The Drop App offers points on shopping purchases at top retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Target, various grocery stores and restaurants, and more. Just link your credit or debit card in the app, and you’ll earn up to 30% back in points (look for special offers), with the points redeemable for various merchant gift cards from Drop. You can sometimes earn more with the bonus offers such as with Boxed.com.
You have to link your credit and debit cards to the app so they can see where you spent money. Then you’ll earn Drop points to redeem for gift cards at select retailers. Points can only be earned at the five specific retailers you choose from the list (full list below). After initially choosing five stores, it’s not possible to change your selection. Choose your 5 stores you frequent carefully!
How to get a sign-up bonus from Drop and start earning cash back:
5% Cashback Bonus at Restaurants, Home Improvement Stores, and Select Streaming Services, January 1 to March 31, 2025, on up to $1,500 in purchases.
Discover has announced all of the rotating 5% cashback categories for 2019. The categories are as follows:
January–March: Restaurants, Home improvement, Streaming
April–June: Gas Stations, Uber & Lyft
July–September: Restaurants
October–December: Amazon.com
Tip: If you are not signed up for Discover IT then use our Discover $50 Bonus link. Simply make one purchase to get your $50 bonus! Don’t forget double cash back for the first year, which means you can get $100 referral bonus along with double for 5% cash back categories.
Discover has announced their 2019 categories for five percent cash back on categories that include groceries, gas, rideshare, dining out, and Amazon. The 5% back on Uber and Lyft actually pay more than the Uber Visa Card which is one of our favorite everyday spending cards. The Uber Visa pays 2% back on actual Uber Rides.
Our strategy will be to cancel our American Express Blue Cash Preferred card that is 6% in January when the annual fee comes up and use the Discover It card for groceries at 5% back. You can buy gift cards at stores such as Whole Foods, Kroger and Albertsons to get 5% back on everything doing this.
In April, we will switch from using the Cash+ card to the Discover Card to get 5% back on rides share. I feel safer earning with Discover than with Cash+ from U.S. Bank even though it’s the same 5% back. We will also use the Discover IT Card for Gas purchases.
A look at a previous year #cashback bonus calendar
Our favorite category is normally restaurants because we do lots of spending at nightclubs, bars, and dining out. We max out this category each year. This is only 1% above the Uber Visa which pays 4% year-long with no maximum putting the Uber Visa as our most used card right now.
As for shopping at Amazon in October through the end of the year that is most likely going to be a 5% category with Chase Freedom and Citi Cards so that’s not really a big deal.
Uber is rolling out a new program that frequent travelers have been requesting for years. The ridesharing service announced Uber Rewards, its very own loyalty program that will reward riders with Uber credits and elite status that comes with many perks.
The program resembles an airline rewards program. It’s free to join, but riders won’t be automatically enrolled, so make sure you opt-in in the app. You may also look into stacking miles with this program with a credit card that pays back on rideshare.
There’s two main aspects to the program: First the rewards you earn, and second, the different tiers of elite status you can attain and each perk that comes along with it. You can see how to earn points below:
Earn 3x points per eligible dollar spent on Uber Black and Uber Black SUV trips
Earn 2x points per eligible dollar spent on UberX, UberXL, or Uber Select
Earn 1x points per eligible dollar spent on Uber Eats and Uber Pool trips
Redeeming points with Uber Rewards
With Uber Rewards, 500 points can be redeemed for $5 in Uber credit, meaning that each Uber point is worth a penny. In other words:
You get a $5 credit for every ~$167 spent on Black and Black SUV (~3% return)
You get a $5 credit for every $250 spent on X, XL, and Select (~2% return)
You get a $5 credit for every $500 spent on Eats and Pool (~1% return)
These rewards will be added to your overall Uber Cash balance, so you’ll be able to redeem multiple credits towards a single ride.
Earning status with Uber Rewards
Uber Rewards has four status tiers — Blue, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The requirements to earn status are as follows:
Blue status requires 0 points (the starting level for most)
Gold status requires 500 points, so requires ~$167-500 of spend or you get it if you have already matched this from previous months of spend.
