Uptrip App: Turning Flights into NFTs, Rewards, and Real-World Value

The Uptrip app is a blockchain-powered loyalty and rewards experience created in collaboration between the Lufthansa Innovation Hub and the Miles & More frequent flyer program. It combines traditional travel perks with digital collectible trading cards — including the option to mint them as NFTs on the Polygon blockchain — making travel more fun, rewarding, and technically cutting-edge.

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What Is Uptrip and How Does It Work?

Uptrip turns your flights with Lufthansa Group airlines (including Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Eurowings, Brussels Airlines, Air Dolomiti, and more) into digital trading cards.

Here’s how it works:

1. Scan Your Boarding Pass – After a flight, simply scan your boarding pass or upload it into the Uptrip app.

2. Pick Your Cards – For each flight, you receive digital trading cards that represent cities, aircraft, and special experiences. You choose which cards go into your personal collection.

3. Complete Collections – Each collection consists of specific card types. When you complete a collection, you unlock rewards — like Miles & More miles, airport lounge access, Wi-Fi vouchers, flight class upgrades, or even elite status perks.

4. Redeem Rewards – Once a collection is completed, you can redeem the reward attached to it inside the app.

The Uptrip experience gamifies flying and turns everyday travel into a more rewarding journey.

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Earning Cards and Rewards

Every eligible flight automatically earns you cards once you upload your boarding pass. Even recent flights from up to six months prior can be added retroactively to kick-start your collection.

These cards help you:

• Complete themed collections
• Unlock miles and status bonuses
• Earn Wi-Fi vouchers, lounge access, and upgrades
• Build digital travel memorabilia you can keep forever

In many cases, rarity and category matter — some rewards require a mix of cards from different city destinations or aircraft types. So frequent flyers can complete collections more quickly and unlock higher-value perks.

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The Blockchain Angle: NFTs on Polygon

One of Uptrip’s most innovative features is the ability to mint your cards as NFTs on Polygon — a low-cost, environmental-friendly proof-of-stake blockchain.

Here’s how that works:

1. Connect Your Crypto Wallet – You link an external wallet (e.g., MetaMask, Trust Wallet) to your Uptrip profile to enable on-chain minting.

2. Select Cards to Mint – From your app collection, choose the cards you want to mint as NFTs.

3. Confirm the Polygon Transaction – The app shows you the nominal gas cost (often under €0.01 for several cards), and once confirmed, your cards are minted on Polygon.

4. View & Manage on Chain – You can view the minted NFTs via their Token ID and see them inside your crypto wallet with a Polygon tag.

Minting makes your cards unique, verifiable, and transferable — and because they’re on Polygon, the costs and barriers to entry are minimal compared to many other blockchains.

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Why Blockchain Matters for Uptrip

By minting your cards on chain:

• Your card becomes unique and verifiable with specific flight metadata.
• You can store them in your own wallet, outside of the app.
• You can trade or sell them on external NFT marketplaces (like OpenSea or Rarible).
• Complete collections remain useful in the app even after blockchain minting — as long as you reconvert them back into the app system.

This bridges traditional travel loyalty programs with web3 ownership, offering travelers a new dimension of engagement and value.

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Trading and Value Dynamics

While you can mint your cards as NFTs and even sell them in NFT marketplaces, there are nuances in how this plays out:

• Cards sold externally may not always be redeemable for collections in the app unless they are returned to the app’s system first.
• Marketplace activity may reflect collector demand, rarity dynamics, or perceived travel prestige.
• Polygon’s low fees and efficient settlement make it practical to mint, transfer, and trade these digital assets without prohibitive costs.

Whether for fun, status, or community trading, NFTs add a new layer on top of regular loyalty benefits.

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How Long Uptrip Has Been Around

Uptrip launched its first edition in March 2023 as an MVP (minimum viable product) and early innovation project designed to bring Web3 into airline loyalty programs.

As of 2025, the initiative has been fully managed by Miles & More, continuing to refine the collection mechanics, gamification elements, and blockchain integration.

Since launch, tens of thousands of users have joined, and hundreds of thousands of digital cards have already been issued — showing strong engagement for a next-generation rewards platform.

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Summary: What Makes Uptrip Special

Uptrip combines:

🔥 Travel rewards & perks — lounge access, miles, upgrades
🃏 Collectible game mechanics — complete sets for rising value
🌐 Web3 ownership — mint cards as NFTs on Polygon
🔄 Trading potential — transfer and trade in external marketplaces
📱 Seamless integration — scan boarding passes with a tap

If you’re a frequent flyer or a Web3 enthusiast, Uptrip provides a fun, rewarding, and future-proof way to revisit your journeys and unlock perks — both in travel and on the blockchain.

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