Updated on December 14, 2023
Ends Today: Upside.com $200 Gift Card Offer:
Today (8/31/17) is the last day for to get a $200 Amazon gift card with $400 travel booking on Upside.com. Amazon.com gift cards are as good as cash since I shop there so often. Since I booked my flight last week I've learned more about Upside and some unadvertised “Platinum Concierge-esque” perks.
I posted a step by step guide on the deal here.
***EXPIRED – The $200 offer has expired. You can use this code BIZREWARDS to get the new offer of $125 in gift cards. I have updated the links to load the $125 offer.
To recap:
Sign up Link – the code “lygkhb” should automatically work
- You need to book $400 worth of flights and or hotels/uber
- Flights only is OK, or you can add hotels or Uber to get to $400
- Upside only lets you book for 1 person. If you need more than one, have the second person sign up for the offer and get a $200 gift card too
- Other gift cards are available but I think Amazon is the most valuable.
Hidden Perks – “Platinum Concierge”, Upgrades, Free Massage/Limo
Upside.com is trying to target business travelers yet, in my opinion, does not really get the message across that you get a “Platinum Concierge”, of sort. Anyone who has had an American Express Platinum probably knows what mean… you call, don't wait long, speak to a native English speaking person who can actually take care of things for you (get show tickets, exclusive restaurant reservations, etc) and not leave you more pissed off than when you first called.
I called Upside Customer Service just to try them out and spoke with a rep from their Portland call center. They also have call centers in Kansas City and Manila so it will depend on how many calls and what time of day you are calling. Yes, I asked them about this when I called so I know what to expect in the future.
That's the point of Upside. Business travel can suck and they will do it better. Customers can find roughly equal prices (prices I found were slightly higher at Upside), get better service and get to keep the “upside” (the rewards). Versus almost no service from the competitors. Lets see.
Free Massage, Limo…
After I booked my flight, a “Navigator” reached out to make my frequent flyer # and known traveller (i.e. Global Entry) were updated. The Mrs. later got hooked up a free massage at the destination airport. Some friends got hooked up with offers for free limo rides or dry cleaning.
Free seat upgrades…
The surprises keep coming. I got an email letting me know that my seat was upgraded from economy to economy plus. I could see the cost for the upgrades was about $240 round trip!
Upside.com vs the competition (Kayak, Orbitz, and the rest)
I can't remember the big travel sites ever doing anything for me so I usually book directly with the airlines (usually award tickets). Oh wait, on occasion when I needed help with something they made me wait on hold then kindly read off the computer screen and tell me to call the airline.
Too Generous?
The perks I mentioned above are very generous, especially on top of the gift card. Don't expect those perks — I'm just sharing my experience so far. I'm not sure how sustainable that is. Obviously, they have the funding to “wow” new customers for now. I didn't expect any of these things and won't expect them in the future (the gift card was generous enough).
For now, I'm giving them a shot. If I get free ‘concierge-like' service and the prices are roughly the same, I would use them in the future. Of course, I personally don't often pay cash for flights.
Quirky website
Upside.com is a startup. They try to keep their website simple and easy to use. It is. But…I can only book for one person (which is good right now, so the other person can sign up and get the bonus too). If I want to change the dates and/or destination I have to start my search over. Upside said they are working to improve on these.
Refer a Friend
After you sign up, you get a link where you can refer a friend. Most links, including mine, are worth $100 for new users… not as good as the above offer.
careful with gift amazon gift cards, they will take them but not let you use them if you have a shared account.
Please elaborate on the “shared account” and your experience with Upside revoking your access to the GC.
Glad to elaborate to save others the problem.
I got a $100 gift card ( number) from fedex rewards, entered into our amazon prime account no problem ( shows up as $100 credit on our account) the account is shared with my son. when I went to purchase some items it does not show up on check out. when checking for the reason, amazon says the credit is not usable on a shared account,
seems like $100 wasted
MIke
Did you try contacting Amazon support about it? It might be different since it’s from Fedex, not Upside.com. Perhaps the primary account holder has to place the order. If it still shows up I don’t think it’s wasted. I’ve used Amazon Gift cards on my account without problem and I shared my Prime benefits with my wife (I paid for Prime and share with her).
so far no luck both of us tried to use the money. no luck contacting customer support on a transaction that did not take place. we are not giving up, just a major hassel for something that should be a simple issue
MIke
I usually have no problems getting Amazon to resolve issues though finding the right menu’s can be hard to find. Try this link http://amzn.to/2gm5h2W then click “Need More Help?” (on the bottom of the list) -> Click “Contact Us” -> Click “Prime or Something Else” -> at the bottom Select an Issue “Gift Cards and Gifts” -> “Problem with a Gift Card” -> “Unable to use Gift Card“. Then click “Phone” at the bottom and they will call you. Let me know what they say.
thanks for the help, working on resolving it after contacting them>
got this reply
Amazon
Your Account Amazon.com
Message From Customer Service
Hello,
Thank you for contacting the Amazon business.
I understand your concern and I’m really sorry to know that you’re unable to use the gift cards at the time of the checkout of the order.
Further upon checking I can see that the payment method for the group is set to the Sharing payment methods, hence you’re unable to use the gift card at the checkout.
As you’re also the administrator you can change the payment setting for business account to individual payment method.
To add or change a payment method or address to your Business Account:
1. Log in and select Your Account.
2. From Settings, select Manage Your Business.
Once you change the payment method to the individual payment method, you’ll be able to use the gift cards at the time of the checkout of the order.
In case if you still have any issues while changing the address for the group please contact us in real time so that we’ll help you to resolve the issue at the earliest.
You can contact us via phone so that we can get this right for you.
Here’s our customer service phone number:
866-486-2360
We’re currently available from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific time, 7 days a week.
Have a good day.Thank you for being a awesome Amazon business customer.
We’d appreciate your feedback. Please use the buttons below to vote about your experience today.
Best regards,
Swati R.
Has anyone signed up on Mobile and gotten the gift card promo to track?
I booked on mobile for one of my tickets and it took 2 days for it to show in my account. As long as your email confirmation shows the $200 GC, you are set.
Just keep in mind that even though the GC shows in your account, you cannot use/redeem the GC until ~3 days after your upside trip has completed. So if you booked something 11 months out, you have quite some time before you can use the GC.