Earning Uber Credits with Visa Local Offers

I love free money. Thankfully, there seems to be more and more ways to earn it these days, from credit card rewards to cash back apps like Dosh. With all of these earning opportunities, I admittedly forget to check some of the various offers available to me and get pleasantly surprised by cash and credits. That’s exactly what recently happened to me with Visa Local Offers.

A few months ago (shortly after getting my Uber Visa card), the rideshare app asked if I wanted to opt-into their Visa Local Offers program. I went through their painless process… and proceeded to completely forget all about it. That was until I received a push notification that I had earned $12 in Uber credits after buying some movie tickets for my friends — $12 free dollars!

Amazingly, despite this exciting win, I still forgot about Visa Local Offers. Then earlier this week I decided to place a to-go order for the IHOP that was next to my hotel when, seconds after hitting “send,” I was alerted that I earned another $1.50 in Uber credits. That’s when I finally decided to dive in further and see what other earning opportunities I was missing out on.

One thing I’ll say about Visa Local Offers is that it’s not terribly obvious how to find them within the Uber app. While most of time I only use the app to enter my location and request a ride, I discovered the swiping up from near the bottom of the screen will reveal a feed filled with additional info. Among these widgets is a list of some featured Local Offers, which you can tap to view a more complete list or search through. Scrolling through this months offers, there seems to be a strong mix of chain locations and one-offs (hence the “Local” element, I suppose). Additionally, while it does seem to be mostly restaurants, there are a few retailers as well. As a result, I definitely see the opportunity to earn.

Of course, what’s really great about the Visa Local Offers with Uber is that you don’t even need to seek out these special offers in order to cash in. Unlike other sites and apps that require you to activate individual offers, just opting into the program and using your linked card entitles you to take advantage of whatever’s on the table. As a result, you may get some pleasant surprises like I have.

Since I’ve been mostly ignorant to this program so far, I do still have a couple of questions. Namely, I’m curious if there’s every overlap between offers on Dosh and Visa Local Offers. While I can’t say for sure, I feel like I’ve definitely seen some locations on both, although perhaps not at the same time. That said, unlike issues I’ve run into where Dosh told me I had already linked another card elsewhere, I’ve had no problems using my Uber Visa successfully in both programs.

So if you like free money and take at least the occasional Uber ride (or place Uber Eats orders), I’d say it’s definitely worth looking in their Visa Local Offers program and earning some credits of your own.

This article was first published on Money@30.