Capital One and Uber Partner to Launch Loyalty Program, Free Rides

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Update: Uber and Capital One announced that starting November 2, you'll get $15 in Uber credits instead of a free ride every time you pay for nine rides with your eligible Capital One Card through March 31, 2017. This is a great change, because instead of the free ride only being used on a singular trip, the $15 in credits can be used on multiples rides at any time through April 30, 2017.

Last year, Capital One and Uber announced a partnership, offering riders one of the best returns on an Uber ride when using a Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card or Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card credit card. If a rider used one of the two eligible cards for their Uber trips, they would get 20% off their ride — in addition to the 1.5% cash back on every purchase, for a total of 21.5%. Unfortunately, that offer expired as of April 30, 2016, and since, there has been no bonus for Capital One cardholders who ride with Uber. (If you don't already have an Uber account, you can sign up now to receive a free ride [up to $15] from TPG.)

However, that is changing as of today, as Uber and Capital One have launched an in-app loyalty program that will allow cardholders of the Capital One Quicksilver or Capital One QuicksilverOne card to earn rewards with the car service. From now through March 31, 2017, Capital One cardholders who use one of their eligible cards for Uber purchases will get every 10th ride for free (up to $15), with no cap on the number of free rides earned. Riders with eligible cards synced to their Uber accounts and with the latest version of Uber downloaded on their phone will be automatically enrolled in the new rewards program and can track their progress toward earning free rides.

Once a passenger has used one of their eligible cards to ride nine times with Uber, the free 10th ride will automatically be credited to their account, and the free rides will be available to use through April 30, 2017 — a month between when the promotion ends and when the free rides will expire. This is an especially nice perk in that the rider can choose when to use the free ride — it doesn't have to be the first ride after they've hit the mark. It's worth noting that you cannot stack multiple $15 free rides during one ride — each must be used on its own. Note that this is available for all passenger services, such as UberX, UberPool and UberBlack rides, but it does not include other services like UberTaxi, UberEats or UberRush. In addition, you must use a Quicksilver card to pay for each ride, and other services like PayPal or Apple Wallet are not eligible.

Capital One is also offering cardholders the chance to get their first ride for free (up to $30) with the promo code CapitalOne30 through July 31, 2016. Note that you must have a Capital One credit or debit card linked with your Uber account in order to take advantage of this promotion.

Ultimately, this is a nice perk and justifies having a Capital One card synced with your Uber account, but it isn't as lucrative as the previous Capital One and Uber partnership that gave riders 21.5% cash back. However, when stacked with the 1.5% back you'll get on every purchase, this new promotion will give you a pretty good return on your spend, especially if the nine rides you take to unlock the free ride are shorter in length.