Freebird: Rideshare cash back Reviews

by Mreeves336

Huge hassle to set up and I get weird error messages in other languages when trying to switch between uber and lyft. It requires more verification to log into Freebird than it does to log into uber or lyft itself. I can’t even add my home address because it keeps saying it can’t be read. It’s slow and glitchy. Then, I finally got it set up, and I ordered a lyft. Said it would be here in 8 minutes. I looked back in 8 minutes and NO LYFT was coming. No problem, I’ll order another... I ordered another lyft. It said ten minutes. Ten minutes pass by and I look at Freebird ...NO LYFT. It’s asking me to request a ride. It’s not even listing it under ride history. I gave up and used the lyft app with no problems...but not before being LATE TO MY INTERVIEW. Waste of time ill just keep getting cash back from my bank. I wouldn’t recommend Freebird to anyone and uber has their own rewards anyway...I hope lyft does the same and puts this crap out of business.

by Old Curty Bastard

I don’t understand where all these positive reviews come from. My wife and I both have the same problems with Freebird . It freezes alot. After it supposedly assigns a driver, it will freeze on a black screen with the driver’s face. This happened numerous times. It actually worked for us in Las Vegas maybe 2 out of 10 times. It did the same thing to us when we are at home too. Freebird assigns a driver but the driver doesn’t get assigned to me, therefore I don’t get picked up. As stated, this happened to both of us multiple times. I have now given up on Freebird. Also, Freebird ’s interface is NOT just like Uber or Lyft. It definitely doesn’t have the same features when “opening” uber or lyft through this app. Maybe you get lucky, but Freebird is trash. I have a great phone with up to date IOS. The problems happen on wifi or data. My Uber and Lyft apps work just fine. this app is no good.

by Louise237

this app sends cars to the wrong location. It’s an ongoing problem with their gps and they have either not picked me up at the right location, or dropped me off at the wrong location, at least a third of the times I’ve used it. I have been late for classes and appointments due to this. When I have contacted customer support they have told me again and again that I entered the address wrong. Why would I enter my addresses wrong or not pick my schools name on a map? In the latter situation, the driver dropped me off in the middle of the hood. I mean it was sketchy and dangerous and I had to wait for another Uber to come. It cost me a fortune, as did the other rides where the wrong location was sent to my cab. this app kept giving me a hard time it and saying it was my fault and only after multiple messages from me would they refund me (and for the difference only mind you. Not for the entire ride given the inconvenience.) I liked the idea and have really given it a shot but reading these reviews I see that I’m not the only one who’s had this problem. I wouldn’t recommend.

by RobinNoHood22

I thought Freebird was a good one at first, but when I went to set it up, I did have to go through a lot... My debit card was set up to my lyft, but somehow when I used this app, it took money off of my credit card. Today I just used this app to go to work this morning, and it took $15 off of my card, when I only work about 8 minutes away from my job and it normally costs like 6 dollars and some change. I’ve spent maybe half a hour trying to figure out how to contact this app about it, and I still don’t see how, which is why I’m making the review. I also checked on my actual lyft app, and the charges aren’t through them, the ride is showing up as the regular price. So it’s like the money just disappeared, the only place I see that it says $15 was taken from me, is on cash app, so I’m confused

by Ummmmmmmmmmmm1

I got Freebird 1 to 2 years ago and it was good, I just didn’t think it got enough rewards per ride but it was still something. However, recently I noticed that prices increase by about $1-3 more per ride if you use Freebird . I went on the Uber app to get a ride and compared it to when I used this app. I switched back to Uber and the price dropped back to what it originally was. It’s not worth Paying more to get not that much back in rewards.

Reply to response: it’s not about the estimate, it’s that I click into Freebird and it direct me to Uber and they always are an increase of $1-3. I then click out of Freebird and go through Uber app and the prices have reset. I do this a couple times. The prices always increase when I click through using the this app app.

by LulaElizabethe

I’ve linked my uber account and I’ve only been able to book one ride through this app since I’ve downloaded it a few months ago. I use uber at least a few times a week and would love if Freebird worked but I get errors telling me I need to re-login to my uber account or it says my payment method won’t work (when it works just fine when I book directly on the uber app) so this is really disappointing for me. Hopefully with updates, Freebird will work for me eventually. I’m not deleting it yet. As of right now though, it’s just a useless app taking up space on my phone. Please tell me how to fix this! I have an iPhone 6s Plus with up-to-date OS. I’d love to use Freebird because I’d save so much money. It’s a great idea and hopefully I’ll get to use it sooner than later.

