The Spark app offers several different bonus incentives that can help you increase your earnings.
You can get bonuses for shopping during weekend hours, bonuses for hitting order goals, or bonuses for doing orders from certain retailers.
But some drivers have trouble achieving incentives, and others don’t get any incentive offers at all.
Here’s how bonus incentives work on Spark, why you might not get any incentive offers, and how Spark drivers really feel about the incentive system.
The signup bonus for new Spark drivers
You can get a signup bonus if you use a driver referral code when you apply, but only in select areas offering new driver bonuses.
Both you and the driver who referred you will get a bonus when you complete the bonus requirements.
Typically you must complete a certain number of deliveries within your first 30 active days to earn the bonus.
Another rule is that the driver who refers you must be in the same zone as you, and you must stay in that zone during the incentive period to earn the bonus.
Not all zones offer a signup bonus. Sometimes no zones offer a new driver bonus, and there is no way to get any signup incentive.
Check this page to see the latest new driver referral rules.
How to see which incentives are available to you
To see active incentives: Go to Menu > Incentive Programs in the Spark app.
See bonus opportunities in the Incentive Programs menu area
You can also see recent incentives in the Notifications tab. Spark typically sends a notification for every new incentive.
Check your notifications for recent incentives
When do you get paid for incentives?
Incentive earnings typically appear in your earnings report within 24 hours of completing the incentive. If you have the One account, trip earnings are deposited immediately and settled incentive earnings are deposited within 24 hours.
If you have the Branch account all of your earnings are direct deposited to your Branch account once each week on Tuesday.
Lump sum bonus
The lump sum incentive gives a bonus for completing a set number of trips. For example, “Complete 4 trips to earn an extra $25.”
Milestone/tiered incentive
The milestone (or “tiered”) incentive is a series of lump sum incentives. For example, “Complete 4 trips to earn an extra $25, 6 to earn an extra $40, and $8 for an extra $40.”
A tier of bonus incentives
An unusually high-paying milestone bonus
Tracking your bonuses
The Spark app tracks your progress while working on a bonus that requires multiple orders.
The app tracks your progress toward some bonuses
Multiple batches count as one order
Batched orders only count as one trip. So if you are on a milestone incentive to do 5 trips, a double batched Shopping & Delivery order will only count as 1 trip.
The best milestone incentive we’ve seen: $20 per order for $420 total!
The shopper below took full advantage of a $20 incentive and earned more than $420 in incentive earnings alone. That’s the best bonus earnings we’ve seen on Spark.
$20 per order is an amazing incentive, and this driver hit it hard
Guaranteed earnings
Guaranteed earnings will give you a bonus if your earnings don’t meet a guaranteed minimum. Also called ‘confirmed earnings.’
For example, if the guaranteed minimum is $200 and your trip earnings are only $150, you will get a $50 bonus. Tips are not included in the calculation.
Remember: You only earn a bonus if your earnings don’t reach the guaranteed minimum.
Get a bonus if you earn less than the guarantee
Pay-per-trip
Pay-per-trip incentives give you a bonus for doing a single trip. For example, “Earn an extra $3 for each trip completed today after 2pm.”
A bonus for every Advance Auto trip
Morning, evening, and weekend incentives
Spark frequently offers lump sum, milestone, and pay-per-trip incentives to deliver on morning, evening, and weekend hours.
A typical evening incentive
Referral bonus: Bonus for signing up a new drivers
You can earn a bonus if a new driver signs up with your referral code and completes the required number of trips within the specified period.
Your referral must work in the same zone as you, and they must complete the trips in that zone.
Not all zones offer a referral bonus, so you won’t always be able to earn a bonus for signing up a new driver.
To see if you can get a bonus for referring a new driver, look for the “Refer & Earn” section in the app menu. If you can’t find “Refer & Earn,” the referral bonus isn’t currently available.
Spark Rewards: Get free Walmart+
Spark has a rewards program for shoppers who do 20 deliveries in a month and maintain a 4.7 customer rating.
Rewards include one month of free Walmart+ and discounts on T-Mobile and AT&T.
Not getting any incentives? Here’s why
If you aren’t getting any incentives, it’s likely because Spark doesn’t need extra drivers in your area or doesn’t expect order volume to be higher than average.
Spark uses incentives to motivate drivers to deliver, typically when they expect increased order volume.
Not getting incentives? There’s not much you can do to get more
Unlike other gig apps that use complex algorithms to send personalized incentives (like Quests on Uber or Challenges on Lyft), Spark uses a simple incentive system that sends offers to all local drivers.
So if you don’t see any incentives, other drivers aren’t seeing them either.
Is there anything you can do to get more incentives?
There’s nothing you can do to directly trigger more incentive offers. Instead, you have to wait until Spark sends out more incentives and you have to hope that you’ll have the free time to work during the incentive period.
After a while, you will begin to recognize incentive patterns. For example, Spark commonly offers incentives on weekends, and when new retailers join the platform.
Do incentives hurt your earnings?
Some Spark drivers find that incentives draw in too many drivers, which can explain why you aren’t getting enough orders.
“I hate bonus weeks or days. All the part timers show up, makes it difficult to accept orders.”
“Weekend incentive + new drivers = zero available orders”
Offering incentives is a balancing act: Too many drivers will sign on if Spark offers generous bonuses, but if they limit bonuses, they might have a shortage of drivers.
Compared to other delivery apps, Spark is still new to managing the supply and demand of drivers. Unfortunately, not getting enough orders is a common problem that seems to be getting worse over time.
Driver quotes about incentives & bonuses
Here’s what real Spark drivers say about the incentive programs on Spark:
There haven’t been enough orders for the plethora of drivers as it is. [Incentives] would make it an absolute nightmare
Incentives have worked out well for me
I make better money when there are no incentives
I have over 1100 trips and I never seen any good incentives in my zone
I never pay attention to the incentives!
They send these incentives but send no offers … I think Spark is trolling me
More reading for Spark drivers
D says
I’m still new to this and learning all the perks
Brandy Lynn says
I received a pop up when I was given an offer that said something to the effect of “high demand receive an extra &8 by selecting one of these offers”. I selected an offer but never received the bonus and the chat line is not being helpful.