American Express has announced new Uber perks for US holders of the American Express Gold Card, the American Express Green Card, or The Platinum Card from American Express. First, consumer Platinum, Gold and Green cardholders can enroll now for a complimentary Eats Pass Membership for up to 12 months. Uber Eats Pass usually costs $9.99 a month ($119 a year) and includes:
- $0 delivery fee + 5% off restaurant orders of $15+.
- $0 delivery fee on grocery delivers of $30+
- Unlike Doordash Dasspass and Grubhub+, these benefits apply to every restaurant available on Uber Eats, not just select participating restaurants.
Note the fine print:
Offer valid thru 12/31/2021 on U.S. subscription. Pass will auto-bill starting 12 months from initial enrollment in this offer, at then-current monthly rate.
If you haven’t signed up for Uber Eats yet, you can first use my referral link to get $20 off your first order of $25+. Or simply apply this promo code at checkout: eats-ubermymoneyblog. Thanks if you use it!
In early 2021, the American Express Gold Card will also be getting $10 a month ($120 annually) in Uber Cash, which works both on Uber Eats orders and Uber rides in the US. For 2021, there will still be the $100 incidental airline credit (baggage fees, etc) but it has been announced as going away in 2022. This is in addition to the other $10 a month ($120 annually) dining credit which works on Grubhub, Seamless, and other select restaurants.
So in 2021, Gold cardholders can get all three credits: $120 Uber Cash, $120 Grubhub/Seamless/dining credit, and $100 Incidental Airline Fee credits. Right now the American Express Gold is also running a 60,000 point limited-time offer (the highest I’ve seen), making this is the best opportunity in a while to apply as a new cardholder.
It certainly looks like American Express is working hard to make their Gold card a better competitor against the Chase Sapphire line-up. This follows closely on the heels of the Chase Sapphire Reserve including Lyft Pink and Grubhub+ memberships, in addition to Dashpass and Doordash credits.
It looks like this offer might be purposely deceptive. For instance, even though it says there is free delivery all the time, you don’t get it until you spend $15. It also looks like it affects your ability to see delivery charges for those orders under $15. And then there are still “service fees” that aren’t disclosed.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UberEATS/comments/bxoo04/eats_pass_beware/
I don’t know if I would call it purposefully deceptive, but it may be good to point out to a new customers. Every food delivery app I’ve seen has separate delivery fee and service charges. The service charge is usually a flat percentage, while the delivery charge may vary by distance to your home. I understand the minimum order size – nobody is going to make money if you buy a $5 sandwich and have someone drive 20 minutes to deliver it your door.
Well since this thing is $120 a year, you’d get the idea that there is some value to it and that the $120 also helps offset the cost. Additionally, sometimes companies take a loss to promote their businesses with the idea that people will later continue past the promo period. But either way, it is crooked to make it appear like there is $0 cost for delivery of under $15 when that is untrue. It seems like a scam.
Worth mentioning annual fees for these cards:
Platinum is $550/year
Gold is $250/year
Green is $150/year
So basically competing with the Sapphire cards.