by A.J Tomlin

Stop using the Juno style system of pickup and drop off. For example, I’m sending a driver to pickup a friend from their address, it ask where I’m going I put my address but then it’s ready to calculate cost without even letting me put the drop off address because it’s going off of the gps address which is the suppose to be the drop off address. If you work with Uber why not just incorporate their system of travel where I can choose who I’m getting a ride for and place the pickup and drop off address all in one go like Uber. The other way similar to junk is a waste of time inefficient and impractical. Change this and you’ll get 5 stars also clean up bugs glitches and have a better gps system and you’ll do fine.

by Dechonmustard

Freebird is great, I love the sponsored ride home feature and the general cash back. I can switch quickly between Uber and Lyft just tapping a button. I haven’t experienced any bugs, it’s so smooth.

What is unfortunately a deal-breaker for me is the lack of the Short Walk feature for UberPool (I ride in Los Angeles), which often saves me $5 (+\- a couple dollars). It takes 5,000 points (more than two rides) to earn $10 in cashback, which means using this app for Uber costs me money most of the time.

I would love to continue using Freebird if the Short Walk feature could be implemented (even if it’s something Uber has to take care of on their end). Otherwise this app does me no good outside of linking a card for cashback on purchases, which is a shame.

by Keyaa10

I would leave 0 stars if possible. Every time theres an update, Freebird wont open anymore. It loads & literally closes. Cant even contact support. I had the same issues months ago when i first downloaded, guess they temporarily fixed it.. it now isnt working again. Whats the point of an upgrade? Its stupid, would definitely not recommend!

Great way to receive cash back if you utilize ride share as much as i do!
Edit - received response & resolution within a timely manner. Did a force close & reopened a few hours after, Freebird worked fine. Back to racking up points for cashback. 🤑 It was just a bit frustrating at the time, hopefully theres a way to avoid the errors caused by updates in the future. 🤞🏾

by Yngappy

Don’t not use Freebird if you’re in a rush and you like when people listen and can understand you. Every time I order from Freebird I get an old dirty car , no one really understands English , and they have old seniors driving that should not be on the road . The senior driver I got passed my house 3 days in a row , I had to walk 3 houses down to his car cause he still couldn’t see me walking towards him ! I’m in the same house every day . All this is not worth the little discount from Freebird ! I’d rather pay full price !

Update: cars and drivers have been a little bit better had an incident the other day with an old rusty car . The cash cash back feature on this thing is good I have no problems with getting cash back it’s quick and easy . Thank you !

by LizzyD325

I’ve been experiencing issues with setting up my pickup location more and more these days. I fractured my toe and have been relying on Uber to get me to work so of course I’ve been arranging my ride thru this app but almost everyday this week, my pickup location changes. I drop the pin on my address or I see that my address is already listed so I move to on to get a ride but then when it comes time to pick me up, my driver is two houses away, across the street and then I look and see that my pickup address has changed. It’s bad enough that I have to hobble over to a wrong location but then to top it off, I’m getting charged by Uber a wait fee! Beyond annoying. I’ve telling everyone about this app but now I may have to rethink this recommendation if that app won’t work correctly.

by Kitjohnson1818

I absolutely love Freebird. It really works. I was in Los Angeles using Uber/Lyft to get everywhere and I accumulated $50 in cashback, transferred it to my paypal, and had it in my bank account that same minute. Now, I always nominated myself to be the one to order the ride, strictly so I can get my cashback. My ONLY issue with Freebird, and the reason I’m giving it only 4 stars instead of 5, is because you can’t input a pick up location. it automatically uses your current location. Sometimes I’m ordering Ubers for my friends at different locations, so I must use the actual Uber/Lyft app since I can’t input a pick up location.. only a drop off

by Cmilla112

So I’ve noticed a few glitches when I am waiting for a ride and close out of Freebird , but yesterday was beyond frustrating. I had the rider arriving any moment then Freebird froze and has been stuck on “We’re finding you a driver now” with Don Julio since I was headed home. I had used Freebird 3 times the same day with zero issue then here I am stuck at 3 am with a frozen app. Now it’s 24 hours later I’ve closed Freebird and turned on and off my phone and even turned my data off but the stupid screen is still trying to find me a ride! I am frustrated that I missed out on the ride last night and had to wait outdoors alone forever because I had to order a new ride. Driving responsibly I need to go get my car now across town and still won’t get to use Freebird . Gahhh!!!!

by Marcopolo581

For the record, this is seriously one of the best apps I have ever used. As a New Yorker, I am constantly using Uber and Lyft (with hopes of this app adding Juno soon???)

