Hereโs some food for thought.
I take roughly 1-2 Grab rides per day, and order GrabFood 3-4 times per week. Over the past six months, Iโve spent more than S$3,000 on the platform. Iโd say that makes me a reasonably active user.
And yet my GrabRewards status is sinking like a stone. I recently dropped from Platinum to Gold, and itโs only a matter of time before I plumb the depths of Silver and, eventually, Member.
This isnโt because GrabRewards has changed the qualification criteria for elite status- thatโs remained untouched since July 2018. Rather, itโs because Grab has nuked its system for points accrual, so much so you could use Grab on a daily basis and still be nowhere closer to elite status.
GrabRewards elite structure
As a quick refresher, GrabRewards has a four-tier elite system, starting at Member and maxing out at Platinum. Tier qualification is based on the number of points earned within a calendar half:
- 1 January to 30 June
- 1 July to 31 December
| ๐GrabRewards Elite Qualification |
||
| Tier | Points Req. | Spend Req.* Qualify | Requalify |
| Member | N/A | N/A |
| Silver | 300 | S$100 | S$100 |
| Gold | 1,200 | S$400 | S$267 |
| Platinum | 4,500 | S$1,133 | S$750 |
| *Spending required for qualification and requalification is different because earn rates are different between tiers. For example, a Silver member (3 pts/S$1) would need to spend S$400 to earn Gold (4.5 pts/S$1), but only S$267 to maintain it. |
||
Status earned is valid for the rest of the calendar half, plus the following calendar half.
For example, if I accrued 1,200 points on 3 March 2022, Iโll enjoy Gold status till 31 December 2022. To requalify for Gold, Iโll need to earn a further 1,200 points between 1 July to 31 December 2022.
The key thing to note is that GrabRewards elite qualification is based on points, not number of transactions. In other words, itโs all about the Benjamins (or Ishaks, I suppose, in the Singapore context) spent within the Grab ecosystem.
The problem is, the two have lost all semblance of a relationship in recent timesโฆ
GrabRewards earn structure
When doing the background research for this post, what was striking was the rate at which GrabRewards went south ever since the pandemic began:
- In March 2020, GrabRewards cut earn rates by up to 60%, and increased award prices by almost 40%
- In March 2021, Grab cut the points earned by credit/debit card users by 50%, while increasing points for Grab Wallet users by 50%
- In August 2022, Grab removed all GrabRewards points for credit/debit card payments
- In October 2022, Grab removed all GrabRewards points for GrabPay Card transactions (except F&B), and introduced a gacha mechanic for in-store GrabWallet payments
In the space of just two and a half years, GrabRewards went from somewhat decent to dumpster fire (and thatโs not even taking into account the non-GrabRewards nerfs, such as removing support for Revolut and other e-wallet top-ups, or nerfing AXS payments).
For those who even care, hereโs the current earn structure.
| ๐คฃ GrabRewards Earning Structure | |||
| Tier | GrabPay Card | GrabPay Wallet (In-store) |
GrabPay Wallet (Online)* & PayLater |
| Member | 1 (F&B) 0 (all other trxns.) |
Random | 3 |
| Silver | 3 | ||
| Gold | 4.5 | ||
| Platinum | 6 | ||
| *Includes rides & deliveries |
|||
Transactions made with the GrabPay Card no longer earn any GrabRewards points at all, except F&B transactions which earn a miserly 1 point per S$1 (0.2% rebate).
| โ F&B Definition | |
| Grab defines F&B as a transaction with any of the following MCCs: | |
|
|
In-store transactions made with the GrabPay Wallet get a mystery box that contains a random number of points, ranging anywhere from 0 to 25,000. I wish I were kidding. On the rare occasions Iโve used GrabPay Wallet, Iโve got zero every time.
The only other transactions which still earn points are:
- Online GrabPay Wallet transactions
- PayLater transactions
- Grab rides & deliveries paid with GrabPay Wallet
I use a lot of Grab services, but never in the โrightโ way. My Grab rides and GrabFood are all paid using credit card, which earns no GrabRewards points. My GrabPay top-ups are invariably used for AXS (RIP) or GrabPay transactions (insurance, utilities etc.), neither of which earns GrabRewards points either.
Therefore, even though Iโve spent ~S$3,000 on Grab in the past six months, four times the S$750 theoretically required to requalify for Platinum, Iโve been downgraded to Gold. And frankly speaking, Iโm probably going to get downgraded to Silver come 1 July 2023, since Iโm not going to spend S$267 on Grab the way it wants me to.
By 1 January 2024, Iโll be Silver, and assuming the GrabRewards programme is still around on 1 July 2024, Iโll have finally achieved the lofty status of Member.
Am I missing out on much?
Is losing GrabRewards Platinum that big a deal? Probably not.
| ๐GrabRewards Elite Benefits |
|||
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | |
| Points per S$1 | 3 pts | 4.5 pts | 6 pts |
| Priority Allocation | โ | โ | โ |
| Priority Support | โ | โ | โ |
Platinum members do earn 33% more points than Gold, but given the highly restricted scope of earning (and low value of GrabRewards points), this canโt be said to be much of a perk.
Then thereโs the vaguely-defined โpriority ride allocation and customer supportโ. I canโt say Iโve had any more difficulty getting a Grab ride as a Gold member compared to my Platinum days, but with the ranks getting culled due to diminished opportunities for earning points, maybe the few remaining Platinums will have it better.
Heck, Grabโs even removed the airport benefits, not that they were great to begin with. Platinum and Gold members used to get โpreferential ratesโ for lounge access, advertised as 55% and 40% off list prices if I remember correctly. But who needs this, when you can enjoy free lounge access via so many credit cards out there?
