Gas is one of your most significant expenses when you drive for apps like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Amazon Flex, and Spark.
The gig companies don’t directly compensate drivers for gas—As a 1099 contractor, you are responsible for your own gas expenses.
But the gig apps know how that gas is at the top of mind for every driver, so most offer ways for driver to get cash back on gas and other discounts.
Drivers on Uber, DoorDash, Amazon Flex, Spark, and Lyft can sign up for debit cards that offer cash back discounts on gas purchases.
Cash back from the debit cards ranges from 1–6%. And the debit cards have other benefits like free instant cashouts for your pay.
Read on to learn about the gas rewards programs for drivers on the top rideshare and delivery apps.
Cash back on gas: Comparing rewards programs
The debit cards offered by the apps below have cash back rewards for gas purchases and other benefits.
| Gas Savings | |
|---|---|
| Uber Pro Card | 3% cash back (Exxon & Mobil) |
| Amazon Flex Debit Card | 2–6% cash back |
| DoorDash DasherDirect | 2% cash back |
| Lyft Direct | 1%–7% cash back |
| Spark - One account | Up to 5% back |
| Upside | Up to 25¢/gal cash back |
Do Uber, Lyft, DoorDash etc pay for gas?
None of the gig apps directly pay drivers for gas expenses. As a 1099 independent contractor, you must pay for your own fuel and you will not be reimbursed by any of the gig apps.
However, you can offset the cost of gas with big tax savings from the standard mileage deduction.
The standard mileage deduction rate for 2023 is 65.5¢ per mile, which will significantly reduce the taxable income for most drivers. More tax tips for drivers here.
Amazon Flex card: 2–6% back on gas and charging
The Amazon Flex Debit card gives you 2–6% cash back on gas and eligible charging depending on your Flex Reward Level.
Flex drivers accumulate rewards points by doing deliveries. You will get 2% cash back on gas once you reach rewards Level 2. Level 3 gives you 4% back, and Level 4 gives you 6% back.
The Flex Debit card is a checking account with Green Dot bank. You can choose to have your Flex earnings directly deposited into the Flex Debit account, and you can use the account like any other debit card.
Other Amazon Flex Card features
- 2% cash back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Purchases
- 1% back on all purchases
- Mobile banking via Green Dot Bank
Related: What it’s like to deliver for Amazon Flex
Up to 6% back for the highest tier. Double cash back is a limited-time offer
Uber Pro Card: 2–6% cash back, and up to 10%
The Uber Pro Card is a debit Mastercard that offers 2–6% cash back on gas, depending on your Uber Pro rewards tier. EV drivers can also get 4–12% back on charging.
If you get gas at Exxon or Mobil stations, you will get an additional 3%, for a maximum of 10% back for Diamond status drivers.
The other benefit of the Uber Pro Card is free automatic cash outs: Your Uber and Uber Eats earnings will go to your Uber Pro Card after each trip.
That means you don’t have to pay Instant Pay fees—$1.25 per transfer. You get immediate access to your earning.
Other features of the Uber Pro Card
- It is a debit Mastercard with Branch bank
- Free cash withdrawals at 55,000+ ATMs
- 15% cash back at Advance Auto Parts
- 4% cash back on dining at select restaurants
Related: The highs and lows of Uber Eats driver pay
2–6% everywhere, plus an extra 3% at Exxon/Mobil
DoorDash DasherDirect: 2% cash back on gas
The DasherDirect account gives you 2% cash back on all gas purchases.
When you select the DasherDirect card as your payout method, your DoorDash earnings will be automatically deposited into the account after each dash.
The DasherDirect account gives you a checking account that you can use for purchases, transfers, and bill pay. There is no minimum balance requirement and no overdraft fee.
Other DasherDirect features
- No fees to withdraw your DoorDash earnings
- Access to over 20,000 no-fee ATMs
- Fully-featured mobile banking app – Pay bills, add other direct deposits
Related: Top Data Sources Show How Much DoorDash Drivers Really Make
Lyft Direct: 1–7% cash back
Let drivers can get 1–7% cash back on gas with the Lyft Direct debit card.
