I’m a big fan of the on demand car service Uber. I love that I can call a car with my smartphone and actually watch its progress as it makes its way to wherever I am to pick me up. This came in extremely handy this past winter (which was brutal!) since it meant being able to stay inside until the car arrived. And the best part is that payment is automatic. There’s no need for the usual taxi experience in which the driver pretends that their credit card machine is out of order.
One criticism of Uber is that it is often quite a bit more expensive than a taxi (although, if you use UberX, the prices are often competitive). Fortunately, there is now a way to prepay for Uber credit and get 40% off!
American Express is currently offering a $10 statement credit when you spend $10 or more with Uber after enrolling your Amex card in this promotion. Please see details here: $10 off Uber with Amex Sync. The intended way to use this offer is to add your Amex card to your Uber payment profile and then use it to pay for an Uber ride costing $10 or more. With that approach, in order to get your $10, you’ll have to take that ride by December 31, 2014. Another option is to prepay for your rides…
Here’s how to prepay for 40% off Uber rides:
1) Sync and enroll all of your Amex cards
Amex Sync offers are available to all Amex credit cards and all Amex Serve cards. This includes authorized user cards and Serve Subaccounts (see: More free cash from Amex via Serve subaccounts). For details showing how to sync multiple cards, please read: Maximizing Amex Sync offers. Part 1: sync multiple cards.
UPDATE: Serve cards do not seem to be working with Uber for some reason.
Make sure to enroll all of your Amex cards in this promotion by tweeting: #AmexUber.
2) Sign up for Uber
If you’re not already an Uber member, please consider using my referral link here. We will each get a free ride worth up to $30.
3) Buy $25 Uber gift cards with each Amex card
One by one, do the following:
- Add your Amex card to your Uber account here: riders.uber.com/payment/
- Buy a $25 Uber gift card with each Amex card. Gift cards are available here: riders.uber.com/gifts.
UPDATE: This link isn’t working for some people. If it works for you, please comment below. Let us know if you’ve taken Uber rides in the past and/or if you’ve referred people in the past. I’d like to figure out why it works for some but not for all.
UPDATE 2: We still don’t know why some people don’t see the “Gifts” menu item when they log into their account, but multiple people have reported success by emailing Uber and asking for access to that page.
- Apply the gift card code to your account. You will receive the gift card via email. The gift card includes instructions for how to apply it to your account.
- Make sure to use each Amex card only once!
4) You should receive a $10 statement credit from Amex for purchase
Assuming this works as expected, you will have paid a total of $15 for each $25 gift card ($25 – $10 = $15). That’s a 40% discount!
I tested the above process and immediately received an email acknowledgement from Amex:
Congrats! You just used your Amex Offer
Dear Frequent Miler,
Thank you for using your American Express® Card ending in XXXX at UBER.
In my experience, when you receive an email acknowledgment like this it does mean that statement credit will be forthcoming. Note that it usually takes a few days (at least) to receive Amex Sync promotion statement credits.
5) Gift card credit applied to your account will be used automatically when you use Uber
When you take your next Uber ride, payment will first come out of any free rides you’ve accumulated (such as through a sign up offer). If the cost of the ride exceeds the free ride benefit (e.g. if it is more than $30), Uber will next draw from your Uber credits (e.g. the gift card credits). Only once the Uber credits are exhausted, will Uber charge your primary credit card.
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Uber notified me that they no longer sell GCs:
“Thanks for writing in! Happy to help.
Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately we are no longer offering gift cards on the Uber system.
As an alternative solution, you might be interested in learning about UberEVENTS. UberEVENTS is our product offering for event organizers looking to provide their guests trips on our platform. Though the product was built to support events, it does not necessarily need to be used for that purpose. It can also be used by riders who are looking to purchase passes for friends and family!
If you’re interested in learning more about UberEVENTS, please visit our EVENTS page.
Let me know if you have any questions!”
[…] If you don’t plan to take a lot of Uber rides while the Amex Sync promo is going on, then consider prepaying for Uber credit: 40% off Uber rides! […]
This one worked for me to get $30 off my first ride. UberFreeTrip30
I used UberFree25 and it got me a $30 free ride when I signed up. NYC 2/15/2015
Quote:
Amex Offers @AmexOffers 30m30 minutes ago
@GKCitiax Sorry, the #AmexUber offer has ended. Visit http://amex.co/faves to find our latest offers
View conversation 0 replies 0 retweets 0 favorites
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Amex Offers @AmexOffers 3h3 hours ago
@yangliudragon Sorry, max # of Card Members have enrolled in #AmexUber offer. Visit http://amex.co/faves for more offers
So to get the $10 credit now, I just set up my Amex card for payment on Uber & then tweet out #amexuber? I don’t have to do anything else like sync to Twitter or anything?
No, you also need to link your Amex account to Twitter. Here: http://www.amexoffers.com/#social
Are there any deals or codes for existing customers?
Use Coupon Code SVNLG to get a FREE $50 Uber Credit
Thanks. What promo is that choose from?
