Ryan Dube · May 4, 2022 · 5 min read If you’ve spent a lot of time using DoorDash, then you know just how expensive ordering food delivery through the service can get.
The DoorDash DashPass offering could potentially save you a lot of money. It’s a subscription service where you pay a fixed fee each month. In return, you get to avoid delivery fees (yes, basically free delivery) and reduced service fees. If you use DoorDash a lot, the amount DashPass subscribers can save is significant.
What Is DashPass: Cost and Limitations
You can subscribe to DashPass at any time. Once you choose to do so, DoorDash will charge your credit card $9.99 a month, whether or not you ever order anything on the service.
However, after you subscribe and start ordering food, you’ll see how quickly DoorDash DashPass members can make up the difference and come out ahead.
In the example order below, regular fees would have been:
- $3.99 delivery fee
- $8.51 fees & estimated tax
- Total: $12.50
With a DoorPass subscription, the DashPass benefits reduce the costs as follows:
- $0.00 delivery fee
- $5.04 fees & estimated tax
- Total: $5.04
Basically, on this one order all you’re really paying is sales tax and whatever tip you would like to give to your dasher. In a single order, you’ll have already saved about half of the monthly subscription fee thanks to the DashPass perks..
There are a few important limitations to keep in mind before you decide to sign up for the DoorPass service.
- The restaurant you’re ordering from needs to accept DoorPass (most do).
- You need to order at least $12 of food or $25 worth of groceries to get the discounts.
- You’ll need to order from DoorDash at least three times per month to get your fee back in savings.
You can also reduce the cost of DoorPass by paying for the subscription annually, which drops the cost to only $8 per month (saving you $1.99/mo).
How to Use DashPass and Save More Money
If you use DoorDash a lot, subscribing to DashPass is a no-brainer. Paying a monthly fee up-front will help you save a lot of money. After the second or third order, you’ve already recovered your monthly fee and it’s all savings at that point.
You can use DashPass from different areas on the DoorDash website or the DoorDash app. The easiest way to filter on only local restaurants that accept DashPass is to select the DashPass filter at the top of the listing page.
This will display only restaurants that let you avoid delivery fees. Alternatively, you can just scroll down the regular listing page and identify eligible restaurants by the small DashPass icon next to the restaurant name.
Using DashPass doesn’t mean you don’t also get to take advantage of other savings on DoorDash. If you think about it, cutting your delivery fees plus saving in other ways will help you recover your monthly DashPass fee even faster.
One way to look for additional savings is by selecting the DashPass menu and selecting Offers.
In the submenu at the top of the listing, select Offer Type and choose the Discount option. Doing this is important because you already get no delivery fees with the DashPass membership.
Additional promo discount offers on DoorDash sometimes amount to up to 20% off the overall price of the order. This is on top of the delivery fee savings you already get with your DashPass subscription.
As mentioned earlier, you can save an additional $1.99 a month by taking advantage of the Annual Plan. To do this, select the DoorDash menu and then select Manage DashPass.
This will take you to your DashPass subscription plan. Select the Learn more link under the Annual Plan section.
Then, just follow the instructions to upgrade to the annual plan and reduce your monthly cost for DashPass.
Other DashPass Considerations
There are a few additional things to keep in mind when you’re using your DashPass membership.
Each time you order, just review the Subtotal numbers to keep an eye on the savings that you’re getting with each order. You’ll see a reduction of the DoorDash Delivery Fee (down to $0.00) and Fees & Estimated Tax depending on the order.
One word of advice: Just because you’re saving so much money on each eligible order, thanks to your subscription, that doesn’t mean you should scrimp on your Dasher Tip.
Dasher’s work hard, and they are doing this work on the side to better support their families. Tips go entirely to dashers, so don’t reduce the tip just to save more money. In fact, since you’re saving some money on each order, why not share a dollar or two of that savings by bumping up the tip a little more than you normally would?
Is DashPass Worth It?
Does DashPass actually save money? If you’re still trying to work out whether or not you should sign up with DashPass, the math is actually pretty simple.
If you only use DoorDash once or twice a month to order food, then you really have no need for a DashPass subscription. You most likely will end up spending more money each month than it’s worth. However, if you find yourself ordering from DoorDash three or more times a month – even just once a week – you will save money by subscribing to DashPass. If you don’t like it, you can cancel DashPass at any time (unless you signed up for the annual membership).
The savings on just two orders will make up for the cost of the subscription, and then every order after that is pure savings. So if this is you, get DashPass today and get free delivery on all your takeout! And there’s no limit. You get unlimited free deliveries every month.
By the way, the GrubHub and Uber Eats food delivery services also offer free delivery membership if you also use those services a lot.
