Uber allows you to change the payment method on Uber and Uber Eats purchases made up to 30 days ago. Using this hack, you can buy Uber gift cards during a bonus points promotion or discount and receive points or savings on rides you’ve already taken and orders you’ve already received.
Which gift cards can be added to Uber?
You can wait for a promotion on Uber’s own gift cards but often it’s easier to buy the multi-retailer cards that can be exchanged online for Uber gift cards. These third-party gift cards are more frequently included in bonus points promotions.
For example, the TCN Gift, TCN Him and TCN Shop cards can be exchanged for Uber gift cards via their respective pages on the TCN website. If it says that your card cannot be swapped, try registering your card here before attempting another swap.
Similarly, the Ultimate Everyone and Ultimate Him cards can also be converted to Uber gift cards through the Ultimate Exchange website. The expiry date you must enter is usually 12/29 for physical Ultimate cards.
Adding the gift cards to your Uber account
In the Uber or Uber Eats app, go to the Account tab and tap Wallet. Select the button to redeem a gift card and enter the code on your Uber gift card. Uber gift cards work with both Uber and Uber Eats and any gift card you redeem on your Uber account can be used with both apps.
Switching the payment method on past purchases
Once you’ve added your gift card, head to the Trips section in the Uber app or the Orders section in the Uber Eats app. Go to the ride or order you would like to amend and then tap on its receipt.
From there you have the option to change the payment method to use your Uber credit instead, provided the purchase was made within the last 30 days. Your original payment will then be refunded back to your credit or debit card.
If you used a combination of card and Uber credit to pay for a purchase, you will first have to change the payment method to use a second card to pay for the entire order. Once you’ve done that, you can then go back and change it to use only your Uber credit.
Note that we have received some reports that you can no longer switch the payment on Apple Pay and Google Pay purchases. If that’s how you’ve been paying, test if you can switch the payment method on a single ride or order first before going out and buying a bunch of gift cards.
24 Responses
I’ve applied my Uber gift card but it comes up as Uber Cash, which is not listed as a Payment Method. I can use it as Uber Cash to pay for future trips, but it isnt listed as a Payment Method for previous trips. Not sure if thats due to my previous trips being overseas (and in other currency) or not?
I suspect that’s the problem. Uber gift cards “can only be spent in countries that accept payment in the same currency that was originally issued”.
The option to change payment methods for my activity over the last 30 days does not exist for me, is it because I paided with paypal?
PayPal should not be a problem. As recently as last week we were able to switch the payment method on an order paid for with PayPal and the option is still there for other orders.
This is a really nifty trick. Thank you for sharing!
I currently have Uber One and only get the discounts due to being a Mastercard Promotion. Im wondering if I change the payment method and try to get the refunds, if it would change the amount charged. Anyone with Uber One that tried that?
I have a free UberOne promo through PayPal and I was able to change the payment method from PayPal to Uber Cash successfully. The only one it got a bit funny with was one order that used the credit from an Uber fare, so I didn’t bother changing that one and kept the credit for a future purchase.
Like a previous user I applied my Uber gift card but it comes up as Uber Cash, which is not listed as a Payment Method. I can use it as Uber Cash to pay for future trips, but it isnt listed as a Payment Method for previous trips. My previous trips were not overseas (and in other currency). Is there anything I can do?
That’s odd. I just checked and I’m still able to switch the payment method on past Uber purchases to use Uber Cash. You could try messaging Uber support. If you tell them that you forgot to use your Uber credit on a past ride they should be able to switch it for you.
Hi! Grabbed Uber card today to take advantage of points and to prepare a balance as heading to USA next month. Do you know if I can use the Uber cash there?
Uber gift cards cannot be used overseas, unfortunately.
Doesn’t work if you used apple pay
That’s odd as it was certainly possible in the past. I’ll update the guide accordingly. Thanks.
Doesn’t work on Uber Eats orders (paid using Debit Card). Change Payment Method is not available through app, but fine on mobile browser. It just keeps loading back to same receipt page though and doesn’t do anything. Works fine for Uber rides.
I just switched the payment in the app for an Uber Eats order now and it worked fine. I’m not sure why it isn’t working for you.
This is a great hack but I concur with Fuzzy that it doesn’t work with debit card payments (for me at least). No issue changing it for a credit card payment though.
I just transfered my Him gift card to uber cash. There isn’t an option to use it as a method of payment for my past trip(less than 30 days). The only option is to enter bank card numbers
That’s odd. I can still see the option for my past purchases. Just to be clear, have you definitely redeemed the Uber gift card onto your Uber account?
Also, was the ride partially paid for with Uber credit? If so, I believe you have to switch it to another payment method first before switching it back to use your Uber credit.
Doesn’t show up as a payment option for recent uber trip. Is a gift card in my account.
Yes partially paid by uber cash.
Any idea how long it would take to change to other payment method? And does the gift card need to cover the whole trip. Pretty interesting method here if it works for us.
The time it takes is quite inconsistent and seems to depend on your chosen payment method. Sometimes it’s instant, other times it can take a day or two before your refund comes through. Anytime I’ve done this I’ve always had enough credit to cover the entire purchase so I couldn’t tell you whether it’s possible with less than that, sorry!
Do you need to have Uber gift card credits that are more than the amount you paid for past trips for Uber gift card to appear as a payment method?
It’s been a while since I tested this but I believe you may need to have enough credit to cover the trip entirely.
Thanks for this tip, worked perfectly for my ubereats past orders.