Uber introduced a program a few months ago called Local Offers, which allowed you to earn Uber ride credits by using your linked Visa credit card at participating local businesses.

Each business offered a certain amount of points per dollar spent, and for every 100 points you would get a $10 Uber ride credit.

Local Offers quickly became my favorite spending “portal,” and I soon had free rides rolling in.

As an example, one of the offers was for 4 points/dollar at Whole Foods, with a 200-point maximum.

I opted into the offer, then purchased $50-worth of Amazon and Starbucks gift cards from Whole Foods.

As soon as I swiped my linked Visa card, I received a notification that I’d earned $20 in Uber credits. This is practically 40% cash-back for me, since Uber, Starbucks and Amazon are all businesses I spend at on a regular basis.

Before I could determine whether businesses would ever repeat these offers month after month, Uber introduced its brand new app design, which didn’t have Local Offers in it.

Why is Local Offers not in the new app?

I’m guessing Uber got so excited about its new design that they couldn’t wait for every feature to be integrated before releasing it.

Will it return?

Uber told users it would be back, but didn’t say when.

What happens to the leftover points I had earned?

Uber said on November 21 they’ll be converted into ride credits, no matter how many points you had.

If you had 50, you’ll get a $5 ride credit. If you had 97, you’ll get a $9.70 ride credit.

Here is the main part of the notification Uber sent to users on November 10:

Did you try Local Offers? Would you try it?

In the meantime, here is my post on how to earn bonus miles on in-store, Amazon and Starbucks spending.