The subscription service DoorDash is one of the more commonly used apps for restaurant or grocery pickup and delivery.
Customers of DoorDash can choose to become members by purchasing a DashPass.
Members pay monthly or annually to receive a variety of benefits, namely no delivery fees on qualifying orders.
For an order to qualify it must be $12 or more and be made with a participating merchant.
To see if the restaurant you want to order from is participating, check that the merchant has a green DashPass icon under their name when in the app.
With free delivery, DashPass clearly has benefits, but the rising costs of food, as well as the extra charges related to delivery and unexpected service fees, can sometimes leave users wondering if DashPass is worth it or if they are ultimately better off ordering directly from the restaurant.
Is DashPass Worth It? (10 Reasons It Is)
1. Discounts On Delivery And Service Fees
DashPass members pay $0 for delivery on orders with a minimum subtotal of $12.
They also receive service fee discounts of up to 10% if their order total meets the minimum requirements shown in the app.
This includes delivery orders from grocery stores, convenience stores, and restaurants.
The delivery discount is an advantage that cannot be ignored.
Think about the times you have put a miscellaneous item into your online shopping carts only to realize at checkout that the delivery fee is going to be equal, if not more expensive than the item(s).
Depending on how valuable or necessary that item is to us, many people likely choose against ordering it solely due to the high delivery and service fees.
The typical DoorDash service charge is 10-15% added to the cost of the regular order.
DashPass users can expect that service charge to decrease to 5%.
This is advantageous to those who may be confined to their homes for health or other reasons and rely solely on delivery services to supply their groceries.
These people are also often on a fixed income, and the added expenses of delivery and service fees, a tip for the delivery driver, and any other unexpected charges can turn a simple grocery run into a very expensive endeavor.
2. Pickup Orders Earn Credits
Eligible pickup orders will allow members to receive 5% back in DoorDash credits.
To receive the 5% back in credits, customers must:
- Submit an order for pickup using the DoorDash app at a merchant that is a DashPass participant. It is important to note that if using another promo code at checkout, the 5% credit will not be applied to the order.
- When preparing to checkout, make sure that the subtotal reflects the credit. If it doesn’t, select the ‘DashPass Pickup Benefit’ among the promo code options.
- After the order is completed, the 5% credit will be reflected in the account and will automatically be used for the next order. This credit cannot be saved or accrued; it must be applied at the next DashPass order.
Credits earned are only available to be used on Pickup orders.
The credits are automatically applied to the next DashPass order completed.
3. Exclusive Offers For Members
DashPass members receive exclusive access to certain items and offers from favorite vendors on the app.
Members also receive priority support from the customer service team available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
They also get access to DashPass-only promotions on the application.
An example of a past DashPass-only promotion was that current members upgrading their existing monthly account to an annual plan received $10 off 3 orders of $12+.
Another exclusive offer for those upgrading to the annual plan is 40% off 3 orders or a maximum of $10 off each order.
Promotions change and should be verified by customer support or by visiting the website.
4. Thousands Of Nation-Wide Merchants To Choose From
If a merchant is available on DashPass, they’ll have a DashPass logo visible to customers on their website and social media pages (if active).
It is also common for merchants to have a DashPass sticker on a main door or entrance.
Popular merchants that are affiliated with DashPass include McDonald’s, Chipotle, Taco Bell, Panda Express, Noodles & Company, and Subway.
More merchants can be found by going to the DoorDash website or downloading the app.
Interestingly, some customers report that DoorDash offers more restaurants on their app and that DashPass delivers to more locations as compared to Uber Eats and Grub Hubs.
That may contribute to why DoorDash seems to be so popular within bigger cities, as these areas have significantly more restaurant and grocery options.
DoorDash is continuously creating new affiliations to keep up with its reputation of offering the widest variety of merchant options to its customers.
5. Easy Cancellation
If you were only planning to be a member of DashPass for a short period, their app or website makes it easy to cancel anytime and anywhere.
Their customer support team is also available 24 hours, 7 days a week.
They can be contacted via phone or chat on the application.
Unlike some companies, their customer support team will not ask questions or try to change your mind about canceling.
Their website states that they will cancel your account with no unexpected fees and no questions asked.
6. Certain Credit Card Merchants Partner With DashPass To Provide Extra Benefits
Chase Card Members – Depending on the type of Chase credit card held, card members can receive exclusive benefits on DoorDash and Caviar.
The Chase credit card must be added to the member’s DoorDash account and used at the time of purchase to qualify for benefits.
Here are the card types that qualify for DashPass benefits:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and J.P.Morgan Reserve cardmembers qualify for a free DashPass membership through December 2024 or a minimum of one year if signing up after January 1st, 2024.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve cardmembers receive $5 in DoorDash credit every month, which can be carried over for up to 2 months before credits expire.
- Chase Freedom and Slate card members receive 3 months of a free DashPass subscription for the first 3 months after activating their account. After the 3 months expires, the card member is automatically renewed for 9 more months and receives a 50% discount.
- Chase Co-Brand card members receive DashPass benefits for free for the first year after activating their account. After the year expires, they are automatically renewed for the normal price of $9.99 per month.
MasterCard Members – World and World Elite Mastercard cardmembers within the United States, if they currently are not DashPass members, can receive a free DashPass for 3 months when registering for the Mastercard DashPass Free Trial.
It is important to note that DashPass members that already have a registered account do not qualify to receive the 3 months free if they add on their eligible Mastercard at a later date.
