique privileges of Didi are not only for improving the user experience but also for creating a sense of "certainty" for users during every journey.

Over the past decade, Didi has been trying to create "certainty" in its business models. It has established a series of travel - related business lines, including ride - hailing, Qingju bikes, car rentals, chartered cars, chauffeur - driven services, freight, and charging services. Didi has tried to cover almost every type of travel mode and niche scenario that people expect, and has become the most professional platform in the industry.

In the travel field, Didi has already achieved "scale". This membership system upgrade aims to further "improve" around the core of "travel". It integrates Didi's multiple in - house travel business lines. Not only are the preferential privileges of multiple business lines interconnected, but also the high - frequency ride - hailing behavior can drive the services of more other business segments. Starting from this, it's also possible to integrate the mileage of multiple business lines in the future for in - depth integration.

By focusing on "travel + destination", this membership upgrade further enhances users' sense of certainty and experience. In fact, except for Didi, it may be really difficult for other platforms to create a membership system that comprehensively covers "food, accommodation, and transportation" scenarios. Thus, Didi has set a precedent in the ride - hailing industry.

Taking the catering industry as an example, public data shows that as of 2023, dine - in still accounts for about 77.4% of the main revenue in the catering industry. There has always been an anxious gap between "preparing to go out for consumption" and "sitting down" - how to travel more worry - free and cost - effectively, whether you need to wait in line when you arrive, and whether you can return or head to the next destination as soon as possible after consumption.

Didi can use its membership system to fill these anxieties and bring unexpected surprises to the journey. When a Didi membership becomes a reality - a V8 member uses the priority ride - hailing (response) service, arrives at Haidilao quickly, can dine without queuing, and gets additional complimentary dishes. When returning, the ride - hailing service also gives priority response, and vouchers can be used for both trips.

For people without cars, taking rides and accumulating mileage is a natural thing. After Didi interconnects with the membership systems of other brands, not only are there more ride - hailing discounts and a smoother experience, but also the scenarios that originally required taking a ride are transformed into more value - added privileges. It's like spending the money for one ride and getting multiple service experiences that would otherwise cost a lot.

By simple calculation, a V8 user can save about 1200 yuan a year in airport lounges through Didi's membership privileges (calculated as 12 times × 100 yuan per time); using the Hilton room - booking discount, they can save an average of 120 - 150 yuan per night.

The saved "time" and "certainty" are the most intuitive feelings. A 60 - second response during peak hours and 30 - minute priority queuing at Haidilao essentially reduce the users' psychological waiting cost. Didi's data shows that Didi's V8 members can save more than 200 minutes a year on average by using the "quick response" privilege.

More than a decade of accumulated rich and segmented travel scenarios is indeed Didi's natural advantage. This is also the core barrier for Didi to continuously create a sense of "security" for users and upgrade its membership system - turning travel experiences into valuable knowledge and then integrating that knowledge into urban life itself.

While other platforms can only focus on SKUs, average customer spending, and browsing time, only Didi has added the dimension of "movement". It transforms travel into a multi - dimensional combination of time, space, and experience, which is an asset that no single transaction scenario can replicate.

In 2025, it's no longer enough for membership privileges to be simply described in terms of discount depth and privilege breadth. Next, each platform will surely enter a competition in terms of scenario length. This means that the platform that can break down a user's single need into three or five segments and provide seamless privilege connections in each segment will have a greater advantage in the brand - cooperation market.