Credit Card Food Delivery Credits — How to Actually Use Them

Several travel rewards cards feature monthly benefits for food delivery services. (Some people hold these cards and aren’t even aware of these perks!)

Food statement credits can help save money and time — whether you’re at home or on the road. If you have a hard time figuring out how to use them, we have a few ideas for you!

(Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.)

What Are Some Cards With Food Delivery Credits?

Let’s look at four specific cards:

• American Express® Gold Card
  • Up to $120 Dining Credit: Earn up to $10 in monthly statement credit when using your Amex Gold Card to pay for purchases at these select restaurants and delivery services (enrollment required and terms apply):
    • Grubhub (including Seamless)
    • The Cheesecake Factory
    • Wonder
    • Buffalo Wild Wings
    • Five Guys
  • Up to $120 Uber Cash: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually, distributed as $10 each month. Uber Cash is available to the primary cardholder only. (Enrollment is required. Terms apply. Uber Cash deposits are made monthly and expire if not used. To receive this benefit you must have downloaded the latest version of the Uber App and your eligible American Express® Gold Card must be a method of payment on your Uber account. The Amex Benefit may only be used in the United States.)
• American Express Platinum Card®
  • Up to $200 Uber Cash: Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. This is distributed as $15 monthly from January through November, then $35 for December. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to the primary cardholder only. An Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit. (Enrollment is required. Terms apply. Uber Cash deposits are made monthly and expire if not used. To receive this benefit, you must have downloaded the latest version of the Uber App and your eligible Amex Platinum Card must be a method of payment in your Uber account. The Amex Benefit may only be used in the United States.)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®*
  • Up to $25 each month in DoorDash promos — a $5 monthly promo on restaurant orders, plus two separate $10 promos on groceries, retail, and other non-restaurant orders. That’s up to $300 a year, available through 12/31/27.
  • Complimentary DashPass membership (good on both DoorDash and Caviar), a $120 value for 12 months when you activate by 12/31/27. DashPass holders enjoy $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible orders.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card*
  • A $10 monthly promo on one qualifying non-restaurant DoorDash order — groceries, retail, and similar. Up to $120 a year.
  • Complimentary DashPass membership (DoorDash and Caviar), a $120 value for 12 months when you activate by 12/31/27.

Worth knowing before you plan around any of these: the monthly DoorDash promos don’t roll over. Each one shows up at the start of the calendar month and disappears at the end of it. Same story with Uber Cash. If you’re the kind of person who lets things pile up for a bigger order later, these aren’t built for that.

I love using the Amex Gold Card for Grubhub or visits to The Cheesecake Factory. When I don’t take Uber during a given month, I use my Amex Platinum and Amex Gold Card Uber Cash deposits for Uber Eats orders toward the end of the month.

On the DoorDash side, the two $10 non-restaurant promos on my Chase Sapphire Reserve® are the ones I have to stay on top of. They’re the biggest chunk of the monthly value and they’re the easiest to forget, because “non-restaurant” means thinking of DoorDash as a grocery run rather than a dinner order.

You don’t need to spend them on anything elaborate — and you might actually need them at times you least expect.

“Room Service” at Hotels

I sometimes stay at hotels without in-house restaurants. Even when there is an on-property restaurant, I occasionally return to the hotel late at night after work after food service has ended.

That’s when food delivery services and credit card benefits come in handy. (Though you’re limited to whatever restaurants are in the vicinity and/or still open.)

My wife and I have used our credits to order dinner for our daughter and her cousins when they hang out at a hotel while the adults go out.

We recently ran into this situation: ordering breakfast through Uber Eats or Grubhub was cheaper than our Marriott Courtyard’s restaurant. (We’re fine with Egg McMuffins and that delicious McDonald’s coffee!)

Working from Home

I am a photo editor for live entertainment industry events (award shows, concerts, etc). More and more of my jobs can be handled remotely. But if I’m home alone and hungry, I generally don’t have time to make a particularly nice dinner. That’s when Grubhub, DoorDash, and Uber Eats come to the rescue!

I can sprint down to the front door and grab my food, then return to my desk within about ten seconds — and people’s acceptance speeches and performances still get sent out. 🙂

Food delivery services are also lifesavers when I’m in a “writing zone” and don’t particularly want to take an extended break to go out for a meal or make something at home. I’d rather continue writing than prepare food or leave the house.

Side Dish

My wife and I love cooking. But there isn’t always time (or ingredients or willpower) to prepare a full meal with side dishes or a salad.

That’s when we turn to food delivery services for a little help. I made steaks the other night and my wife took care of the baked potatoes. We used my Amex Gold Card‘s Grubhub credit to order a delicious salad.

Groceries Count, Too

This is the part most people miss. Both Sapphire cards’ biggest DoorDash promos are for non-restaurant orders — groceries, convenience stores, retail. If you’re only thinking about dinner, you’re leaving the larger half of the benefit on the table every month.

DoorDash delivers from a lot of grocery and convenience chains now. A mid-week produce run or a “we’re out of paper towels” order both qualify, and neither requires you to want takeout that day.

Final Approach

Food service delivery credits can be great benefits — if you remember to use them!

Here’s the honest version: between the Gold Card’s dining credit, two sets of Uber Cash, and the Sapphire DoorDash promos, there’s real money sitting in these cards every single month. None of it rolls over. Most of it expires quietly. Set a reminder for the last week of the month and you’ll capture nearly all of it.

How do you use your food delivery credits?

*All information about this card was collected independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was neither provided by nor reviewed by the card issuer.
For rates and fees of the American Express Platinum Card®, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, please visit this link.

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