Save On Lyft With SoFi Money – Instant 20% Discount
The Chase Sapphire Reserve has recently made quite a few changes. The biggest one is that the annual fee was increased $100. Because of that increase cardholders now get a $60 DoorDash credit and Lyft Pink. But the CSR will also start earning 10X Ultimate Rewards points on Lyft transactions. Lyft Pink gives you 15% off every ride and some other perks plus you will earn 10X on the remaining purchase, pretty great right? Not so fast! You can do better than that, save money on Lyft with SoFi Money instead.
What Is SoFi Money?
Just in case you have been living under a rock I will give you a quick run down of SoFi Money. It is a completely fee free online checking account. There are no account minimums, no monthly deposit requirements and no fees to take your money out! Here is a breakdown of the program’s perks:
- Earn 1.6% APY on your account balance. This rate moves as interest rates move. It was up to 2.25% a few months ago.
- No minimum balance required to unlock the interest rate.
- No account fees.
- ATM fees reimbursed worldwide. As long as there is the ATM is displaying the Visa®, Plus®, or NYCE® logo.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- The cash balance in SoFi Money accounts is swept to one or more program banks where it earns a variable rate of interest and is eligible for FDIC insurance. FDIC Insurance does not immediately apply. Coverage begins when funds arrive at a partner bank. There are currently six banks available to accept these deposits, making customers eligible for up to $1,500,000 of FDIC insurance (six banks, $250,000 per bank).
- There is a ATM withdraw limit of $615 per day but there is no ACH money transfer limit that I know of.
Sofi $25 Bonus Offer – Sign Up
How Do I Save Money On Lyft With SoFi Money?
If you remember a few months back SoFi Money launched a promo that will get 20% off all Lyft purchases. Here are the details:
- Add SoFi Money card as a payment option on the Lyft app
- Make the SoFi Money card as the default payment on the Lyft app
- Receive 20% cash back for every ride until February 18th, 2020
- Up to a $1,000 maximum rebate
But Wait The Chase Sapphire Reserve Is Still Better…Right?
You may be thinking: hold on a second, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is still better. You get Lyft Pink, plus the 10X earning. Well if you are a cardholder you get the Lyft Pink 15% discount no matter which card you use to pay since it is a membership. So you can still pair the 15% Lyft Pink discount with the 20% SoFi Money discount.
Because of that you are really looking at 10X Ultimate Rewards points vs 20% cash back. Most people value Ultimate Rewards at less than 2 cents a piece so SoFi Money is the better option. Look at it another way, would you purchase Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents a piece? Probably not, but that is what you would be doing by using the CSR card to pay instead of SoFi Money.
Sofi $25 Bonus Offer – Sign Up
Another Option
Thanks to reader David O. for bringing this to my attention. But a great play would be to put your shorter rides each month on a World Mastercard like the Citi Premier card. That would get you 3X earnings on the ride and a $10 credit every month you complete 5 rides. If you keep it to your $10 or less rides that is a 20% savings plus 3X earning.
It gets really interesting that the SoFi Money card is getting updated into a World Debit Mastercard. If this current promo is extended at all (ends 2/18/20) you should be able to get the $10 credit and 20% back.
Final Thoughts
As you can see SoFi Money is the best option for paying for Lyft rides while this promo is ongoing, even for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders. I know a lot of our readers already have a SoFi account so this should be easy to set up. If you don’t you can sign up and get a $25 bonus when you deposit $100. The offer used to be for $50 but if you use Lyft a lot or will be using them a lot because of your new Lyft Pink membership then you will make up the difference quickly.
Another option is to go the World Elite Mastercard route on the shorter trips to max out your savings every month. You could still get close to 20% off and earn 3X points.
Even though the SoFi Money and Lyft promo ends soon, hopefully it gets extended, I would take advantage of this while you can. It also shows that looking for other avenues can lead to more savings. Remember that the Lyft Pink membership works regardless of the payment method so look for the best return for your spend.
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Data point; Lyft Pink was just cheaper by $5 heading to the PHL airport. Same original price of $33 on on both Lyft and Uber but Pink brought it down + 10x rewards. So, at least in this instance it beat Uber. Cool.
Thanks Rich
I agree. I have a discount on Lyft through DC Metro for late night commuting. In the last week my rides have gone up $3 for the same times I used to take Lyft. Typically a ride with the discount was $6 and change and now they are closer to $9. This new partnership is the worse. I hate to give up my CSR due to these changes as it’s my go to when traveling.
Thanks for the data point Dr. V
ATM fees reimbursed worldwide. As long as there is the ATM is displaying the Visa®, Plus®, or NYCE® logo.
and
“SoFi Money card is getting updated into a World Debit Mastercard”
==
Will it still work at the ATM displaying Visa®? Not familiar with this.
I would imagine it will work at the ATMs as it has in the past but I haven’t heard anything either way.
I signed up for Pink (through CSR) and have seen first hand in side by side comparisons with friends who do not have Pink thay my fare for the exact same route at the exact same time was more. All in and around manhattan. Also agree that Uber will also be less than Lyft with Pink when in the past I rarely found that to be the case. Total BS, there should be more reporting on this.
JS if you could send me some screen shots of this to Mark@milestomemories.com I will write it up for sure.
Please write about this if it truly is the case. This would be sickening if widespread……more fake “benefits” for an increased annual fee
Can you load the card at Walmart? *smirk*
More importantly – this advice is only valid for about 3 more weeks, and then the Lyft 20% promo goes away and CSR is better.. and of note; always check Uber VS Lyft when you hail your ride. Lyft seems inflated recently so even with Pink discount, you’re sometimes paying more.
Great tip on prices seeming higher now with more Pink members. It is always good to check the price of both.