Uber Rewards Program

If you ride regularly with Uber in one of 25 American cities or regions, your phone probably buzzed at some point in the last couple days.

And like me, you might’ve taken it for a weird, delayed ride-completion notification.

But you should open up the app and look again. Uber just launched its rewards program, and it doesn’t require any cash from your end (well, except for the uncomfortable amount you’ve already been sending their way).

All you have to do to sign up for the program is click through, and you’ll immediately learn what level you’re at on the ridesharer’s Blue —> Gold —> Platinum —> Diamond scale.

The images above are screenshotted straight from the app on my iPhone. As you can see, I’m a Gold member. Once you activate the rewards on your phone, it’ll immediately tell you your level; it’s based on your past activity with the service.

For starters, as Gold member I keep my Blue level perks. Those are the building blocks of this whole system. A) You earn points for every type of ride — 1 point for every $1 spent on Uber Pool, Express Pool and Eats, 2 points for every $1 spent on Uber X, XL and Select and 3 points for every $1 spent on Uber Black and Uber Black SUV. And B) For every 500 points, you get $5 in “Uber Cash.”

Added to that with my Gold membership are flexible cancellations (rebook within 15 minutes and you’ll have cancellation fees refunded) and priority support, which is a fancy way of saying faster response times.

The more you Uber, the closer you’ll get to Platinum, which requires 2,500 points, and Diamond, which requires a bonkers 7,500 points. I’m not entirely sure it would be a win if I spent enough money to get all the way up there, but the perks are pretty special at the top. One of the coolest ones? Set rates between two destinations of your choice. Maybe it’s home and work. Maybe it’s a bar and Yankee Stadium. Whatever works for you, it’ll always cost the same. Other perks to take note of include priority pick-up at airports, access to Uber’s undisputed best drivers, random upgrades to Uber Black and free delivery on Uber Eats three times every six months, which is about as frequently anyone should be Uber Eats’ing anyway.

For more information on the news, and what each level of the scale includes, head here.

Main image via Unsplash