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To start off a grand trip through Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar my family positioned to New York in order to fly United’s new Polaris business class direct from Newark to Tel Aviv. Instead of positioning the same day as our international flight we decided to spend a night in NYC, check out the St Regis for 60k Bonvoy points, ( that’s what they’re called now, right?), and the newly renovated Intercontinental Barclay ( used an IHG Select free night ). Shortly before our trip was due to start Amex targeted me and my parents for Groundlink promos: spend $150 get $50 back.
On top of being targeted, we also used 10% promo codes ( GLRIDE10), and when comparing it to Uber the prices weren’t too far apart. Uber ranged from $35 to $50 depending on the time of day when I searched. Here’s our Groundlink order for my economy car from LGA to the Intercontinental Barclay.
Including gratuity, $54.66. When you factor in this is part of the spend $150 and get $50 back promo, you could pro-rate this ride by 33%, or $18.
Finding my Groundlink on arrival
Fire up the app and you can see where the car is relative to you. You give them flight tracking information, but you’ll also tell them how long you wish for them to arrive after your arrival. We selected 30 minutes. We were ready within 20 minutes and the cars were there.
We called 212-253-8000 which connected us with dispatch who then connected us with the drivers. We told them our location and they were there within a few minutes.
My vehicle, supposed to be an economy car, was a Supercharged Range Rover. What a deal.
Tip is included
I got into a conversation with the driver about his car, how he liked it, etc. Very expensive to fix 🙂 . It then got into a conversation about what he would be compensated for the ride – he pulled up the driver version on his phone and showed it to me. Out of the $54 he would take home something in the low $30s. Interesting to learn, but the base fare was $44, less 10%, so $40, and there was $6.60 tip. The rest of the fare was taxes and fees which the company would remit.
I found this to be interesting, but I explicitly asked him if this included tip. He said it did not. I asked him if the tip was included in the app, and he said it did not. At the time I swore that tip had been included, but my phone as being super slow and I couldn’t find the confirmation email. I gave him a little extra in cash, but for your own knowledge…it is included and I think he just wanted a donation fund to his $350 oil changes 😉
Would I use Groundlink again?
Absolutely. I think the pricing comparisons depend on the market you’re looking to use it in. I looked at prices in LA and they were significantly more expensive than Uber. When we looked at using the service for a ride in NYC between the St Regis and a restaurant in lower Manhattan, the prices were cheaper via Groundlink than both Uber and Lyft. Throw in an Amex offer and you’re saving bucks and have scheduled rides….maybe even in a Range.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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