Uber Visa Review

Jason Steele

December 20, 2017  •  3 Minute Read

Credit Cards

In the last ten years, the introduction of ride-sharing has led to a complete revolution in both personal and business travel. This industry has been led by Uber, which now has more revenue than the entire U.S. rental car industry combined. Those who rely on ride-sharing services are emblematic of several larger trends, including home rentals, frequent travel, the use of media streaming services and increased dining out. The new Uber Visa card from Barclaycard, is designed for people with these type of lifestyles and it offers some of the most valuable rewards available from any card.

The Uber Visa card from Barclaycard

The Uber Visa is designed to reward you most for dining, travel and online purchases. It features an industry leading 4% back on all dining purchases, including restaurants, takeout, bars and, of course, ordering food delivered from UberEATS. You also get a very competitive 3% cash back on airfare, hotels and vacation rentals including AirBNB. 2% cash back is earned for online purchases including Uber, online shopping, and video and music streaming services, and 1% back on all other purchases. Rewards are earned in the form of credits that can be redeemed in-app for Uber purchases. You can redeem points for Uber credits starting at 500 points for $5 and all other redemptions start at 2,500 points for $25. Other award options include gift cards and cash back.

New cardholders receive $100 in credits after spending $500 on their card within 90 days of account opening. You can earn up to a $50 credit each year towards online subscription services after you spend $5,000 or more on your card.

Cardholder benefits include invitations to exclusive events and offers in select U.S. cities, as well as all of the shopping and travel discounts. The standard APR for purchases and balance transfers is 17.24%, 22.99% or 25.99%, based on your creditworthiness when you applied. And like most credit cards, this is a variable rate that can change with the Prime Rate. But best of all, there’s no annual fee for this card and no foreign transaction fees.

Advantages

There’s nothing quite like earning 4% returns on frequent purchases such as dining. And even the 3% returns on travel is an exceptional rate of return for a card with annual fee. 2% cash back on online purchases including Uber, online shopping, and video and music streaming services is strong, but not out of line with what you can find in other cards.

If you use this card regularly, you should also be able to easily earn $50 in credits towards streaming services, which are rapidly complementing, or taking over from expensive cable and satellite television providers. Then, there’s the exciting possibility of being invited to exclusive events in select cities. Finally, it’s always great to see a card with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.

Drawbacks

Like all reward credit cards, this card has a higher standard interest rates than similar cards that don’t offer rewards. That’s why you should only use a rewards card if you avoid interest charges by always paying your balance in full. If you are in the habit of carrying a balance, like about half of all American credit card users, then your first priority should be paying off your balance using a credit card with the lowest possible interest rate. Unfortunately, that won’t be a rewards card.

Bottom line

The Uber Visa is an exciting new entry into a very crowded field of credit cards that offer travel rewards or cash back. But this card is able to rise to the top by offering exceptional rates of return on dining, travel and other popular merchant categories. And because this card has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, you have little to lose by giving a try.