When I upgraded to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, my plan was to ignore the $15 monthly Instacart credit. I’d never used Instacart before, and in my experience with similar credits, these kinds of credits rarely end up being worth the bother after all of the fees.
However, after trying it out I’m finding it worthwhile. I keep a small list of steady items which I’ll always need, such as tissues, paper towels, water bottles, etc. Heavy drinks are a nice item to have delivered – just keep in mind Instacart will sometimes tack on a heavy-item fee.
Be sure to get your free year of Instacart Plus. That way, orders of $35+ will be fee-free. (Orders below $35 have a $7.99 delivery fee.) You also need to register there in order to activate the $15 credit.
There’s a $2.50 service fee with each order, but there are delivery options which get you a $2 discount, so it ends up being just $.50 in total fees. Then there’s also the tip on top.
In the end, you can order $35 of items and pay just $.50 in total fees, plus the tip. Given the $15 credit from Chase, I’ve been finding it worthwhile to lob in an order at the beginning of each month. You might be able to get a drop back from the portal as well.
I always manually choose the option on each item not to be replaced in case the exact item is not in stock, and so my total charge will often end up being less than $35. And I find it easy to get competitive pricing on Instacart by ordering from Walmart and some other economical retailers.
Another fringe benefit of using the Instacart credit is that it’s been counting for me as a Grocery purchase which can then also be rebated back using the Pay Yourself Back redemption system.
A few updates to the post:
- Readers in the comments mention two other options for savings on fees: 1) use store pickup to avoid fees, 2) some stores have a $10 minimum for free shipping. I found Stop & Shop didn’t have any fees for a $10 order. Readers mention other options in the comments as well. YMMV.
- Be sure to link your Instacart to Delta and get a free 1x or 1.5x miles per dollar spent.
- I’ve now added my two Freedom cards to Instacart (here) which extended my Instacart+ membership by six months. This will also allow me to get a $10 quarterly statement credit on each Freedom card.
- There’s a referral bonus for new members to get a $25Â credit when using a referral link. Here’s my link, I’ll get a $10 discount code if you use it to signup, thanks. (Just double check that you’re seeing the $25 offer as the amount can change over time.)
