Uber ticketing

[Watershed]

If you can afford it, you can buy £300 in LNER vouchers - valid for a year - and get your 10% cashback. I’ve been doing that with my Halifax account for months.

Although it's worth noting the LNER site doesn't sell some fares, such as to some of the Underground Zone options.

 

[Mark J]

If you can afford it, you can buy £300 in LNER vouchers - valid for a year - and get your 10% cashback. I’ve been doing that with my Halifax account for months.

Unfortunately I don't have a Bank, nor Credit Cards that offer this.

The Topcashback and Quidco offers are around 2%, with people reporting tracking issues and serious delays in money back.

Trainpal, with its endless 'refer 50 friends to get £10 off', is an utter circus of a travel app.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jan 2025 ==

Uber credits dropping to 5% from next week on rail and coach fares. If you have an Uber One membership credits will continue to be 10%

A quick calculation reveals that you would need to spend £600 per year on rail fares, just to recoup the Uber One membership fee of £59.99 a year - at the 10% cashback rate.

So you would not see any real cashback, until you had exceeded £600 of spending. As anything under that is still 'paying off' the membership cost.

Think I might take up the 'three months free' offer, to continue receiving the higher cashback. Then revert back to the standard 5% offer.

Whilst 5% may not be as good as the LNER offering (with participating card/Bank), it is certainly better than what is offered through Quidco and Topcashback by various TOCs.

 

[Watershed]

Unfortunately I don't have a Bank, nor Credit Cards that offer this.

The Topcashback and Quidco offers are around 2%, with people reporting tracking issues and serious delays in money back.

Trainpal, with its endless 'refer 50 friends to get £10 off', is an utter circus of a travel app.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jan 2025 ==


A quick calculation reveals that you would need to spend £600 per year on rail fares, just to recoup the Uber One membership fee of £59.99 a year - at the 10% cashback rate.

So you would not see any real cashback, until you had exceeded £600 of spending. As anything under that is still 'paying off' the membership cost.

Think I might take up the 'three months free' offer, to continue receiving the higher cashback. Then revert back to the standard 5% offer.

Whilst 5% may not be as good as the LNER offering (with participating card/Bank), it is certainly better than what is offered through Quidco and Topcashback by various TOCs.

If you use Uber for its main (taxi) function then you can recoup the subscription fee sooner, since you get discounts on rides - they effectively reduce their cut of the fare.

 

[MrJeeves]

If you use Uber for its main (taxi) function then you can recoup the subscription fee sooner, since you get discounts on rides - they effectively reduce their cut of the fare.

Or if you really enjoy takeaways.

 

[Mark J]

If you use Uber for its main (taxi) function then you can recoup the subscription fee sooner, since you get discounts on rides - they effectively reduce their cut of the fare.

Not used Uber for Taxis before.

Faced with an 'all day' bus fare of £4, or a £16 one way Uber Taxi journey, I know what I prefer!

Or if you really enjoy takeaways.

Not interested in that. Would rather not be lazy, and pick up my own takeaways! Besides, you can find better deals nowadays for 'collection only' at many takeaways.

I only started using Uber for the generous cashback. Admittedly, far too late into game.

When did the 10% cashback offer start, out of interest?

 

[takno]

If you can afford it, you can buy £300 in LNER vouchers - valid for a year - and get your 10% cashback. I’ve been doing that with my Halifax account for months.

Fairly sure my Halifax offer hasn't gone above 5% for months. Certainly it hasn't gone above 5% on Monzo. Good tip on the vouchers though

 

[TravellingTyke]

I believe I have seen LNER cashback on AmEx and Barclaycard too, if either of those might work for you.

I shan't be signing up for Uber One but I have enjoyed the 10% cashback while it lasted. Even at 5%, using the app means I don't need to remember which of my credit cards has a cashback offer and which of the booking sites it relates to. It also gives one Avios per pound spent which won't set the world alight but *does* keep my Avios from expiring as I don't fly British Airways very often.

 

[winks]

Has Uber reinstated the 10% offer in conjunction with the Great British Rail Sale? It seems so….

The Great British Rail Sale is back with up to 50% off more than 2 million full-price Advance ticket fares.*

Bask in the historical beauty of Bath, shop till you drop in Liverpool or explore the castle in Edinburgh. Get around the country by rail at great prices, and book in-app for 10% back in Uber Credits.**

And goes on ….

**Offer valid for users who have an Uber account, and book their train or coach ticket on Uber Travel (including trains, coaches, and Eurostar, but excluding flights), on or before 31 December 2025. You will receive up to 10% of your booking value (not valid on amendment fee charged by the transportation service provider, and booking fee, if applicable) back in Uber Credits. Uber Credits are rounded up to the nearest decimal. Uber Credits will be applied to your account within 10 days of completing the last leg of the journey in your booking.

