I swear that I don’t go into each week planning to write so much about credit cards — but there’s a lot going on right now. The latest development is that American Express and Uber have announced a deepening of their existing partnership. The result? New perks for Amex Platinum, Green, and especially Gold card members.
By adding your eligible Amex card to your Uber account, you can unlock a special offer that will allow you to claim 12 months of Eats Pass for free. That’s a lot better than the typical one-month trial that the app offers to most users. Additionally, with Eats Pass currently costing $9.99 a month, this benefit has a maximum value of $120 for the year. According to Amex’s site, users will need to sign up for this free year by December 31st, 2021, so you have time if you want to wait to activate your offer.
So what do you get with Uber Eats Pass? For one, delivery fees are waived for orders over $15. On top of that, members get an extra 5% off of their total. Meanwhile, if you’re in an area where Uber Eats offers grocery deliveries, you can also get $0 delivery fees on orders over $30.
To me, this benefit not only adds a little extra value to the American Express Platinum card but also makes it easier to use the $15 a month (plus $35 in December for an annual $200 total) Uber credit that’s already featured on the card. Recently, I’ve been relying on the pick-up feature in Uber Eats in a bid to get the most out of these credits — but the list of restaurants that offer this option is significantly shorter. Now, I can mostly justify going back to delivery once in a while since there won’t be quite as many extra expenses. That said, I will note that some restaurants do charge more per item in delivery apps, so that’s still something to watch out for.
Speaking of Uber credits, the announcement of Eats Pass benefit was accompanied by news that the Amex Gold Card would also be getting a monthly Uber credit perk. Starting “early next year,” Gold cardholders will get $10 in Uber Cash a month — although, like with the Platinum, these credits need to be used during the month in which they’re received. This new credit comes in addition to the current $10 a month dining credit that can be used on purchases from Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed, and select Shake Shack locations. [Update: the Uber Cash benefit is now available for the Gold card as of February 2021].
As I mentioned last week, the current 60,000 Membership Reward point sign-up bonus that American Express is offering on the Gold card has really tempted me to apply. Now, the Uber credit makes the choice seem like even more of a no-brainer on the surface. Of course, with Grubhub and Seamless being Uber Eats competitors, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if they were dropped from the dining credit list next year — in which case I wouldn’t really have a way to use said credit in a given month. Therefore, sadly, this won’t move the needle for me yet. Luckily, Amex’s expanded partnership with Uber benefits me anyway thanks to the free year of Eats Pass. In all, it’s just one more way that my investment in a $550 credit card is paying off.