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Today American Express has announced a new Uber benefit on the Gold Card that will eventually replace the airline incidental credit on that card, but both benefits will overlap in 2021. This will be a strong deal for many cardholders, though I am personally much much much much much less excited about this. At least for me, the airline fee benefit was a lot better and I’ll be sorry to see it replaced with a monthly Uber credit. Still, for many cardholders this benefit will be a win — and there is also an Eats Pass membership being added to several cards which will also be a nice value-add for those who regularly order from Uber Eats.
The new Uber credit
Amex has announced that beginning in 2021, the Gold card will feature a monthly $10 Uber credit. This will work the same as the current Uber benefit on the Amex Platinum card and will be valid for use once a month for a total of up to $120 in credits annually.
This will make the credit fairly easy to use for many cardholders given that the credit will work for rides or for Uber Eats. Of course, considering that the card also has a $10 per month benefit that is good at competitor GrubHub/Seamless (as well as other select restaurants) and given that Chase is offering Sapphire Reserve cardholders $60 annually this year and next year for DoorDash, I suspect that some readers may begin to feel inundated with restaurant delivery credits (and have difficulty keeping track of which have or have not been used each month).
Still, for those who have a Gold card and weren’t making use of the airline fee credit, this will likely be a nice addition.
Eats Pass added for up to 12 months on some cards
Amex also announced that Amex Platinum, Amex Green Card, and Amex Gold cardholders will be able to sign up for a complimentary Uber Eats Pass Membership for up to 12 months. Eats Pass is a monthly subscription like DoorDash’s DashPass or GrubHub’s GrubHub+. Like its competitors, Uber’s Eats Pass offers unlimited free delivery and supposed “other perks”. Cardmembers need to enroll by 12/31/21.
Eligible cardmembers can enroll here.
Why I am disappointed
Personally, I’m really disappointed with this for a few reasons.
First, I happen to live in an area that is not served by Uber. I know that likely puts me in a small minority of cardholders, but it means that I will only be able to use this benefit when I am not at home — and given the amount of travel I’m doing these days, I’ll have to work at it to use this benefit (whereas the airline credit is something that doesn’t depend on living near an airport). I surely won’t find myself in the right situation to use this credit every month. My annual fee is due to post this week and I have used the GrubHub credit three times in the past year. Chances are good that I will get far less value out of this than I did out of the airline fee credit.
Secondly, if I’m going to have a ~$100 benefit on a card, I’d like $100 that I can use at once. This monthly $10 trickle doesn’t make the benefit particularly exciting and means that I’ll never really feel like I got something “for free”, since any time I am ordering food or riding in an Uber it is likely to cost more than $10, leaving me with part of the bill (and it limits my choice because I find that even in cities where Uber Eats exists in my region, many of my favorite restaurants aren’t on the platform, leaving me with a dinner I’m not excited about in order to use up my credits). The airline credit has represented a chance to get a full hundred bucks in value at once. I like that a lot more than a slow trickle of ten bucks a month (even though the slow trickle can add up to more than $100 in this case).
I know that many cardholders have complained about not being able to use the airline fee credit because they aren’t traveling right now. That argument just hasn’t held water with me given how easy it has long been to use the credit (we maintain a resource about what still works and Greg has shared some of his thoughts about those credits). It just hasn’t been difficult to get value out of the airline credit, particularly as a Southwest Companion pass family that mostly flies Southwest domestically.
Replacing what has been darn near a $100 value to me with something I am likely yo get $50 or $60 out of at best is a disappointment to me. Surely there are many cardholders who order from Uber Eats regularly and who will thus totally disagree and be happy to take their $10 monthly benefit.
However, the other reason I find this news disappointing is that monthly credits like these make it impossible to take full advantage of the benefit before canceling the card. That is surely somewhat by design. Previously, a cardholder opening an account in December could have used the airline fee credit before the end of December, again the following calendar year, and then another time in January of the subsequent year before canceling the account without paying a second annual fee. With the move toward monthly fee credits, it makes that sort of triple-dip no longer possible since you’ll get at most a $10 benefit in that final January before the second fee is due.
Long-term, this Uber benefit is unlikely to keep the card in my wallet.
The bright side: overlap for 2021
The bright side of this announcement is that for 2021, the Gold card will carry both benefits. This means you’ll both be able to use the airline fee credit and the Uber benefit next year. That means that during 2021, the Gold card will carry up to a total of $340 in statement credits ($100 airline fee credit, $10/monthly dining benefit (GrubHub/Cheesecake Factory/etc), and $10/monthly Uber credit. If you can use all of those credits, that’s a great deal in exchange for a $250 annual fee assuming you value the card’s other benefits (i.e. category bonuses) at all.