 

[800Travel]

Has Uber reinstated the 10% offer in conjunction with the Great British Rail Sale? It seems so….



And goes on ….

Yeah, I noticed this in the email. Wasn't sure if it was just they'd written it prior to the communication about the reduction being sent out, or if someone had just copied in the wrong wording.

Personally if I'm purchasing through Uber I'll play it safe and be on the free Uber One in case - but would be interested if anyone on here has queried it with them.

 

[winks]

I’ll test it out and see what credits come back

 

[James H]

The December 2024 end date still appears in the app so they haven’t paid much attention to detail.

 

[Edvid]

Logged into my account through the travel.uber.com web portal (after joining the Uber One free trial) and found this on the booking page...

 

[MrJeeves]

What a fantastic offer!

 

[Joe Paxton]

Re Uber ticketing - N.B. I'm not an Uber One member - selecting a ticket in the app still results in a message saying "You're earning £X.XX in Uber credits", with '£X.XX' being 10% of the ticket price (have tried with a few different tickets). This is without actually going all the way through with a ticket purchase.

I'm guessing the credit will probably still come through after purchase, but I'd screenshot this message just in case.

 

[Edvid]

Disclaimer on the app and web portal has been updated. Key points:

* Credits offered for bookings made by 31 March 2025
* 10% of booking value with Uber One membership (during booking and travel)
* 5% of booking value otherwise
* Credits valid for 60 days (was 180 days)

Last point is particularly important if you like to stack them up for a free journey down the line (as opposed to simply using them in every booking). Bookings made last year should be unaffected by the change in terms.

The December 2024 end date still appears in the app so they haven’t paid much attention to detail.

Been updated as noted above, but there are still a couple of web pages (neither of them apparently linked from elsewhere on the website - I had to Google them) with previous terms referring to 31 August and 31 December (both 2024) respectively.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Re Uber ticketing - N.B. I'm not an Uber One member - selecting a ticket in the app still results in a message saying "You're earning £X.XX in Uber credits", with '£X.XX' being 10% of the ticket price (have tried with a few different tickets). This is without actually going all the way through with a ticket purchase.
[...]

The system has seemingly been updated overnight since I posted that - i.e. the "You're earning £X.XX in Uber credits" message now shows the '£X.XX' amount as 5% of the ticket price.

I'm assuming ticket purchases made before today (15 Jan) will still get 10% credit, and still valid for 180 days.

Just debating whether to opt into the free 3-month trial of Uber One now or save it for later, assuming both the free trial and the enhanced 10% credit back will be on offer for a while longer. Perhaps best to take advantage now whilst it's on offer, as future travel plans are uncertain. (I wouldn't really benefit from the other Uber One perks.)

 

[Mark J]

I will likely take the three month Uber One offer too. I don't have a credit card, nor bank account that benefits from LNER 8-10% perks.

Even the 5% is better than nothing. As I've said before, the Uber system is rubbish for finding the best value fares. Even their new ticket splitting service comes up with more expensive fares than can be found on Trainsplit, or forum site.

I've always wondered how Uber make money on the sale of Rail tickets. I always thought the retailer commission on the sale of a ticket was 5%. So if Uber are still giving a minimum of 5%, then that is their profit gone. At 10% - a loss is made, obviously now partly offset by paid membership.

 

[superkopite]

So if Uber are still giving a minimum of 5%, then that is their profit gone. At 10%

But you spend that 5% at other Uber outlets on products where they make profits that likely eclipse the value of the original 10% rebate

 

[takno]

I've always wondered how Uber make money on the sale of Rail tickets. I always thought the retailer commission on the sale of a ticket was 5%. So if Uber are still giving a minimum of 5%, then that is their profit gone. At 10% - a loss is made, obviously now partly offset by paid membership.

It's terribly out of fashion to make a profit on things in the first 2 years. Companies like Uber tend to play a long game, but you can sure they'll be back later for their money.

In practice I assume this is mostly a way of dragging you into their app environment so they can constantly push you towards markets they control and take 20%+ on, like private hires. They could equally be treating it as an investment in gathering customer loyalty and destroying competition for when they pare back the discount again to 5% and 2%, or an investment to gather data on travel habits so that they can target you if they decide to build a network of on-demand coaches or something.

 

[Mark J]

The system has seemingly been updated overnight since I posted that - i.e. the "You're earning £X.XX in Uber credits" message now shows the '£X.XX' amount as 5% of the ticket price.

I'm assuming ticket purchases made before today (15 Jan) will still get 10% credit, and still valid for 180 days.

Just debating whether to opt into the free 3-month trial of Uber One now or save it for later, assuming both the free trial and the enhanced 10% credit back will be on offer for a while longer. Perhaps best to take advantage now whilst it's on offer, as future travel plans are uncertain. (I wouldn't really benefit from the other Uber One perks.)