All in all, you really do get rewarded, their customer service is full of nice, stellar individuals who respond promptly, and kindly. (And being a barista for 7 years, I can spot good customer service)

My only request? In hopes that this app will create an easier toggle change for Lyft and Uber as well as better logging in and out of our accounts. But hey, patience is a virtue and this is app to truly appreciate. Bravo this app team!

by Jshawsworld

Enjoyed the smooth integration with Uber and the cashbacks and points. Two rooms for improvement prevents it from a 5 stars from me:

- Can only link debit card. EBates allows linking Paypal for example. People like me are hesitant to give out their debit card info because it doesn’t have fraud protection like credit card and balance is deducted directly from bank balance. Or can do like some apps that allow the option of sending 2 small txns to the bank and verify that way so user doesn’t have to enter their bank credential in app.

- Linking card only has the option to log in to the card issuing bank inside Freebird . Any way to do it like FB login where user is sent to the FB app to log in, not embedded within the requesting app? Again it just lowers the trust barrier.

Cool concept of an app and enjoy using it! Hope those two points are addressed though.

by Jessyh6

I’ve gotten the money I was promised. Freebird can be glitchy at times but is reliable for the most part. It takes 40 rides to get $20 bucks back. I was taking Lyft twice a day for work, Monday through Friday because I didn’t have a car. The 20 bucks covered the Lyft Pink membership so I basically got 15% off all my rides for free. Plus, I was able to cancel without any fees a few times because of the membership. You can also switch between Lyft and Uber at any time in case you use both.

by Giggles9350

I normally don’t do reviews. I’ve also been using Freebird for almost a full year and this has been soo helpful and easy to use. Easy money to make if you use Lyft or Uber and gives you more options to earn cash. I normally use it for when I go to work, using Lyft, but I haven’t used it in a little bit, been taking the metro and came back to a better cashing out system. Would totally recommend for those using Lyft and Uber. Super simple to open and set up where you are going and then collect after the trip :)

by Jessle4312

I’m not usually one to make the extra effort for a buck or two back but this app is such an easy app to use - for things I’m already doing and the rewards are instant/quick. My first month I made $14 and I’m not even a daily rideshare user. Freebird itself is simply designed and intuitive. No glitches so far and I love the Fun Facts that queue up when I’m waiting for my ride confirmation. Great user experience in that respect and the points add up quickly to your cash rewards. Essentially 10 rides and you get $10. And it’s another way to find great food and drink places to try! (Yelp finally gets a competitor). Thanks this app!

by Pegyueng

this app has been good until this morning. I completed a ride with Betty via Lyft, but this app kept asking me to rate “Larry”, and when I sent feedback Freebird just froze. I have exited out of Freebird , went back, updated, went back, exited out so many times and it’s still on the “Larry” screen. I went back to my lyft history and I had no Larry in my history!! Idk why this is happening, nor can I go back to use Freebird to call another ride now. It is forever stuck on the Larry review/star screen. Please help me fix this.

I just tried deleting Freebird and reinstalling, still the same screen. Freebird is now completely useless if I’m stuck in this forever!!!!

by Djmaxwellhouse

I reserve my reviews for the very good and the very bad. Freebird is in the former category. I’ve used it, it’s smooth, quick as using Uber itself, and really does pay you back. The sponsored rides home are one of the most socially conscious coupons I’ve ever seen. Just make sure you have the right debit or credit card in your Uber app as you plan to use at whatever restaurant or bar or airport you plan to this app to. And make sure to program in your “Home” address so when you choose Home from Freebird you get your $5 off. Really great app. I hope more people start using it.

by Kionne26

Freebird was actually pretty good seeing as though I go through lyft and uber frequently
As of the last update my app has been having errors with my rides ending keeping track of points I earned for rides and being extremely buggy I know since June 27 my app has constantly not giving me points for my rides it’s extremely frustrating knowing my points are not being correctly added up I certainly hope there’s an update or email of some kind address the apps errors and glitches that have happened as of right now I can not recommend you use Freebird as it will not correctly give you points for your rides

by Jraab12

Freebird gives you money for do things you were already going to do, and helps you discover new places, if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s the most no-brainer download of your life. I’ve had Freebird for about a year and already have $100 deposited back into my bank account. Everything about the system is easy to use and straight forward. If I didn’t build rockets for a living, I would definitely want to be a part of this app!