Therefore, unlike losing my Marriott Platinum status, Iโm not shedding too many tears about this. The GrabRewards programme is simply not compelling enough to make me change my behaviour, and at that point you really need to ask yourself: why even bother running it?
Conclusion
My GrabRewards Platinum status evaporated on 1 January 2023, and Iโm guessing Iโm not the only one. Itโs not that the qualification requirements have changed, but rather that Grabโs earn rates and channels have been nerfed into oblivion.
Still, this is probably the status I feel the most indifferent about losing. Grab Platinum has virtually nothing in the way of perks, and even if it means waiting a minute or two longer for a ride, itโs not worth jumping through the hoops Grab wants you to.
Most of the time, gojek and Tada fees are lower than grab for the same distance. You might want to consider Gojek who seems to have amass the same size of driver pool in SG as Grab
Stopped using Grab a couple of years back now, when they consistently tried to charge me waiting fees because drivers had โarrivedโ at my condo guardhouse โ not at my designated pickup point, which was well inside โ and so did not start the ride <3 minutes.
Never had this issue with Comfort.
True, likely they pressed arrived even before the guardhouse. Same for places like ION and Taka where there is a long queue into the pick-up, they always press arrived from the junction outside and it takes them more than 3 minutes to get to you. Either you walk outside and board the car without them coming in or risk arguing with CS about the waiting fees. Grab drivers are well aware of this and prefer to press early so the customer looks for the car instead of them driving up to the customer.
Only passenger can recognise the car no. The driver donโt recognise the passenger it is fair that passenger need to look out for the car. Thanks. Itโs a long term issue for pickup/drop off places like ION, Taka, Paragon, always very long que during peak hour & worst if near festive seasonโฆ Can jam as long as 10 minutes. During these period the PHV apps will give higher incentives for no. of trips done. So unless PHV apps can come out a solution to solve this issue if not most driver will just cancel this places order. Remind u, Ifโฆ Read more ยป
Problems lie with your in-house security โ acting like warlords, they are merely paid workers doing a simple check to make sure genuine riders and drivers doing delivery and pick up โ nothing great but acting as though they rule over every thing coming in ๐ญ
Been back with comfort the last couple of years.
Now is better as they tie up with Kris+
Flagging a taxi is sometimes cheaperโฆ
Canโt seem to flag any nowadays.
Could you share what cards you use for grab rides n grabfood? ๐
?
https://milelion.com/credit-cards/guide/#ridehailing
Not to mention their subscription package, which had covered $5 Grabfood delivery fee (iirc) and then it become $4 and now this month, just $3. $3 canโt cover anything much these days with the average delivery fee being more than $3, AND they still maintained the same minimum spend of $15 in order to get that $3.
Also donโt forget the increase of platform fee to $0.40 recently.
The golden days of Grab are over.
Boycott grab lol
The grab mystery gift has also change recently and is only valid for QR code that is only for grab. If you buy food with SG QRcode, you get zero point. Once I use finish all my balance with grab, I will change to others payment.
Thanks for writing this. Despite using Grab every week I just realised I have been demoted, havenโt earned a point since August, and my stash is about to expire!
Grab rides in Thailand and Cambodia paid on CC still got me full points.
Quick word to also say that thereโs no soft landing, I recall it being explicitly stated that if you didnโt get enough points in the requalification period, you could theoretically drop 2 tiers or more. (eg you could drop from Platinum to just Member Tier if they accrued 0 points in the next qualification cycle).
As a working adult itโs trash so Iโm not losing sleep even if I drop eventually to member tier. For students, maybe itโs ok on the virtue that little rewards is more than no rewards.
Thatโs a good point actually. Iโm quite certain I didnโt earn enough points for gold, but I seemed to have a soft landing nonetheless. weird.
Hi Aaron,
Is it worth converting all my GrabPoints to KrisFlyer Miles? Would love to hear your thoughts on the most valued item to redeem.
Hello, Iโm not Aaron but I can try to help a bit. Using Grabโs rate of 2000 points to 200 KF miles, that equates to โbuyingโ KF miles at about 2 cents per mile since 2000 points is worth about $4sgd. Although it is up to you to decide what a value of a mile is, many people here stick to the rule of thumb of buying at 1.5 cents per mile. In that sense, 2 cents is a bit steep and youโd be better off using the points to take Grab rides instead. Personally Iโm using my Grab rewardโฆ Read more ยป
Selected merchants will reward you with points using grab Mastercard.
Totally agree. Grab rewards are so crappy now. Had this jiggly feeling it was bad. Thanks for making it clear
The way things are going โ Grab is going Crabs!
Grab Essentially wanted to stop double dipping..
Just top up the wallet before spending, its not difficult and a no brainer
Grab sucks, been cutting down on itโs use
I could not agree any less, yes I do hope the Grab CEO is reading this. Grab is definitely going downhill by being too โgreedyโ, eventually itโll lose its customers who feels they are no longer appreciated so why patronise? For rides, there are definitely options out there with their crazy ridiculous surge, for food delivery there are also more choices. Sorry Grab, you will find itโs no longer easy to โgrabโ our moneyโฆ
Grab thinks everyone is a clown willing to jump through all the hoops to earn that miserable 1 point.
ohhh ! so i cant get point by paying utility bill anymore? been thinking to setup for my new grab cardโฆ since i stopped using due to fraud and card blockage last sept..
Agree.. I donโt even feel any perks for being platinum. Priority ride is auch a joke..