10+ ways to save more & earn more on Lyft rides

Uber tends to dominate attention when it comes to ridesharing companies, but Lyft can be a great alternative option.

We’ve written about a number of saving and earning opportunities with Lyft in the past, many of which are still ongoing. However, it can be hard keeping track of all the disparate deals, so this post collects together all the ways that you can save money on Lyft rides, while also maximizing the rewards that you earn.

1) Save when joining

When signing up for Lyft for the first time, you can use a promo code or someone’s referral code to save on your first ride(s). At the time of publishing this, the referral offer gives 50% off your first ride (limit $10 savings). However, you can use a more generic promo code of RIDERDISCOUNT1 to save 50% on your first two rides, with a limit of $10 savings per ride. That’s obviously twice as good as the referral offer, so that’s the better one to use.

2) Earn through a portal

If you click through from a shopping portal before booking a Lyft ride, you can earn rewards. Some portals only offer cashback / miles / points on your first booking and using the promo code above might invalidate portal earnings. However, that code was listed on some shopping portals, so I suspect you can use that code to save up to $10 on your first two rides as well as earning rewards through a portal.

A few portals also offer rewards when existing Lyft customers book a ride. That includes Rakuten and Rove Miles, but there might be more. At the time of writing this, Rakuten was offering 40 Membership Rewards or $0.40 (depending on your earning preference), while Rove Miles was offering 26 miles (which are also transferable). That’s a minimal return, but if you’re a frequent Lyft rider then those points or miles will add up over time, not to mention clicking through from a portal stacking with many of these other earning and saving opportunities.

You can check current portal rates here and here. Those show the earnings for first time riders; you’ll have to check your portal(s) of choice to see if they also offer rewards for existing customers.

3) Save with Lyft Pink (if you ride enough)

Lyft offers a couple of membership options for a fee:

• Lyft Pink – $9.99 per month or $99 per year
• Lyft Pink All Access – $199 per year

Lyft Pink members receive the following benefits:

• Free Priority Pickup upgrades
• Member-exclusive pricing
• 12 free bike or scooter unlocks a year
• Relaxed ride cancellations and lost & found fees
• Free Grubhub+ for a year

Lyft Pink members receive the following benefits in addition to those offered by Lyft Pink:

• 5% off on Standard, XL, and Extra Comfort rides
• An additional 10% off all Black and Black SUV rides
• Unlimited 45-min classic bike rides
• Unlimited ebike and scooter unlocks
• Discounted ebike and scooter rates
• 5 free unlocks for guests (used for riding together)
• Access to the Bike Angels rewards program, where available

If you frequently ride with Lyft and/or use their bikes and scooters, paying for this membership could result in you coming out ahead long term. For infrequent users though, it’s not going to be worth it.

In the past, some Chase cards (Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve) offered a complimentary Lyft Pink membership, but that’s no longer available. Hopefully we’ll see a similar partnership in the future.

4) Link your account with another program to earn rewards

Lyft has a partnership with a number of different travel loyalty programs. Every time you take a ride, you’ll earn points or miles with that other program. The best thing is that once you’ve initially linked your Lyft account with one of those programs, that’s all you need to do; all future rides will have rewards credited to that account without needing to go via any special landing page. Simply open the Lyft app, book a ride and off you go.

Here’s a list of Lyft’s current partners:

• Bilt Rewards
  • Earn 2x points per $1 spent on all rides
  • Registration link here (our affiliate link).
• Alaska Airlines
  • Earn 2x miles per $1 spent on Standard rides (standard, XL, priority pick up)
  • Earn 3x miles per $1 spent on Airport and high-value mode rides (Extra comfort, Black, Black SUV)
  • Registration link here.
• Hilton
  • Earn 3x points per $1 spent on economy, luxury, and extra seat Lyft rides.
  • Earn 2x points per $1 spent on shared Lyft rides. (Maybe; this page lists this as an earning option, but the main registration page below doesn’t.)
  • Earnings limited to $10,000 of Lyft spend per calendar year.
  • Registration link here.

So which of these options is best? It depends on your travel preferences. Due to the value of Hilton points, that’s worth the least. Alaska Airlines has the highest potential earning rate, plus for every 3,000 redeemable miles you earn, you earn 1,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) towards status. Bilt meanwhile will be preferable if you’d rather earn transferable points.

5) Rideshare credits on select Delta credit cards

Several Delta credit cards have a rideshare benefit that can be redeemed for Lyft rides (along with other eligible rideshare companies) after enrolling in the benefit. This gives up to $10 per month in statement credits for US purchases with select rideshare service providers on the following cards:

• Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card

6) Lyft credits on select Chase cards

Similar to Delta cards, some Chase cards offer statement credits each month for Lyft rides. These also come in the form of up to $10 per month in ride credits each month and they’re currently set to run through September 2027.

The eligible cards are:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business
• J.P. Morgan Reserve

7) Rideshare credits on select Chase United cards

In addition to some Chase cards having Lyft-specific credits, some Chase United cards have rideshare credits that can be used, among other services, with Lyft.

