The ride-hailing company, Uber, is ending its free loyalty program Uber Rewards on November 1. Accordingly, the company decided to proceed with this move in order to focus to its subscription-based Uber One membership.
According to The Verge, through an email sent to customers, Uber said that customers can still earn points until the end of August. The last day to redeem points is on October 31.
The email reads: "Thank you for being part of Uber Rewards. It's been a great ride, but we've decided to end Rewards soon, as we shift our focus to our new Uber One membership program."
Uber to Focus on Uber One Membership
The Uber Rewards was first launched by the company in 2018. The program comes as some form of frequent flyer scheme. For every dollar spent on rides or Uber Eats deliveries, riders can earn points.
Afterwards, the points earned can be used to get discounts on future rides or deliveries.
With the Uber Rewards program, users can earn "1x point for every Uber Pool dollar spent, 2x for every UberX dollar spent and 3x for every $1 spent on Premium."
Depending on the number of points collected, members would be put into different castes of loyalty. The castes of loyalty ranges from Blue to Gold to Platinum to Diamond.
Each comes with benefits such as access to highly rated drivers, free delivery on three Uber Eats orders, access to better customer service, and free upgrades, according to TechCrunch.
Uber began introducing Uber One in November 2021. With this program, for $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually, members are entitled to perks such as 5% off on certain rides or delivery orders.
With Uber One, users also get unlimited free delivery fees on food orders of over $15 and grocery orders of over $30.
Read Also: Lyft, Uber Cut Back on New Hiring, But Promise No Layoffs
Uber Does Not Offer a Replacement to Uber Rewards
According to TechCrunch, phone support will remain for Diamond users. However, with the Uber Rewards ending, the only means to get additional perks with Uber is to opt for Uber One subscription.
The users with existing Rewards will get a free one-month subscription to Uber One, but will be eventually charged for access after the one month free.
Those users who use Uber Eats more than twice a month can easily break even with the Uber One subscription. However, the switch doesn't seem to give money saving benefits for most users who are not frequently using the service.
When asked why they are shutting down the program in favor of Uber One, Uber did not respond immediately.
According to TechCrunch, the company perhaps fail to see the returns and user loyalty from the program. Perhaps Uber thinks a subscription offering will give the company better returns.
Uber is a ride-hailing company that allows users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi. The company is based in San Francisco with operations in approximately 72 countries and 10,500 cities as of 2021.
Uber's services include ride-hailing, food delivery, package delivery, couriers, freight transportation, electric bicycle and motorized scooter rental via a partnership with Lime, and Thames Clipper river bus transport in partnership with local operators.
Related Article: Uber CEO Khosrowshahi: Hiring Now Treated as 'Privilege' - Cost Cutting Measures To Be In Place?