Platinum status requires 2,500 points, so requires ~$833-2,500 of spend
Diamond status requires 7,500 points, so requires $2,500-7,500 of spend
Here’s a full listing of the perks offered at each tier:
Uber Blue status allows you to earn rewards
Uber Gold status gets you priority support and the ability to get flexible cancelation
Uber Platinum status gets you price protection on a route and priority pick ups at airports
Uber Diamond status gets you premium support, highly rated drivers, complimentary upgrades, and complimentary delivery of three Uber Eats orders
How does flexible cancelation work?
If you cancel a ride, you’ll get an in-app message letting you know if the ride qualifies for a refund of the usual cancellation fee. You’ll only get this refund if you rebook the ride within 15 minutes and complete the trip. Flexible cancellations are only available to Gold, Platinum and Diamond members. Pool and Express Pool trips are not eligible. This benefit can be used once per hour at most, up to three total uses per month. This benefit is only available in the US and may not be available in all locations, such as certain airports and venues/stadiums.
How does price protection work?
When you unlock the Platinum level, you’ll be prompted to set your two favorite locations. Once you’ve set these, any ride taken between those two points will enjoy a lower price that won’t be as affected by traffic or dynamic pricing. The price protection benefit has a 35% maximum discount per ride. You may be charged the amount of the price that exceeds 35% off the real-time (non-protected) price. Your chosen route can be changed once every 30 days by contacting support. This benefit may not be available in all cities, or for all possible routes. Only UberX trips receive price protection. and does not apply to scheduled rides.
How does priority picks up at airports work?
Based on driver availability, Platinum and Diamond members may receive faster pickups. This benefit is only available at some airports due to local regulations and rideshare agreements. Shorter wait times are not guaranteed for any given airport pickup.
How does complimentary upgrades work?
Complimentary upgrades are sometimes given on select UberX rides. These upgrades are only available to Diamond members. This benefit is not available in all locations, and excludes certain airports and venues/stadiums.
How does Free Uber Eats delivery work?
Once Diamond level is unlocked, you’ll receive three free Eats deliveries. These free deliveries will be added to your account automatically and will apply to your next three UberEats orders. You’ll need to have an Eats account. Free delivery means no booking fee and no busy area fee.
2019 Updates on Uber’s Rewards Program
[January 2019] We are stoked about the new Uber Rewards program and have been using it over a month now. We were given Platinum level because i’ve already taken hundreds of Uber Rides and several Eats orders over the past year which is how they count that. I haven’t noticed any big differences in service or the cancellation fee credit or waiver. I still get cancellation fees sometimes even when booking another ride immediately. So maybe they have some kinks to work out.
I have received the $5 credit after racking up 500 in points which was nice. The rewards program may be a replacement for the Ride Pass which saved me tons more money at giving me 15% to 20% off of all rides in the U.S. I would much rather have the Ride Pass but welcome this if I can eventually get to the Diamond level that will help out some at least with a free UberEats delivery.
In related news the Uber Visa Card which is becoming highly popular among Uber riders recently sent us a survey and you can see here.
The Uber Visa Card from Barclays is too good to be true as it has no annual fee and gives you more benefits than 98% of the cards on the market. Most bloggers won’t tell you about it. They are owned by the banks or are too greedy to do so. This is the best card on the market so when I see a survey in my email to fill out I do so immediately. I want to stop any chance of changes to this amazing card.
Currently you get an amazing 4x back on dining, 3x back on travel, and 2x back with online purchases including Uber rides. You also get benefits such as the top of the line cell phone coverage if you lose your phone or break it and a $50 credit on Netflix and music subscriptions. This is all without an annual fee. No other card does this. The bloggers won’t tell you that they are too busy pumping the Chase Sapphire card a useless card in my book but they get a hefty $150 commission on each application while you only get pennies back on dining and everyday purchases.
The survey asked me to look over the packages below and select the card that you would be most likely to apply for and use. I picked the right column as I would not apply for either. This is not as good as the current card offering.
Alaska Airlines has partnered with 12 ski resorts for the 2018-2019 season where you can get a free lift ticket just by showing your boarding pass. Just make sure to keep your Alaska Airlines boarding pass, or print out extra copies, and show your pass at the mountains sale office to redeem your complimentary lift ticket. Skiing isn’t normally cheap so this is a great offer to take advantage of it.
