Instacart+ members now pay $0 in delivery fees with a minimum order of $10 or more. The previous minimum was $35. This is a great development for those with credit cards that offer monthly Instacart benefits. Do note that I’m not referring to this as “free” delivery because most will choose to tip the delivery driver (and because Instacart bakes some of the cost of delivery into inflated prices).
Overall, this is great news. I’m not a frequent Instacart user because there are no options near me, but now that we have many household credit cards with Instacart benefits, I’ll be looking to change our habits and figure out how we can best use these benefits to save money on stuff we need to buy anyway. Being able to get a $0 delivery fee with a smaller order is certainly nice. I am particularly excited for the $0 delivery fee on those cards offering a $20 monthly credit.
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Store pickup is also an option at some stores. Not sure I believe that saves some fees/tip.
Instacart is so hit or miss – even with ‘free’ membership, we gave up on it a long time ago. Tired of getting orders missing stuff or having my groceries smelling like cigarette smoke. Instead, we’ve taken advantage of deals on discounted annual Kroger Boost subscription and it is a much better value proposition IMHO. Groceries are delivered in special refrigerated box trucks by Kroger employees – prices are the same as the store and there is no tipping (they aren’t even allowed to accept tips). We get 2X Kroger fuel points and purchases trigger 4X points on Amex Gold.
Same, everything was constantly wrong or moldy/expired/damaged. The free membership wasnt even that great for me to continue due to the headache. The last straw was the driver taking my groceries and saying they delivered it.
Also, one will not earn points in the store’s loyalty program.
I suppose that depends on the store. I know I earn “points” on my Food Lion orders & get all the same in store sale prices. I just had to attach my loyalty card to my Instacart account.
Some notes from an Instacart order I’m doing for a friend right now:
Haven’t researched yet, but wondering if there is current info about how much higher instacart prices are than in store. Are some types of items higher? Other things to consider, like the use of gc? For $20 credit, it might be worth using, especially for pick up orders. TIA.
Some stores, like Costco, have a decent markup, but I got around it by buying Instacart gift cards at Costco when they still had them at 20% off. Other stores, like Aldi do not have a markup as far as I was able to see.
Hmm, that last note is definitely not the case for me. I shop with Instacart regularly using gift cards & the tip is always optional. They do give suggested amounts, but you can customize, put in zero, or even tip after delivery.