[…] https://frequentmiler.com/2014/10/08/40-off-uber-rides/ […]
apparently the problem with the missing ‘button’ is that it’s processed via Google Wallet. You’ll notice after emailing customer service & requesting the ‘button’ that Google Wallet has been added under Payment Options. So actually they are just adding Wallet and then the button appears. My question: I agree that if Greg got the ‘thanks for using your enrolled card’, you should get the Amex Sync credit. But many many times, if something is processed via Google Wallet, the Amex Synch promos do not work. Can Greg or anyone confirm that they have received the Amex Sync credit now after purchasing a gift card for $25?
Yes, I received the credit
The rookie question is when you have 2 $25 gift cards sitting on your account if you do a 410 ride how will the transaction process? $10 off the GC?
When you apply the gift cards to your account, the money all seems to go into a common pool. So, you’ll have $50 of credit and the $10 ride will take away just $10 of that credit.
We’ll have to test that theory in Phoenix!
I called Serve and they had no idea what was happening. The only useful comment they made was, “Does this company accept prepaid cards?”
The CSR had a good point…why would Uber allow a prepaid card that could have no funds on it on subsequent purchases, even if they confirmed it initally?
I wonder if you have to use the Serve payment option for a regular ride first, then try to get a gift with it after. Or does it simply not work?
Maybe you simply can’t pay Uber with Serve.
Actually if you have Serve listed as Primary and then a backup I “believe” it is supposed to drain the Serve and then use a regular cc as the backup. But uber app is so complicated as so not customer friendly that you really never know what you have paid until you log in again……….and the drivers are no different than the cab companies they jut don’t know where anything is “Grand Hyatt Seattle” so it is somewhat of a crap shoot……..
I also received an error when trying to use my Serve card. I logged onto Serve and saw that there were two “active transactions” from Uber that were both marked “on hold.” So I’m assuming Uber has to confirm my Serve card before it’ll work. Or I need to call Serve to clear it up. Or just wait for these temporary small test charges from Uber to clear. Annoying but fixable.
Fm,
I emailed uber to ask if the giftcards can be used worldwide but the reply I got was no. Only in the US. I rarely use uber here since I’m far from the city of chicago. And uber drivers are not allowed to pick up riders at ohare airport, just drop-off.
I wonder if they misunderstood? Once you apply the gift card credit to your account, it is no longer a gift card, its just credit on your account. So, I would guess that it would work worldwide, but I could be wrong of course!
After stupidly searching how to buy a gift card on Uber I emailed customer service on both my accounts. They both came back within 12 hours and added the gift feature at the top left where FM said it was supposed to be. Don’t be like me if it is not there for you…..email customer care and don’t stress……….YMMV……
I tried to use Uber ay Lyon and they never came so I jumped in a cab……..
I have screwed around around with their no gift card available on their website now for an hour……I will rent a car…..thanks Uber your marketing dept sux!
[…] get 40% off you will need a little trick described by Frequent Miler in his excellent post. Note that some people can’t see the link to buy gift cards from their Uber accounts. That […]
I have not yet used Uber (but plan to on upcoming trip to NYC!) and did not see the Gift Card option.
However, taking a tip from afam-dfw, I contacted Uber support (https://support.uber.com/hc/en-us) and within minutes, had a response that the Gift option was added to my account.
Thanks, Greg, for the great tip and thanks to afam-dfw for the fix!
LOVE this site and all the valuable info.
No “gifts” link for me either, the upper left has “free rides” link. I never referred anybody either. Can’t find it in the ios app either.
-David
I registered four cards, one to foursquare, one to twitter, one to facebook and one to tripadvisor. i was able to register for uber offer with facebook and twitter but cannot find the same offer for foursquare and trip advisor? any advise? also i cannot see the gift page, it re-directs me to trips. i will have to try in another computer tomorrow.
Question. The $30 signup credit I get for using your link? Will that work for 3 short trips of $10 or is it only for one free ride up to $30?
All 4 synced Amex cards worked with no issues but I continue to get an error when trying to purchase using my synced Serve card. Anyone else have this issue with theirs?
Also having problems using Serve to buy the Uber GC. But not any other Amex CCs.
The gift link did not appear despite clearing cache, rebooting and such. I emailed Uber to see if they could activate link and they fixed it from their side.
This did the trick for me too. They fixed it on their side and I was able to buy gift cards.
That did the trick for me too, cheers!
Beware of using the free ride. I was on a business trip and I didn’t want to use the free ride but there is no way not to have it apply to you next ride. I would have taken a cab instead.
Not true. You should be able to de-select the option to apply your credit balance.
I made the exact same mistake as you once and contacted Uber support. They reversed the transaction, refunded my credit, and charged my biz credit card for the entire ride.
Not true. The free ride is not a credit and will not show up in your credit balance. It can only be applied to your first ride, and you can’t de-select it (or select it for that matter, the $30 just comes off the first ride automatically). So you gotta be strategic about your first ride, make sure it’s a long one!
