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There is a new Amex Offer out today good for $29 back when you spend $29 in one or more transactions on annual or monthly Instacart Express membership purchases by 9/30/21. I don’t believe this will save you on Instacart orders but rather just on the membership, which ordinarily costs $99 per year or $9.99 per month.
The Deal
- A new Amex Offer is out today that’s good for $29 back after you spend $29 in one or more transactions on Instacart Express membership (annual or monthly) with your enrolled card by 9/30/21
Key Terms
- Expires 9/30/21
- Offer is only valid for the purchase of an annual Instacart Express membership or consecutive monthly Instacart Express membership transactions
- Transactions must total $29 or more by the offer end date to be eligible
Quick Thoughts
This can be a good deal if you’re interested in Instacart Express and/or already getting grocery delivery. The purported benefits of Instacart Express are:
- $0 delivery fees on orders of $35 or more (typically starting at $3.99 for non-Express)
- Reduced service fees*
- No busy pricing fees during peak delivery hours
- Shop at a variety of stores with free delivery on the entire order
- No pickup or service fees for pick up orders
I’m not sure how the pricing compares to buying in-store yourself, but whether you don’t want to go to the store or appreciate the time-savings / convenience of grocery delivery, saving on the cost of membership is probably attractive.
Note that you may as well sync this offer to an Amex card like the Gold card (which earns 4x at US Supermarkets on up to $25K per year, then 1x) or the Platinum card if you’re a new cardholder enjoying 10x at US Supermarkets for the first 6 months (on up to $15K spend). That’s because Instacart purchases often code as grocery even when purchased through Instacart for delivery from warehouse stores like BJ’s Wholesale (and I believe the same is true for Costco) — so I assume you’ll also get bonus points on Instacart Express membership.
Keep in mind that the Amex Offer terms require that the credit be used either on annual membership or consecutive months of membership. I’d be surprised if Amex really has their end set up to enforce that term, but it’s worth noting if you were considering turning a membership on and off in odd months.
Overall, this is a decent little deal – it essentially provides 3 free months of membership. If you’re a T-Mobile customer who synced this week’s T-Mobile Tuesdays offer for a fee month of Instacart Express and $10 off a delivery, you’ll be able to stack this free membership beyond that making for at least 4 free months of Instacart Express. I did sync up the T-Mobile offer, but since I don’t live in a delivery zone I likely won’t be able to take advantage of either offer.
We have added this to our Current Amex Offers database.
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Check this out: https://www.instacart.com/mastercard
Looks like you can get 2 months free from MasterCard, then 3 months free from Amex
Having used instacart at various points in the past I say this is still a losing proposition. Prices are generally much higher for the same goods than if you just bought them in the store yourself, plus anything that requires some sort of choice like fruits and vegetables is liable to be disappointing
Much like eating at a restaurant, I assume the prices are higher than doing it yourself when you’re paying someone else to do it for you. I imagine a service like Instacart to be more about convenience than value. Rotten produce would be inconvenient for sure though.
I have used Instacart as an express member for at least half of our grocery shopping over the past year. Regarding value, I mostly order from farther away from me discount stores (including Aldi, BJs, and Costco). When I properly value my time, Instacart saves me money. Quality has been hit and miss; 2/3 of my shoppers did a great job making excellent choices. 1/3 have not, including my order last week where I had to dump the green beans the minute I saw them and some of the substitutions made were not acceptable.
I haven’t decided yet if I will keep using them once my $50 off $250 Amex offers have been all used. More expensive, saves me considerable time, and less control over what I get to cook with.