How I Scored {an almost} Free Uber Ride

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Our family loves Uber. We take it around town, to the airport, or when mom & dad are going out and there will be too much wine involved. It’s an easy, affordable way to ditch the car and have a comfortable ride at your fingertips. Uber is also a great way to get around a new city! No need to worry about parking or traffic, and no need to navigate an unfamiliar, local, taxi system. The beauty of Uber is you know the price (or at least approximately) when you call the car, eliminating the age-old saga of taxi drivers ripping off tourists. Did you know you can save money on EVERY Uber ride, and maybe even score an {almost} free uber ride? Keep reading to find out how!

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How to Earn an {almost} Free Uber Ride

Back in August, when we travelled to California we took MANY Ubers. Between staying in downtown San Francisco, to wine tasting through the Central Valley, and even ditching the car to get to and from Disneyland in Anaheim. To start, taking Uber was definitely cheaper than renting a car in San Fran. But to save even more money, I discovered a GREAT Uber Money Saving tip, which I am so excited to share with you!

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UBER MONEY SAVING TIP

 

This trick is so simple, anyone with a smart phone can save $1 on EVERY Uber ride they take. And obviously if you are hailing an Uber, you have a smart phone! AND there is the potential to save even more. So let’s get you started!

 

Don’t have uber? Sign up here:

 

To save $1 off each Uber ride, follow these easy steps:

First you need to sign up for ibotta. By clicking on my referral link, you will also earn $10 after you redeem your first rebate!

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And by the way, I mean earn CASH, not points, gift cards or any of that! Money that you can transfer back to your PayPal or Venmo. You can also cash out by requesting a check be sent to you. And for what its worth, you can actually cash out into gift cards if that’s your jam.

 

So once you sign up for ibotta, download the app from the app store. Then head to the ibotta homepage and find the Uber icon. It will be either under Featured Stores, right on the Dashboard, or you can Search for it.

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Before you hail your car, use ibotta to open Uber. You must do this within 3 hours of hailing your car.

 

Open your ibotta app FIRST, then click on the Uber icon. Next you press SHOP AT UBER, and it will open up your Uber app. You do need to first link ibotta to Uber but that only takes a second and it prompts you what to do – its so easy, I PROMISE!

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Then you proceed as you normally would within the Uber app, choosing your Uber and ultimately completing your ride. Once you receive that email from Uber about your ride being complete, in the next hour or so you will receive a similar email from ibotta saying you were credited back $1 for the ride.

Free Uber Ride | Uber Money Saving Tip! This tip allowed me to take a 14 CENT Uber ride! Money Saving Tips | Travel Tips | Travel Money Saving Tips | Vacation Tips | Save Money | Grocery Money Saving Tips | Grocery Shopping on a Budget #travel #moneysaving #budget #Uber

 

That {almost} Free Uber Ride or How I took an Uber ride for 14 cents

 

A dollar back on a ride you were going to take anyway? Not bad! But what if I told you, I earned EVEN more back on all these Uber rides? Like AN ADDITIONAL $1.25 per ride?

 

Or that I was able to take an Uber ride in California for 14 CENTS!?!?!?! Come on – thats practically a free Uber ride!

 

So another great thing about ibotta is the more you earn, the more you earn. Rebates start to snowball with “bonuses.” To see all the bonuses available, click on the ACCOUNT icon on the bottom right of your screen and then click on Bonuses.

Free Uber Ride | Uber Money Saving Tip! This tip allowed me to take a 14 CENT Uber ride! Money Saving Tips | Travel Tips | Travel Money Saving Tips | Vacation Tips | Save Money | Grocery Money Saving Tips | Grocery Shopping on a Budget #travel #moneysaving #budget #Uber

 

Last August, Uber had a bonus available on ibotta. For every 4 rides, you received a $5 Uber credit. So not exactly cash, but this was money I was going to spend anyway as we were Uber’ing all over the place in California.

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And a $5 Uber credit is awesome, and would really make a dent in a larger fare, like to or from an airport.

 

To redeem this $5 Uber credit, I was emailed a promo code, which I entered into my Uber app BEFORE hailing the car through ibotta. So it basically took 15 extra seconds to cut and paste a code, go back to ibotta, SHOP Uber, hail the car and be on my way. The $5 was then automatically deducted from my Uber fare.

Free Uber Ride | Uber Money Saving Tip! This tip allowed me to take a 14 CENT Uber ride! Money Saving Tips | Travel Tips | Travel Money Saving Tips | Vacation Tips | Save Money | Grocery Money Saving Tips | Grocery Shopping on a Budget #travel #moneysaving #budget #Uber

But wait! Remember, I also hailed this Uber through ibotta, so after the ride was complete, I received my $1 credit back. So this particular ride literally cost me 14 CENTS.

 

I had another ride on this trip cost me 46 CENTS through this same process… big spender I am, I know!

 

Overall I saved about $25 on this one-week trip, doing what I was going to do anyway!

 

I first came across ibotta through this post by Victoria from One Sharp Mama (Also be sure to read Victoria’s VERY POPULAR Momma To Go article, Carnival Pride Cruising Tips). I’m pretty sure this app started as a way to earn rebates on groceries, which you do by scanning your receipt after shopping. Which I have done, and its not too complicated. Takes about 5-10 minutes of work to earn a nice little cashout on products  you want to buy anyway!

