Uber Momentum for Driver Discounts on Auto Maintenance and more…
A few months ago, Uber announced a few driver discounts, including some on gas, on auto maintenance at OpenBay, and a few others. You can take a look at what they offered back in August.
Here was the email I received early this morning introducing their new driver discounts program:
We’re thrilled to invite you to Momentum, a new way to get special discounts and rewards for driving.
Earn Points,
Get Exclusive RewardsFrom supporting your family to taking care of your car, Momentum rewards help you save money and make life easier on and off the road.
Up to 15% off Auto Maintenance
Up to 18% off Phone Plans
Personalized Health Care Tools
…More Coming Soon!
Enjoy your Momentum rewards, and thanks for making Uber the best driving platform around!
The Uber Team
You can read more at this Uber Blog Post about Uber Momentum
How to Access Uber Momentum on your Uber Dashboard
Any Uber driver should have access to this new tab on the Uber Dashboard under rewards:
Here is what you will see when you are on this tab:
Frequently Asked Questions about Uber Momentum
Here is the full list of FAQs on the website, which was nicely done:
What is Momentum?
Momentum is our new Partner Rewards program, and our way of thanking you for your dedication and great driving. Earn points for every trip and enjoy Uber-exclusive perks, including auto discounts, phone discounts, and more!
How do I earn points?
Simple. You automatically earn 3 points for every trip you take on uberX. The more you drive, the more you earn.
Do you offer any other rewards?
We’re working hard to bring you new rewards that help you save on everyday costs. Keep driving, there’s more coming soon!
How do I qualify for these rewards?
Once you take your first trip as a partner, you’re automatically enrolled in the Momentum Partner Rewards program.
How can I get certain rewards?
You must reach 150 points every 3 month period to access and maintain your rewards (points reset every period). Some rewards will automatically be available after your first trip.
Once I hit my points goal, do my rewards expire?
Yes, once you reach your points goal, most rewards will only be available for the period you earned them in, plus the following 3 months. Some rewards never expire.
If I do trips on uberPOOL, does that count as multiple trips?
No, a trip counts when you start and end a trip, including uberPOOL.
If I stop driving or go on vacation, can I still claim my rewards?
Your rewards are available for the period you earned them in, plus the following 3 months. They will still be available if you start driving again before then.
Explanation of the Uber Momentum Program:
It is a points system based on how much you drive. If you drive a certain number of trips (in this instance 50), you can get a 15% discount on Auto Maintenance for three months, for example. Right now, you need 150 points for each of these discounts
- 15% off auto services from Jiffy Lube, Autozone, and more,
- 18% off your personal phone plan from AT&T and Verizon.
At 3 points a trip, you would need 50 trips within the three month span to get access to these discounts.
If you want two of these discounts, you would need to drive 100 trips within three months. The discounts are valid in a three month period. Right now, it is from October 1 to December 31. So for example, you would need to drive 50 trips in that time frame to get the discount for that three month period. A normal trip rate for being busy is about 2.5 trips an hour. It can be 2 trips an hour for long rides, 3 trips an hour for short rides, such as cold weather, storms, etc. This means that you would need to drive approximately 20 hours to get one of these benefits. The health care option seems interesting but unclear when they will be starting that.
The points expire at the end of each three month period. I would recommend that you don’t drive a lot for the points at the end of the three month period unless you intend to use them before they expire.
Thoughts on Uber Momentum:
I think its a good program but the requirements are a bit higher than I would like. I would like to have these perks for free without a trip requirement. Yet as independent contracts, nothing would stop us from giving out just one trip a month to get the above benefits. People would sign up to do one trip a month just to get these benefits, which is not what Uber intended with these driver discount program.
Lyft has a similar perk, called AnyPerk. Drivers need to do 30 rides a month to qualify for all their discounts (not just one), so the terms are like Uber’s Momentum program. You can read more about Lyft’s AnyPerk program here.
For now, I will wait and see what else they put into this program. This can be worthwhile for drivers who are driving anyway. I would not drive more to get these perks unless you have upcoming expensive car maintenance or have a high cell phone bill. Winter is coming to many Uber markets, so this is a good time to get a bunch of short trips and qualify for these discounts. The colder weather increases the number of rides per hour so it will be easier to meet the above requirements. I predict by January there will be more discounts to choose from. As of right now, it’s not interesting.
What are your thoughts about these driver discounts? Do you think any Uber driver should get these discounts for free?
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