Uber One: how to get it free, and whether it's worth $9.99
Uber One is the one membership that covers two apps, Uber Eats and Uber rides, and that's what makes the math different from DashPass. Here's what it does, how to get it free, and how to tell whether it pays for itself at your pace.
What it includes
As of this writing:
- $0 delivery fee on Uber Eats orders of $15 or more from participating restaurants and stores, which is most of them.
- Member pricing on eligible Uber Eats orders, which in practice shows as a lower service fee.
- A discount on eligible Uber rides, and priority pickup at airports in some cities.
- Member-only promos in the Deals tab.
How to get it free
- One free month for anyone who hasn't had Uber One before. Turn it on from Account, then Uber One, and set a reminder to cancel before it renews if you don't want to keep it. Cancelling is from the same screen.
- Students pay a reduced monthly rate with a verified .edu, which roughly halves the break-even.
- Some credit cards help. Several Amex cards give monthly Uber Cash, which can be put toward the fee, and card issuers have bundled Uber One itself from time to time. Check the card's benefits page; these change year to year.
- Annual plan at $96 if you're certain you'll keep it, which works out to $8 a month.
Is it worth $9.99?
Work it out from your own receipts. Find the delivery fee on your last few Uber Eats orders. It depends on distance and city, so your number is the only one that matters. Divide $9.99 by it. For most people the fee is a few dollars, which puts the break-even at roughly two to three Uber Eats orders a month, and the lower service fee, which is a percentage of the subtotal, pulls it a little earlier on big orders.
Rides move it faster. The ride discount is small per trip, but if you ride every week it adds up alongside the food side, and that's the case DashPass can't make.
- Order Uber Eats two or three times a month or more, or ride regularly: worth it.
- Once a month and no rides: not worth it. Use the existing-user deals instead.
Things to know
- It covers Postmates too, since Postmates runs on the same system.
- It stacks with promo codes. A code takes money off the food, Uber One removes the delivery fee. It does not stack with "$0 delivery" codes, because there's nothing left to remove.
- Menu prices don't change. Uber Eats menu prices are often above the restaurant's own, and no membership touches that.
- Only orders of $15 or more qualify. A $12 order still pays the delivery fee, so a lot of small solo orders don't help the math.
- The free month works on existing accounts as long as you've never had Uber One, which makes it the best deal an existing Uber Eats user has right now. The current codes are on the Uber Eats page.