Free Uber Ride | Uber Money Saving Tip! This tip allowed me to take a 14 CENT Uber ride! Money Saving Tips | Travel Tips | Travel Money Saving Tips | Vacation Tips | Save Money | Grocery Money Saving Tips | Grocery Shopping on a Budget #travel #moneysaving #budget #Uber

ibotta seems to keep adding retailers, especially online ones that are so easy to click through and earn the rebate. Recently they added target.com & walmart.com – I know I will be using these for my upcoming Holiday Shopping! ibotta just added Trader Joe’s, and they feature other sites I regularly use like Groupon, Boxed, and some products from Amazon.

 

Since I am a travel blogger, it caught my eye that there is a whole tab for travel related purchases – in fact you can save $10 on your upcoming HomeAway/VRBO rental! Other travel sites include HotelTonight, Hotwire, LivingSocial, CheapOair and Booking.com. I mean if you are going to use these sites anyway, might as well click through from ibotta and save a few bucks!

 

A few other ibotta tips:

  • With the grocery rebates, I found it easiest to look through the rebates BEFORE I shopped, and making a list of what to buy. Maybe this sounds obvious to most, but the first few shopping trips I took I shopped, then tried to find rebates on what I bought. But then I realized I maybe bought the wrong quantity or could have swapped out a similar brand for one that offered a rebate.
  • For the groceries, note quantity or size that qualifies for the rebate. Sometimes you have to buy two of a product, etc.
  • I’m not a big couponer, but I do know that if you buy something you don’t need, just because you have a coupon, or in this case a rebate, then you really aren’t saving money. However, I like that ibotta seems to feature both products I am going to buy anyway, and new products that I might not otherwise think to try! This month I tried Rx Bars, Kellogg’s Protein Bites and Deep River Jalapeno chips because they were on rebate through ibotta. PS. I liked all of those products!
  • The person who referred you, and the folks you then refer become your team. As a group, if you meet certain thresholds you can unlock more bonuses. Another incentive to join my team… clearly I am performing well with all these Uber rebates!
  • Offers change. When I got home from California, I went to book an Uber through ibotta and Uber was no longer being offered. Now (end of October 2017) its back. I’m not sure the rhyme or reason here. Grocery products seem to swap out monthly.

 

I’m all about saving money, especially on things I am going to buy anyway! I’m lazy with having to do too much for deals, but ibotta is a no-brainer. I highly recommend checking out ibotta, you really have nothing to lose!

 

If you haven’t already CLICK HERE to get started with ibotta! It’t totally FREE and you will get $10 after your redeem your first rebate!

 

Have you tried ibotta? Saved money on Uber or travel? What are your best Uber money saving tips?

 

hover over image to pin for later:

Free Uber Ride | Uber Money Saving Tip! This tip allowed me to take a 14 CENT Uber ride! Money Saving Tips | Travel Tips | Travel Money Saving Tips | Vacation Tips | Save Money | Grocery Money Saving Tips | Grocery Shopping on a Budget #travel #moneysaving #budget #Uber

 

 

Bébé Voyage

 

OTHER GREAT TRAVEL TIPS:

Surviving Long Flights with Kids

How to plan your Hawaii Vacation

Hawaii Money Saving Tips

How to get to JFK on public transportation

 

 

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43 Comments to “How I Scored {an almost} Free Uber Ride”

  1. This is great! I love Ibotta! I’m with you about the being lazy with too much to do part. Literally how I am every day! I’ve never used Uber in America, but in China, they have a similar thing that I have used several times.

    Reply
  2. Emily

    Love these tips! I had no idea about most of them 🙂 I don’t use Uber too often but am planning more city trips in the future and will be sure to remember this info! Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  3. Christina

    Awesome tips! I relied on Uber SO much during my LA trip… it makes me sad it’s not really a big thing here in Munich (though it’s growing). Thanks for the great guide!

    Reply
  4. This is great! Uber isn’t super available in Ireland yet, and I’ve only used it in Dublin once…it has come in handy while in the states though and I am most certainly putting some of this into practice to save some cash. Thank you so much!

    Reply
  5. Kelly

    What a fantastic idea!! I love uber but it adds up so it is great to have a way to save money. And I have never even heard of this.. So great to find a new and super helpful tip.

    Reply
  6. so many great tips here, is Ibotta international ? – Is it funny that the first Uber I ever took was in Peru – But Uber is the best way to travel rather than getting ripped off in a taxi. your post just goes to show, even things that are cheaper than the conventional can still be cheaper still.

    Reply
  7. I live in a very rural area so I don’t use Uber unless I’m traveling to a city – I”ve used it in New Orleans and New York. Will have to follow your steps for the next time I’m traveling.

    Reply
  8. Anna Sofia

    This is really cool! I’ve not heard of Ibotta before, but now I’m definitely going to use it. Uber is getting a little more expensive in our area. Saving anything, even just a dollar at times, would be a huge help. 🙂 Thanks for sharing these awesome money-saving tips!

    Reply
  9. MG

    I had no idea you could save so much money on Uber rides! Thank you for sharing this tip – I will have to sign up for ibotta – every $ counts, especially when you’re traveling!

    Reply

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