[…] Frequent Miler points out that you can use your synced Amex card to purchase $25 Uber gift cards, essentially giving yourself a 40% discount. Gift cards can be purchased through this link, however apparently it isn’t working for everyone. […]
[…] main concept for this post will be about the $30 for signing up for an account, but I just saw FrequentMiler’s post on Uber and a promotion there, so I’ll include that info in here too (even though I know all of you […]
[…] main concept for this post will be about the $30 for signing up for an account, but I just saw FrequentMiler’s post on Uber and a promotion there, so I’ll include that info in here too (even though I know all of you […]
My parents don’t ride Uber but each has 3 AMEX cards. Can they use their cards to buy gift cards and apply them to my Uber account?
Should work, as long as you register their cards for the offer!
I also cannot get to the gifts page and get redirected to the trips page. I have never used Uber or referred anyone. I attempted to book a trip and cancel right away, but no luck getting to the gifts page. Tried clearing cache a few times as well as using Chrome Incognito mode.
Performed the steps to order an Uber gift card and everything worked fine. Received notification that I will receive a $10 AmEx credit.
[…] about the Uber AMEX Offer (Spend $10+ get $10 AMEX statement credit). Read Frequent Miler’s post to learn how to maximize this promo using multiple AMEX credit/charge cards and buying Uber egift […]
another datapoint: have used my uber account for rides and already had a credit balance, no problem seeing the “gifts” link and buying gift cards with registered amex cards.
curiously, uber wouldn’t let me purchase gift cards with my serve card. it registered ok, but when i tried to purchase, it said “an error has occurred.” anyone else have success buying the gift card with their serve cards?
I was able to buy 2 $25 GCs, but the third GC order never went through. Kept getting an error. Since the Uber offer is valid until Dec 31, I will try again later.
FWIW, I managed to purchase 6 consecutive gift cards with different registered AMEXs. only got the error message when using Serve cards. I’ll give it another shot later with the Serve cards.
I just tried again and my third order went through fine. Strange…
My AMEX offers show $10 off $10, not $10 off $25.
That’s correct but the smallest gift card option is $25
“One criticism of Uber is that it is often quite a bit more expensive than a taxi.”
Yes, that’s one criticism.
Here are some others:
They are creepy http://valleywag.gawker.com/uber-used-private-location-data-for-party-amusement-1640820384
They are weirdly tone deaf and proud of their role in what are, at best, weird attributes of our current economy http://www.theawl.com/2014/09/uber-optics
And they treat their drivers like human garbage https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/09/against-sharing/
But hey, $40 off!
Greg, I have 2 Uber accounts. The one I use a lot and have referred people to has the ‘Free Rides’ and ‘Gift’ link at the top of the page. I was able to buy 2 $25 Uber gift cards. The other account that has never referred someone only has the ‘Free Rides’ and when I try to go to the ‘Gifts’ link, it redirects me back to the ‘Free Rides’ link.
Thanks Grant. Now, I’m still trying to figure out if it is enough to have just used Uber in the past without referring people.
I’ve used Uber on that account once, and still no ‘Gift’ option.
Hmmm. Weird
same as grant, have ridden on the acocunt but not referred and no way to get the
I have never made referrals to Uber. I have taken about 8 rides with average fare about $15. I have the “Gift” selection available.
I have not taken any rides, nor have I referred anybody, and I too am unable to get the link to work
Here’s something worth trying:
1) close your browser completely
2) request a ride from Uber on your phone
3) cancel the request before any driver’s start heading your way
4) reopen your browser and log into Uber. See if the “gifts” option appears
I did that, but alas no joy 🙁 Could logging in with facebook vs email address be another differentiating factor? (I log in with email address)
If you haven’t yet taken a ride with Uber, you can apply the promo code UBERAMEX for a $30 coupon.
amex.co/uber for details
Thanks, great tip!
Is there a way to Sync a bluebird card for this offer or is it just for Serve cards and normal amexs? Great idea on the gift cards. Easy way to do take advantage of this deal without going through the hassle of changing credit cards twice.
Just Serve, but people are having trouble paying with Serve anyway, so maybe it doesn’t matter.
riders.uber.com/gifts redirects me to riders.uber.com/trips and I can’t seem to figure out how to purchase a gift card anywhere on a desktop or mobile device. I already have my AMEX on the account. Am I missing a step or something?
That’s weird. Try this:
1) Log into Uber.com from your desktop
2) Click on the link “Gifts” at the top, left of the page
I’m having the same problem. There is no link at top left. Can you check your account to see if it’s there. I wonder if amex made them disable the feature
OK, that’s weird. When I log into my account I have the “Gifts” link, but when I log into my wife’s account its not there. I wonder if its only available for people who have referred others?
[…] 40% off Uber rides! […]
Awesome!
does the gift card have an expiration date?
No expiration date, but if I’m reading the terms correctly, any unused portion will be refunded to your credit card after 1 year. That doesn’t sound right to me, but read item 7 here: https://support.uber.com/hc/en-us/articles/202335347