• Uber Pass has been available in South Africa since 2020 but it now looks set to be replaced by Uber One.
• Unlike Uber Pass which offers discounts, Uber One offers Uber Cash credit on rides meaning customers pay the full price and get credit on their Uber account.
• Uber has not confirmed with Hypertext that Uber One will replace Uber Pass despite all messaging directing customers to take up an Uber One subscription.

Since November 2020, Uber has offered a monthly subscription service that gives members access to discounts and free deliveries not only in South Africa but in any territory Uber operates.

That subscription is called Uber Pass and it costs R99.99 per month.

However, in recent weeks those who subscribe to Uber Pass have been offered a new, different subscription service in Uber One which looks similar but differs in a few ways.

Let’s start with what a R99.99 per month Uber Pass subscription gets you:

• 10 percent discount 45 on UberX, XL, Connect and Go rides every month
• 15 percent off 45 Black and Van rides every month
• Free delivery on up to 30 Uber Eats orders over R80 per month
• 5 percent off up to 30 Uber Eats orders over R80 per month

Uber One meanwhile is a newer service that was launched in the US in 2021. Until recently, customers in the US received a discount but last week TechCrunch reported that this was changing.

Instead customers would receive 6 percent back on rides and food orders in Uber Cash. This is effectively locking your money into Uber’s ecosystem rather than, you know, giving you a discount or actual cash you can spend elsewhere.

Until now recently the only subscription available locally was Uber Pass but now that we’re seeing talk of Uber One, we thought it pertinent to outline the differences between the two subscriptions

Locally, Uber One appears to offer the same Uber Cash credit on rides taken.

According to the firm’s website the Uber One subscription costs R50 per month and includes:

• 5 percent Uber Cash on eligible Uber rides including Uber Black, UberX, Comfort, XL “and more”
• R20 Uber Cash should your Uber Eats order arrive later than the Latest Arrival estimate
• R0 delivery fee and up to 0 percent service fees on eligible orders of food, groceries and more on Uber Eats. Orders must be R100 or more.

At R50, Uber One is a lot more affordable than Uber Pass but you aren’t getting a discount and instead you’re getting credit to your Uber Wallet. The firm claims that based on the average of member pricing, cash back, and promos, Uber One members stand to save up to R84 per month although to be fair that’s R84 that goes directly back to Uber and not your bank account.

This could be used to get a pseudo-discount on the next purchase you make via Uber be it a ride or a food order. However, these funds need to be used within 60 days of receiving them or you lose that money.

Uber One is unfortunately looking to be the default membership option for the platform. Opening the Uber or Uber Eats app only offers up the Uber One subscription for purchase with no mention of Pass to be found. Furthermore, clicking on the “Get Uber Pass in the app” button at this URL from a mobile with Uber installed will redirect you to take up Uber One.

The one benefit we see here is that like Uber Pass, you can try Uber One for one month, for free.

For those that use Uber and Uber Eats regularly, Uber One may be of benefit and a free month of access could help you determine if that benefit is worth the R50 going off of your account every month.

We’ve asked Uber’s South African team about Uber Pass and Uber One but the firm did not respond by time of publication.