Your Loyalty Can Now Earn Rewards in These New Uber and Lyft Programs

Airlines offer them. Rental car companies do, too. Now, ride-hailing apps are following suit by creating rewards programs for their customers.

This week, both Uber and Lyft announced their respective rewards programs on their corporate blogs. With these programs, customers earn points when they use the ride-hailing services and can cash those points in for perks like discounted trips and ride upgrades. Users can join the programs at no cost.

Lyft will roll out its program — Lyft Rewards — in December. The company will email or send notifications to selected users inviting them to join and earn points for the money they spend. The program will be available to more riders next year as Lyft Rewards expands.

Lyft didn’t specify exactly how the program would work in its initial announcement but promised updates in 2019. A Lyft representative could not immediately be reached.

There’s a lot more to share about Uber’s program — Uber Rewards. Rewards program members earn points in the following ways, based on which Uber service they use:

• One point for every dollar spent on UberPool or Uber Eats orders.
• Two points for every dollar spent on UberX, UberXL, Select and WAV.
• Three points for every dollar spent on Uber Black and Uber Black SUV.

The rewards program is broken up into four levels, with everyone starting off on the blue level. Members reach different tiers by earning a certain number of points in a six-month period.

Once members earn 500 points, they rise to the gold level. Rewards members with 2,500 points move up to the platinum level. Those with 7,500 points advance to the diamond level.

The higher the level, the more benefits members receive. Once you reach a certain tier, you get to enjoy the benefits for the remainder of that six-month point-earning period, plus the following six months.

The benefits gold members get include:

• Flexible trip cancellations and refunded cancellation fees.
• Priority customer service support.

The benefits platinum members get include:

• All the gold-level benefits.
• Priority pickups at airports.
• A locked-in lower rate on one route of their choosing.

The benefits diamond members get include:

• All the gold- and platinum-level benefits.
• Complimentary ride upgrades.
• Premium customer service support.
• Special access to highly rated drivers.
• No delivery fee on three Uber Eats orders within six months.

Rewards members also get a $5 credit for every 500 points they earn, regardless of which level they’re on. The credit can be used on rides or food delivery.

The company is launching its program in nine locations: Atlanta, Denver, Miami, New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C. Residents there should soon expect to see a pop-up screen inviting them to sign up for the program when they open their app.

Uber says it’ll expand the rewards program to the rest of the U.S. in the coming months. In the meantime, users can join a waiting list to find out when Uber Rewards will launch in their city and start earning points in advance.

Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.