Grubhub promo code not working? The six reasons, in the order to check them
Grubhub's error message is the same whatever went wrong: "this promo isn't valid." It doesn't tell you whether you're not new, your cart is short, or the restaurant isn't in the promotion. So here's the list, in the order the reason is most often the problem. Work down it before you give up on the code.
1. You've ordered from Grubhub or Seamless before
This is the usual one. Grubhub and Seamless are the same company and the same account history. If a code is for new diners and you've ever ordered on either, under any email, it fails. New-diner checks look at your delivery address and your card, not just your email, so a fresh email at the same apartment doesn't make you new. How the apps decide you're new.
The fix is honest rather than clever: use a code that's marked for existing users on my Grubhub page. There are more of those on Grubhub than on any other app I test.
2. Your cart is under the minimum in food
"$15 minimum" means fifteen dollars of food. Fees, tax and tip don't count toward it, and the message doesn't say so. If the subtotal line is short by a few cents, add a drink and apply the code again.
3. The restaurant isn't in the promotion
Some Grubhub codes only apply at restaurants with the "Promo eligible" tag, and a few are tied to one chain. PRIME10, for example, only works on Outback orders. If the code is a restaurant-specific one, the table on my page says which restaurant next to it. If it's a general code and your restaurant has no promo tag, try the same order from one that does.
4. Pickup versus delivery
Delivery codes fail on pickup orders, and the other way round. The toggle is at the top of checkout and it's easy to leave on the wrong setting after a pickup order last week.
5. Grubhub+ is already covering what the code does
If you have Grubhub+, including the version that comes free with Amazon Prime, your delivery fee is already $0 on orders over the minimum. A "free delivery" code then has nothing to remove and may show as invalid. Percentage-off codes still apply on top of Grubhub+; free-delivery ones don't.
6. It expired overnight
Grubhub codes tend to die at the end of a day, not in the middle of one. Look at the "checked" time at the top of my Grubhub page. If it's from yesterday, I haven't retested yet and you may have found the death before me.
Where the code goes, in case that's the problem
Add your food, tap Checkout, scroll to Promo code under the payment method, paste the code and tap Apply. The discount shows as a line above the total. If there's no line, it didn't take, whatever the message said. Copy and paste rather than retyping; a typed zero for the letter O is the quiet failure.
If you've been through all six and it still fails, send me the code and the message. I'll try it on a Grubhub account that has ordered before and one that hasn't, and update the page the same morning.