In my case, even if I only expect to use the GrubHub and Uber credits 3 times each, I should still pull in $160 in credits. With a little effort, I can probably get that closer to $200. At that point, the card will be worth keeping for its 4x categories. I’d previously written that I’d probably cancel it if I weren’t a blogger, but this would probably tip the balance.
Considering the currently-increased welcome offer on the Gold Card (as shown below here), it does make a compelling case for the card in the near-term. Being able to pick up the airline credit this year and both the airline fee credit and Uber credits next year on top of a great welcome offer make this card a compelling value right now (even if my enthusiasm for the card long-term has been tempered). Click the card name below to go to our dedicated card page for more information about the card.
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
75K points + 20% back at restaurants ⓘ Non-Affiliate 75K points after $6K in purchases in the first 6 months + 20% back at restaurants for the first 6 months up to $250 back. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$325 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 90K after $6K in the first 6 months + 20% back at restaurants for the first 12 months up to $250 back [Expired 11/10/24 - referrals only] FM Mini Review: This card offers an awesome return on US supermarket and worldwide dining spend, putting it at or near the top-of-class in both categories. Dining credits and Uber / Uber Eats credits go a long way towards reducing the sting of this card's annual fee. Earning rate: 3X points for flights booked with airlines or on amextravel.com ✦ 4x points at US Supermarkets (up to $25K in purchases, then 1x) ✦ 4x at restaurants worldwide ✦ 1X points on other purchases. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) Card Info: Amex Pay Over Time Card issued by Amex. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Up to $10 in statement credits monthly with participating dining partners (Goldbelly, Wine.com, Five Guys, Seamless/Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory) ✦ $10 monthly Uber or Uber Eats credit (use it or lose it each month - must select Amex card as payment method to redeem) ✦ $100 hotel credit on qualifying charges on stays of 2 nights or longer, plus a room upgrade upon arrival, if available with The Hotel Collection at americanexpress.com/hc ✦ Enrollment required for select benefits. |
Don’t forget retention offers
If you’re on the fence about whether to keep or cancel, don’t forget to check to see if Amex will offer you a retention offer. We’ve had several reports of readers who were offered 20,000 Membership Rewards points with no spending requirement to keep the card open. Indeed, my wife’s annual fee is due to post this week (it hasn’t posted yet) and she chatted with Amex just this morning and was offered 20,000 points to keep the card open. I believe that retention reps are available via phone late into the evening, but if you prefer to deal with a chat rep, the retention team is available on chat (when you log into your account) from 9am to 5:30pm from Monday to Friday.
Bottom line
Amex has announced a new $10 monthly Uber credit on the Gold Card that will begin in January 2021. This benefit will replace the airline fee credit benefit on this card in 2022, but the good news for many cardholders is that both credits will overlap in 2021 — meaning that cardholders will have the chance at up to $340 in total credits on this card next year. For someone who has recently opened the card or opens in before the end of this year, it would create the opportunity for a ton of credits in the first year, which could be highly valuable in addition to picking up a great welcome bonus. Even for those like me who aren’t particularly excited about the Uber credit, the card will likely be an easy keeper until 2022. Thanks to these additions
H/T: CNN Underscored
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This is one of my favorites if not my favorite. I got a $633 refund on the warranty for a laptop. $120 grubhub / month combined with coupon codes…now $120 ubereats, it doesn’t sound so bad either. This year alone I’ve gotten about $275 worth of $$ including the Amazon purchases, amex offers + $633 warranty. I don’t know how to use the $100 since I haven’t traveled anywhere.
Another data point, I got 20,000 MR for keeping my gold, 50k for keeping my platinum. Have about $25k in restaurant/grocery spend a year on my Gold, probably under $1k in spend on the platinum
[…] recently announced that they were adding new perks to the Gold card: $10 per month Uber / Uber Eats credit plus 12 months complementary Uber Eats Pass Membership (the la…. That’s the good news. The bad news is that 2021 is the last year that they’ll […]
[…] 22, 2020 26 After this post was published, Amex announced new benefits for the Gold card: $10 per month Uber / Uber Eats credit and 12 months Uber Eats Pass subscription. The new Uber Eats benefits may be enough to sway many towards keeping the Gold card, but it […]
[…] Frequent Miler […]
The Gold news doesn’t affect me, but we have four Plats that have the credit which is nice. Just received a good retention offer on one, and added the Uber Eats pass to that, which is useful, and will keep using the Uber credit on the rest until they expire (and perhaps get offers on those as well – I can hope!)
