Hacking Uber: Earn Points, Cashback, and Credits Every Time You Ride 🚙

Updated 5/23/19.

I’ve been riding Uber more lately because they make it so easy to stack multiple offers when you ride.

earn points with uber

Oh, Uber. I am “getting there”

And, I’m hopeful they’re slowly but surely turning things around.

With Lyft, you can only earn 1X Delta miles – and 30 JetBlue points on airport trips. Which, meh.

I’d rather earn cashback and Drop points, use travel credits, and get Uber credits for shopping around town. And many times you can stack these deals. You know I love a good stack!

1. Earn points and get cashback with Freebird

I wrote how easy it is to stack promo codes to save every time you ride with Uber or Lyft with Freebird.

This app is basically the best thing since sliced bread. You can earn points, which you can redeem for cashback directly loaded to your debit card. And often, you can stack promo codes to get even more cold hard cash.

a woman looking out of a car window

My best tip: get Freebird for free cashback on Uber rides!

Plus, if you have any Uber credits or promo codes, they all stack. If you only save on Uber with one tip in this article, this is it. Download Freebird here.

2. Earn cashback with Pei

Nothing to see here… except more FREE cashback for Uber rides.

screens screenshot of a phone

Pei also earns cashback when you link your cards and spend on Uber rides

The amount you’ll get from each merchant varies between 1% and 10% cashback, and Uber rates fluctuate too.

That said, the app is free to have and the cashback adds up surprisingly fast. I’m super impressed with it so far – it might even be my fave cashback app at the moment.

3. 10 Drop points per $1 spent

Another easy win. Another app. This one’s set it and forget it.

screens screenshot of a phone

Raking in the Drop points

You earn 10 drop points per $1 spent on Uber rides. Just download the app (you get $1 if you’re new to Drop), link your cards, and let Drop track the transactions. When you ride with Uber, you’ll see Drop points a couple of days later.

You can redeem Drop points for gift cards to popular merchants like Amazon, Starbucks, iTunes, Groupon… and many more. Beyond download the app and linking your cards, this one is literally effortless. Just make sure to select Uber as one of your 5 ongoing offers. And peek at the app every once in a while to see if you can get a free gift card.

4.  Visa Local Offers

This one’s only for select cities, but it’s worth checking in the Uber app to see if you can join.

a screenshot of a cellphone

Uber credits when you link a Visa card

To check, open the app and click “Settings” from the menu in the top left. Scroll down to “Rewards” and see if you can opt-in. If you can, definitely do! Here’s what I see in Dallas:

a screenshot of a phone

10% at many merchants

My deals are mostly for restaurants, but Whole Foods caught my eye. There was also a local salon and coffee shop, so it’s not all restaurants. Although it overwhelmingly is.

That doesn’t bother me because I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve for dining anyway. And that’s a Visa.

The way it works is you pay with your Visa card, then the cashback percentage is added to your Uber account as a ride credit. So if you spend $50 on dinner or groceries, you can $5 off your next Uber ride.

And when you stack it with Ibotta and Drop, you get $1 back and 10 Drop points per $1 spent, too. Plus points from using a travel credit card. Pretty easy quadruple dip here. And when you can opt-in, you might find surprise credits in your Uber account for dining out.

And for the love of god, please sign up for a dining rewards program and earn some extra airline miles, too.

5. Travel credits!

I love this one. Lately, I’ve been using my US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa to pay for Uber rides. I have $325 in travel credits to use this year, and by god I’m gonna get my money’s worth.

Luckily, Uber rides count toward the credit. Many cards come with travel credits these daze:

That’s $825 in reimbursed rides each year.

These cards come with hefty annual fees. But in the case of the US Bank Altitude Reserve card, the $325 back in Uber rides brings the $400 annual fee down to $75. Plus, I get 12 Gogo passes for in-flight wifi, 3X points on mobile payments, and I got a sweet $750 sign-up bonus. All in all, a major score.

When you use travel credits, you can also get:

  • Freebird points for paying with your card
  • Pei cashback
  • 10X Drop points
  • A completely free ride

I have a lot of these travel credits to burn. So getting all this back from every ride and the credit card/Drop points is gravy. If you’re in the market for a travel rewards card, thank you for using my links.

6. $1 in Shop Your Way Rewards for every ride

This one’s automatic and stacks with all the other offers on this page. After you connect your accounts, you can earn $1 in Shop Your Way rewards for every ride you take, up to a max of $20 each month.

a screenshot of a computer

Another easy win

There’s literally no effort beyond connecting your accounts, so you might as well get these rewards – they’re free and easy, so why not?

a screenshot of a white and black list

You can use your points to order free merch from Sears

Honorable mention: Hooch

For the sake of completion, I’ll throw in the Hooch app for those looking to make the absolute most of their Uber rides. You’ll earn 1% cashback for each ride, and like everything else, it all adds up.

a screenshot of a phone

Free money, come to meee

You’ll also earn 1% cashback at iTunes, Starbucks, Netflix, Shake Shack, Spotify, Uber Eats, and Hulu. And you can redeem your rewards for gift cards. I have $18 so far – not bad! And again, this app is free to have.

Bottom line

Gotta say, Uber is making it really easy to rake in extra points, cashback, and credits with a combination of deals out there right now. You can get:

You also get the points you’d normally earn for paying with the right travel rewards card. And you can stack these in any combination!

At the very least, you should get points from Freebird by booking through their app and cashback by setting up Pei once and letting it go. Visa Local Offers is opt-in and automatic, so that’s easy as well if it’s available in your city.

The other stuff – travel credits and extra credit card points – requires a little more planning, but man… if you can get a good stack going, the Uber savings are pretty great.

Are there other ways to save on Uber that I missed? 

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About Harlan

Just a dude living in Memphis, traveling, and working toward financial independence.

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  1. If you have any use forShopYourWay points (good at Sears/Kmart), you can get $2 / ride. You link your accounts and the credits post automatically. It stacks with all of the other methods you discuss above.

  2. For some reason I can’t find Uber in my Ibotta app. Will this stack with ShopYourWay? U get $2 in SYW points per ride too.

    • In my account, it’s under “My Offers.” Or you can try to search by clicking the magnifying glass. Let me know if you find it!

      And another commenter let me know the offers DO stack!

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