Here are the eligible cards and their corresponding credits:

• Up to $100 in rideshare statement credits (up to $8 per month from January to November and up to $12 in December)
  • United Business
  • United Quest
• Up to $60 per year in rideshare credits (up to $5 per month) when using your card to pay for rideshare services.(requires annual enrollment)
  • United Explorer
• Up to $150 in rideshare statement credits ($12 per month from January to November and $18 in December)
  • United Club Business
  • United Club

8) Rideshare credits on other select cards

Some other non-Delta and non-Chase cards also have rideshare credits of one variety or another. That includes:

• HSBC Premier – $50 Uber or Lyft credit annually (20% back up to $50)
• HSBC Elite – Up to $120 per year in credits for taxis and rideshare (up to $10 per month)
• Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite – $150 lifestyle conveniences reimbursement (streaming services, food delivery, fitness subscriptions and rideshare services)

9) Earn bonus points on credit cards

Some credit cards award bonus points when taking Lyft rides. Sometimes that’s part of a generic multiplier for a category that includes rideshares, but in other instances it’s for Lyft rides specifically.

Here are some examples of higher earnings rates:

• 5x Ultimate Rewards or 5% cashback (through September 30, 2027)
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred
  • Chase Sapphire (no annual fee card)
  • Chase Ink Business Unlimited
  • Chase Ink Business Cash
  • Chase Ink Cash
  • Chase Ink Business Premier
  • Chase Ink Preferred
  • J.P. Morgan Reserve
• 2% cashback (through September 30, 2027)
  • Chase Freedom
  • Chase Freedom Flex
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited
  • Chase Freedom Rise
  • Chase Freedom Student
• 3x points
  • Bilt Mastercard (this is in addition to the 2x you can earn by linking your Bilt account with your Lyft account)

10) Lyft discounts with DoorDash DashPass

DoorDash users who have a DashPass subscription are eligible for the following savings when linking their DoorDash and Lyft accounts here:

• 5% off on-demand Lyft rides (limit four discounted rides per month)
• 10% off scheduled Lyft rides to the airport (limit four discounted rides per month)
• $10 off first two Lyft rides (new riders only; link accounts by September 30, 2027)
• Two complimentary Priority Pickup upgrades

Even if you’re not a regular DoorDash user, it might still be worth getting DashPass because it’s a free benefit on many Chase cards.

11) Mastercard benefit

Lyft has a partnership with Mastercard whereby select Mastercard cardholders can get discounts on rides. The benefits are as follows:

• World Mastercard & World Elite Mastercard
  • Take at least three rides in the same calendar month using your personal profile and pay with your World Mastercard & World Elite Mastercard and get a $5 ride credit
• Citi AAdvantage Executive Mastercard
  • Take at least three rides in the same calendar month using your personal profile and pay with your World Mastercard & World Elite Mastercard and get a $10 ride credit
• World Elite Mastercard consumer, World Mastercard for Business & World Elite Mastercard for Business
  • 10% off scheduled rides to any US airport when paying with your eligible card

12) Discounted Lyft gift cards

It’s sometimes possible to buy Lyft gift cards at a discount which will save you money on future rides.

For example, Amazon sometimes sells them at a discount (e.g. during Prime Day, leading up to the holidays, etc.). Lyft gift cards are also a redemption option on One4All Ultimate and One4All Weekend Vibes multi-brand gift cards. Those gift cards go on sale more frequently, whether that’s at Staples.com, grocery stores, etc. Other techniques for saving money on gift cards can be used, such as buying gift cards from the gift card rack at Lowe’s when you have a Lowe’s Amex Offer.

13) Card-linked spending offers

We sometimes see card-linked spending offers for Lyft on some credit cards, such as Chase Offers, Citi Offers, etc. These are often targeted, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for them if you ever take Lyft rides.

For example, there have been Lyft Chase Offers giving 10% back on up to $100 spend. Similarly, there have been Lyft Citi Offers giving 5% or 10% back on up to $100 spend.

These savings have the potential to stack with numerous other offers listed above such as the World and World Elite Mastercard benefit, DashPass discounts, 5x on eligible Chase cards, $10 credits on eligible Chase cards, an account linked with Bilt, Alaska or Hilton, etc.

14) SimplyMiles

SimplyMiles is a card-linked program which awards bonus American Airlines AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points, the latter of which helps you earn status in the AAdvantage program.

You have to link a Mastercard with SimplyMiles and activate the Lyft offer in order to earn. At the time of writing this, you’ll earn 4x AAdvantage miles as well as 4x Loyalty points, with a limit of 465 bonus miles and 465 Loyalty Points.

Something important to be aware of is that this won’t stack with a Lyft Citi Offer, but should stack with a Lyft Chase Offer if that offer is on a Mastercard (e.g. an IHG Premier or Freedom Flex card). It will stack with other offers listed earlier like the World and World Elite Mastercard benefit, DashPass discounts, an account linked with Bilt, Alaska or Hilton, etc.

Question

Are there any other earning and/or saving opportunities you know of for Lyft rides? Please let us know in the comments below.

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