The default cash back for gas is 1%, but you can increase your cash by by leveling up your Lyft Rewards tier.
Drivers in the Silver tier get 2% back, 3% back in the Gold tier, and 7% back in the Platinum tier.
The Lyft Direct debit card is connected to a checking account with Stride that allows you to access your Lyft earnings instantly with no fees.
Other benefits of Lyft Direct
- 4% cash back at restaurants
- 1% back on groceries, and a rotating bonus category
- Discounts at Jiffy Lube, National Tire, and Battery and Tire Kingdom
- Mobile banking with no monthly service fee
1% cash back on gas is the lowest of all the gig apps
Spark
Spark drivers with the One account can occasionally get cash back on gas when you use your One card to buy gas.
For example, the One card offered a limited-time 5% cash back on gas purchases in September 2023. Keep an eye out for future gas deals.
The One account on Spark occasionally offers gas deals
Instacart
Instacart doesn’t offer any rewards programs or debit cards that allow shoppers to save on gas. If you search for “gas” in the shopper app, you will find an article that refers you to the Upside app.
Upside: A popular cash back app
Upside is one of the most popular gas savings apps. You can save up to 25 cents per gallon at participating stations.
Both Uber and Instacart refer drivers to Upside. With Uber, you can use their promo code to get extra savings on your first fill up.
You can receive the cash back via PayPal, a bank account, or a gift card.
It’s also possible to stack savings between Upside and the gig app debit cards like—Uber Pro or DasherDirect.
Here’s how Upside works: Find participating stations in the Upside app and tap a button to ‘claim’ the offer.
Next, fill up as normal using your debit or credit card. Make sure to get your receipt. Take a photo of the receipt and upload it to the app to get credit for the purchase.
Some locations offer ‘check in,’ a feature that lets get cash back without uploading your receipt.
Once you upload your receipt or check in at the pump, you can withdraw your cash back within a few days.
Uber refers drivers to the Upside app
The Lyft driver app shows gas discount info from Upside
How do these gig company debit accounts work?
All of the programs listed on this page offer a debit card that is connected to a checking account.
Each of the gig companies partners with different banking services like Stripe or GoBank.
So even if the card called the Uber Debit card, the bank account is actually with GoBank.
Each debit card has a mobile banking app for making account transfers, checking balances, receiving cash back rewards, and other banking functions.
Remember, these accounts are debit, not credit!
All of the cards mentioned in this article are debit accounts. That means you’ll have to keep some money loaded in the account if you plan to make purchases.
It’s not like a credit card, where you can make purchases and pay the bill later.There needs to be money available to cover the expense or you may overdraw the account.
Most of these accounts have no overdraft fees, but only to a certain limit. So make sure not to overdraw!
Remember to keep enough funds in the account to cover future gas expenses.
Are gig app debit cards worth it?
The good: Free instant pay, cash back on gas, low or no-fee mobile banking
The bad: Potential mobile banking issues like transfer times, the hassle of juggling too many cards/accounts, and you can get better cash back with credit cards
The main benefit of all these cards is that they allow you to access your earnings instantly with no fee.
By default, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Amazon Flex all pay once each week via a free direct deposit.
But if you want to withdraw your earnings more often, you will typically have to pay a fee. For some apps, the fee is only $0.50, but for DoorDash the Fast Pay fee is $1.99. That adds up.
The cash back is another perk, but anything below 2% isn’t competitive with other credit cards.
Amazon offers the best debit account, with a maximum of 6% cash back on gas, but you have to do hundreds of deliveries to reach that level.
Uber’s 3% back is good, but it is limited to Mobil and Exxon. Those are usually more expensive than other gas stations.
Another perk of all these cards is that they offer free or cheap transfers, so you can easily send money back and forth between accounts.
The best move is to get the debit card for the app that you use most. Free instant transfers are a great perk.
Want to drive? Apply here
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