If they want to utilize this benefit, DashPass members will have to deactivate their account and create a new, different account using their eligible MasterCard.
7. Students Receive A Lower Monthly Fee (New!)
DoorDash is testing out a new Student Plan that will offer a discount to students.
This is currently being offered to a certain percentage of customers in the United States and may not be available to all users yet.
Students who register for a DashPass membership earn the same benefits for only $4.99 per month or $48 per year.
This is a $5 discount from the standard $9.99 per month or $96 per year charge that non-student members pay. U.S. customers eligible for the Student Plan are those attending a university or post-secondary school.
If you are already a DashPass member and want to sign up for the student discount, DoorDash support says you must let your current payment cycle end.
Before beginning the new cycle, deactivate your current account and then re-enroll in the DashPass Student Plan.
When signing up for the new account, DoorDash will require you to go through an automatic verification process.
This will verify that you are a student by providing the app with your first and last name, college, date of birth, and email address.
If the automatic verification process fails or states that the user does not qualify, manual verification is also an option.
The user will be required to upload at least one school-issued document, including a transcript, class schedule, or a registration or tuition receipt.
8. When Using Benefits, DashPass May Be The Cheaper Option
The variety of benefits that DashPass can provide, whether as a first-time user, a student, a Chase or Mastercard holder, or other benefits found on their website, are instrumental in receiving your Pickup order at a cheaper price than the competition.
ABC News in Arizona tried out an experiment, with one of their news anchors acting as a first-time DashPass user.
They purchased the same order for Pickup using Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub.
DoorDash’s first-time user discount helped reduce the order to $16.79, while Uber Eats cost $16.83 and Grubhub cost $17.61.
In comparison to Uber Eats, the DashPass order minimum of $12 is cheaper than other delivery services which require a $15 minimum order.
Therefore, smaller orders may be less expensive when utilizing DashPass.
9. DashPass Menu Provides Even More Member-Only Discounts
The DashPass menu, found on the DoorDash website, is one way to find even more savings.
Select the offers tab, and filter for what you are interested in by modifying the Offer Type and selecting the Discount option.
The extra discounts found with this method change depending on the price of the order, but it can sometimes generate up to 20% off the original price.
Those savings, plus the delivery fee savings, and any other benefits used (e.g. Student Pass) amount to a significantly lower price per order than one may expect.
The research shows that users who order food online several times a month will save more money by signing up for a DashPass membership, whether as a monthly or annual option.
Placing two to three orders per month will likely break even with the monthly $9.99 payment.
This is an attractive option for companies or workplaces that regularly order meals for their employees for special occasions or just a regular Tuesday.
The higher the order price, the higher the service charges, delivery, driver tips, and other services.
Therefore, this membership service may be worth the cost to cut down on unnecessary charges.
10. Simplicity And Ease Of Access (Despite The Cost)
Perhaps the most important, yet often overlooked, reason for using DashPass is simply the ease of access.
We live in a world where more people than ever are relying on second and third jobs to support themselves.
This means there is less time for the day-to-day tasks of life, like grocery shopping and cooking.
In fact, the United States Census Bureau reported that an average of 7.2% of employed people have multiple jobs.
A “multiple job holder” is defined as a person who has two or more jobs within one quarter (3 months span) and at least one of those jobs is a long-term position.
Women tend to be multiple job holders more often than men.
In 2018, 9.1% of women had more than one job as compared to 6.6% of men.
The most common industries for multiple job holders include healthcare and social assistance (16.8%), accommodation and food services (16.7%), retail trade (14.5%), and administrative support, waste management, and remediation services (10.8%).
Families with young children are often moving from event to event throughout the day, and the ease of having groceries delivered to the home is not one to be underestimated.
DashPass allows members to select a wide variety of foods, meeting the dietary needs or desires of all household members.
Additionally, seniors or those individuals with a disability who may be confined from home are reliant on delivery services.
Another way that DashPass makes our lives easier, is through its group ordering options.
Workplaces that wish to purchase a meal for their employees can start a group order, which can then be sent out via email to the invited employees.
Employees can access the same order through a shared link, put their own meal choices into the shopping cart, and identify who the food items are for.
Whoever “owns” the group order can eventually close out the order at a time of their choosing and submit the order online to be delivered on the selected date.
This method makes it significantly easier to distribute those meals to the correct employee upon delivery.
How Does DashPass Compare To Competitors?
Four main delivery services compete against each other: DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Postmates.
All four companies offer the same membership services for $9.99 per month, after any initial perks like a free first month.
Additionally, all four of the services also offer some miscellaneous extra perks such as free delivery and member-exclusive prices.
However, when the numbers are crunched which one comes out to be the best?
The order minimum for DashPass is $12, compared to a $15 minimum with Uber Eats and Postmates.
DoorDash’s website also boasts a $10 minimum in certain areas of the United States.
GrubHub also has a $12 minimum, but it does not offer reduced service fees like DashPass does.
Therefore, when looking strictly at minimum order amounts, DashPass is the winner.
DashPass also offers benefits to those who use a certain MasterCard or Chase credit card.
The benefits vary depending on the type of card but can amount to 3 months of a free subscription to DashPass when registering for the first time.
Also, each service does not offer the same merchants (grocery, convenience, or restaurants) for delivery.
DashPass offers over 500,000 different merchants on its platform and has supported over 1.39 billion orders a year.
Therefore, the final question of whether or not DashPass is the best option for you may not be so easily answered through the prices of delivery, service fees, and other costs.
Rather, it may simply be answered by determining which services offer the merchants that you are looking to order from.
