Uber has announced a new loyalty program called Uber Rewards. Crucially, you can earn for Uber transactions, you get rebates, and frequent Uber riders get better treatment.
The Uber rewards loyalty program in no way competes with the best luxury hotel loyalty programs which offer free upgrades, breakfast, and more.
The program isn’t massively exciting, and it isn’t fully rolled out yet. But it is better than nothing! If you aren’t already using Uber, it is worth joining up. Use my promo code link to get a free ride. Uber says, “Every time a new rider signs up with this invite code, and they get a free ride (amount varies by location).” So if you need a taxi anytime soon, you may as well take advantage of this promotion.
Where Is The Loyalty Program Happening
Right now, it is just in the New York City/New Jersey area; Philadelphia; Miami; Washington DC; Denver; Tampa; Atlanta; and San Diego, with the rest of the US rolling out over the coming months. Uber will email you to let you know when your city gets added if you want.
Points-Earning and Redemption
You can earn rebates on Uber services in the U.S., it’s a point system, but each point equals a penny with a 500 points minimum to redeem.
UberEats and UberPool earns 1 point per dollar (1% rebate)
UberX, UberXL, UberSelect, WAV earns 2 points per dollar (2% rebate)
UberBlack, SUV, Lux earns 3 points per dollar (3% rebate)
Uber Elite Status
Uber will offer revenue-based elite status. There are four membership levels based on the number of points (which are based on spend) earned over a six-month period. That period is based on when you join the loyalty program, with initial status based on prior six months’ activity.
Blue:
- General member
Gold:
- 500 points ($250 USD in UberX, $500 USD in UberEats, or a combination)
Platinum:
- 2500 points ($1250 USD in UberX, $2500 USD in UberEats, etc)
Diamond:
- 7500 points ($3750 USD in UberX, etc)
Once you earn status, you keep that status for the remainder of the six-month qualifying period and for the next six-month qualifying period.
The benefits of elite status are:
Gold:
- Waived $5 USD cancellation fee if you cancel a ride and rebook within 15 minutes (excludes UberPool) plus priority customer service
Platinum:
- Lock in your price for a specific route, which you can change each month. If you go home to the office most or home to the airport, then your office or airport rides will have a fixed price not subject to surges. Platinums also get priority at airports to get assigned to drivers faster
Diamond:
- Dedicated customer service agents, surprise and delight upgrades from UberX to Black or Select cars, and a ‘Diamond’ option for UberX to get paired with top-rated drivers. It also includes waived delivery fee on 3 UberEats orders (up to $8 USD per order) every six months
How about UberVIP?
Up to now, Uber’s elite level to date has been UberVIP. Frequent riders in some cities could request highly rated drivers, but it also means waiting longer in some cases for those drivers. American Express obtained this status for Platinum cardholders who link their cards to their Uber accounts.
That status doesn’t appear to go away with these changes, even though the Diamond level option largely duplicates it.
Uber vs. Lyft loyalty program?
Lyft has also just announced a new loyalty program. Lyft is expected to integrate its credit card into the elite rails of its loyalty offering.
How can I make the most of my Uber Membership?
Let’s face it, the Uber loyalty program isn’t great, but it is better than nothing. To give it a boost, always use a rewards credit card so that you earn for spending on your credit card when you pay for Uber services.
Are there any other options?
I am an old-fashioned girl, and particularly when I want an airport transfer, I wouldn’t say I like waiting around and prefer to have a smartly dressed person with a sign waiting for me. To that end, I always book my transfers with Blacklane airport transfers. They are particularly good when they are offering 15% or 20% Blacklane airport transfer promo codes. I often find that with the Blacklane discount code, that Blacklane comes in cheaper than Uber.
Blacklane also has a much, much better loyalty program. I collect Lufthansa Miles & More miles with my rides, although you can collect air miles when you take their transfers, including AsiaMiles, Finnair miles, KLM Flying Blue miles, and more. See this page on the Blacklane website to see which airline miles you can collect.
HT: View From The Wing
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