Uber’s driver reward program goes bigger – and global

Last year Uber rolled out a rewards program for its  drivers in a few U.S. cities and offered full tuition for online courses at Arizona State University for high-level drivers. Now 20 more cities as well as drivers in Mexico for Uber Eats can get in on the rewards.

The program, called Uber Pro, gives perks for different status levels based on ratings and number of trips: partner, gold, platinum, and diamond. For higher status drivers on Pro, free ASU online tuition toward a degree was a perk that could be used by the driver or transferred to family members. 

Uber says 25 percent of students enrolled through Uber Pro were gifted the free schooling, and another 25 percent are women. The most popular study programs are Entrepreneurship, English as a Second Language, and Software Engineering and Information Technology.

With additional people joining the Pro program, now 120,000 Uber drivers in the U.S. are eligible for the free tuition. Uber has 3.9 million drivers worldwide. In Uber’s IPO filing paperwork, the company noted that drivers altogether had earned $78.2 billion since 2015. More than $1.2 billion came in as tips when gratuity was added in 2017.

The new cities with Uber Pro for drivers now include Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, NYC, Orange County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond. Uber Pro will continue in Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Denver, New Jersey, New Orleans, Phoenix, Orlando, Seattle, and Tampa. 

The expanded Pro reward structure will soon be available to drivers in Mexico, the first international city to pilot the rewards, which include extra earnings, cash back for gas fill-ups, discounts on car maintenance, and other services.

Drivers who deliver food for Uber Eats will also be eligible for Uber Pro rewards. 

Meanwhile smaller ride-hailing competitor Lyft has pushed out various new driver features and tools over the past few months, but hasn’t expanded its Accelerate Rewards for drivers beyond its silver, gold, and platinum perks. Drivers who have completed a certain number of rides reach the next level. For example, once you’re “gold” or given 175 to 250 rides in the past three months you can receive an Amp beacon for your dashboard. Platinum level means you get to skip the line at Lyft’s support hubs.

For passengers, Uber and Lyft have reward programs as well — but none of the perks are free college tuition.