The length of this post is breathtaking.
Happy to take your breath away any day of the week.
Nope. My husband has had the Gold card for 4 or 5 years. We will cancel it when it loses the airline fee credit. We can only use Uber when we travel and Uber Eats does not deliver to us (out of town). It does not make up for the airline fee credit, at all.
Meh. Always used the $100 credit organically on Southwest. Despite promising myself to stay on top of it, I rarely use the $10 monthly food credit. I rarely use ride-sharing and, if I do, it’s more often Lyft. I really like the 4x grocery and dining bonuses but going to have to do some tough math to see if it’s worthy $250.
There are reports of 30k retention offers also.
I just looked at Amex website, says nothing about the $100 travel credit. Are you sure this is still available?
Yes.
I went to apply for Gold card today and the $100 airline credit is not stated as a benefit on the app page but its mentioned in the Benefit Terms link.
is paying bills with PayPal key okay for meeting spend requirements? I have some bills coming up later this year that don’t take American Express.
That’s so new that nobody really knows yet (and even if I told you yes, who knows whether they may claw back six or eight months down the line?). It is possible to do. Whether or not it is advisable is anyone’s guess.
I find it hard to believe that there is no Uber in that part of NY.
Not sure what you mean by “in that part of NY”. I live in a town of about 1,000 people surrounded by towns of about 500 people. A car is necessary here, so there’s little demand for any sort of public transport since basically everyone needs to have a car.
And to be clear, I know that puts me in the minority of cardholders — but my point is that for folks like me who live somewhere where Uber doesn’t have a presence, this benefit is significantly worse. And even if I lived in a place with Uber, I’ve noticed that the cities in my state that I visit regularly that also have Uber have quite a limited selection of restaurants on Uber Eats – at least for pick up.
Im from Upstate NY too Orange/Rockland County although haven’t been there in a while but I guess if in a more rural area it may not be necessary to have Uber.
LOL. Orange/Rockland is only “upstate” to the people who live in Orange/Rockland and further down. For most of the rest of us in Upstate NY, Orange/Rockland is “downstate”. 😀
(and I’m saying that as someone with family in Orange and Rockland counties)
Yes that’s true, what is and what isn’t upstate is always a big argument. Some people consider everything north of Westchester as Upstate!
Added the free Eats Pass –
Checked a few trial orders P1 vs P2 app (not added).
I value this benefit at maybe $1-2 per year.
Like Nick mentioned, so many of our favorite restaurants are not on the platform.
Portland being a foodie Mecca, many of the remaining restaurants that we used to order from in 2018-19 are now listed as “too far to deliver” and it’s a pain to jump through hoops to order for pickup in the app.
Then add the mandatory City of Portland $3 fee (service fees are now higher than before they passed the law with new mandatory fees).
It seems that you can only order for pickup from about 25% of the restaurants on the platform in our area – of which seem majority are Chains (probably with reduced revenue share agreements).
– 5% off figure it’s .75-$1.00 of a $15-20
I live in the sticks, but usually I go to a larger town a few times a month for various needs (shopping, doctor’s appointments, etc). That town has Uber Eats. The only options for pick up are Panera, Subway, Denny’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and a health food joint that closes at 2pm on the limited days it is open. And we’re talking a town with 8 pizzerias that I can name off the top of my head as well as Indian, Thai, Italian Caribbean fusion and Chinese food restaurants in addition to a couple of steak joints and delis – almost nothing is on Uber Eats there.
Totally different story when I visit friends in Chicago or NYC, but I’m even less enthusiastic personally than it sounds in the post.
For me this is roughly an even trade, if not a slight improvement. The airline incidental credits are annoying, but I can usually get close to face value for them. However, I have them on the Personal Platinum, Aspire, and Gold with Amex, BoA Premium Rewards, and Citi Expedia. Using $100 in incidental credits is not that bad, but $750 is more difficult.
Given that I have a personal platinum, I now have $25 a month in Uber credits. Uber Eats has tons of promos, which usually more than make up for any markup. They also have restaurant rewards (for example, one that I frequent has an order 10x, get a $15 credit), plus orders count towards Uber rewards. There is extra earning potential by stacking with Rakuten. And for me, an Uber to the airport costs around $30. So if/when I start traveling again, this will cover nearly a one way trip.
I was planning to get rid of my Gold card when the annual fee posts in January, but now I am reconsidering. Personally I can only think of 1 or 2 times where I haven’t used the Uber or Grubhub credits (though sometimes they are a stretch).