Uber VIP Status is Changing

Arguably the most worthless elite status in the world is OpenTable VIP. The second most worthless? Perhaps it’s UberVIP.

If you’ve had over 100 rides in a city where the feature is available, you’ve been ‘upgraded’ to VIP status which means you can select the option for UberX called UberVIP which gives you the best cars only with drivers rated 4.8 or higher. And since you aren’t looking at all available cars, you likely won’t get the closest car, and may have to wait longer.

uber vip

One Mile at a Time is a VIP in New York. So is The Points Guy. Me, not so much.

New York, Washington DC, and Denver are cities with the VIP option though there may be others.

In New York at least the VIP program is changing. Instead of ‘one and done’ it requires regular use each month to continually re-qualify. (HT: Alex D.)

It’s quicker to qualify for the first time, but as soon as you spend weeks out of town they’ll drop you out of the program. Have a life event which causes you to take off work, or not get around the city much, you’re done. New parents? You’re no longer VIP to Uber if you don’t ride 10 times that first month. It’s a good thing the benefits aren’t worth much!

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Already been this way in ATL for a few months. Made Uber VIP back in January for the first time and it specifically said it was due to having taken 10 rides in the month. Noticed nothing special.

  2. Silliness. One of the highest value propositions urban Uber provides is a short wait for a better-than-a-cab experience.

  3. I have been told the only thing Open Table VIP status does is make the restaurant pay Open Table $5 for your completed reservation (as opposed to $1 or $2 for non-“VIP” members).

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