I'm a little confused.

So is the cashback now 5%, or has the previous 10% offer been extended?

Wording on the app/website says something about 31st March.

Get up to 10% back in Uber credits*​

*Offer valid for users who have an Uber account, and book their train or coach ticket on Uber Travel (including trains, coaches and Eurostar, but excluding flights), on or before 31 March 2025. Users with an active Uber One membership at the time of purchase and travel will receive 10% of your booking value (not valid on amendment fee charged by transportation service provider, and booking fee, if applicable) back in Uber credits. Users who do not have an Uber One membership will still receive 5% off your booking value (not valid on amendment fee charged by transportation service provider, and booking fee, if applicable) back in Uber credits.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I'm a little confused.

So is the cashback now 5%, or has the previous 10% offer been extended?

Wording on the app/website says something about 31st March.

It's worth reading the other sentences which you quoted:

Users with an active Uber One membership at the time of purchase and travel will receive 10% of your booking value (not valid on amendment fee charged by transportation service provider, and booking fee, if applicable) back in Uber credits. Users who do not have an Uber One membership will still receive 5% off your booking value (not valid on amendment fee charged by transportation service provider, and booking fee, if applicable) back in Uber credits.

So Uber One members get 10% (and I think there's an offer of 3 months free membership of Uber One) but everyone else gets 5%

So you could carry on getting 10% for 3 months - but to avoid paying for the Uber One membership, you'd have to cancel the Uber One before the three months are up.

 

[Mark J]

It's worth reading the other sentences which you quoted:


So Uber One members get 10% (and I think there's an offer of 3 months free membership of Uber One) but everyone else gets 5%

So you could carry on getting 10% for 3 months - but to avoid paying for the Uber One membership, you'd have to cancel the Uber One before the three months are up.

So what does the 31st March date relate to?.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

So what does the 31st March date relate to?.

That appears to be when the offer will end - although Uber have extended before and might extend again.

 

[Joe Paxton]

That appears to be when the offer will end - although Uber have extended before and might extend again.

I'd think it highly likely that the 10% credit for Uber One members will continue beyind then. and probable the 5% credit for other customers will also continue - but I imagine Uber's strategy will be to try entice as many of those who have and continue to benefit from the 'creditback' on train & coach ticket purchases to become ongoing (and so paying) Uber One subscribers, so my guess is that the 5% 'creditback' for non-Uber One customers will have a shorter shelf life.

 

[Mark J]

A word of caution when taking out the 'free' Three months of Uber One subscription.

I have just noticed a transaction of 85p 'pending' on my Bank account, after clicking on the offer.

Hopefully this will be returned!

 

[Edvid]

It's almost certainly a preauthorisation, just to check the bank account (current, credit or otherwise) is active. It happens whenever a continuous payment authority for recurring payments is set up and it should lapse in a few days.

 

[takno]

It's almost certainly a preauthorisation, just to check the bank account (current, credit or otherwise) is active. It happens whenever a continuous payment authority for recurring payments is set up and it should lapse in a few days.

It's almost exactly $1 plus conversion costs, so I'd pretty comfortably say that as well. It does serve as a reminder that they have your card details and will take the subscription fee if you forget to cancel though.

 

[Joe Paxton]

The Uber ticketing interface in the app really is pretty clunky and slow - seems to essentially be a web interface, and not a wonderfully responsive one at that. Far from the frictionless experience other ticket apps offer. Frustrating when you're cutting it fine!

 

[Mark J]

The Uber ticketing interface in the app really is pretty clunky and slow - seems to essentially be a web interface, and not a wonderfully responsive one at that. Far from the frictionless experience other ticket apps offer. Frustrating when you're cutting it fine!

The recently added 'split tickets' function is still rubbish compared to other sites, such as Trainsplit.

The thing that has improved is finding good priced advance tickets. Searches now seem to pick up on these, where as previously it was hit and miss as to whether their system would pick up advance fares.

The way I see it:

Simple A to B journey that you can't split. Uber is the best option due to up to 10% cashback.

Advance fares - Uber now a viable option (in most cases).

Split fares - Ticketsplit/forum site, still the best option for this.

 

[jrh2254]

The recently added 'split tickets' function is still rubbish compared to other sites, such as Trainsplit.

The thing that has improved is finding good priced advance tickets. Searches now seem to pick up on these, where as previously it was hit and miss as to whether their system would pick up advance fares.

The way I see it:

Simple A to B journey that you can't split. Uber is the best option due to up to 10% cashback.

Advance fares - Uber now a viable option (in most cases).

Split fares - Ticketsplit/forum site, still the best option for this.

My Uber is only showing 5% discount , whereas a few weeks back it was 10% ?
Where is the best discount now please ?
Thank you.