Over the years, DoorDash launched several perks for Dashers, like early access to schedule hours, the ability to Dash Now anytime, and access to high-paying catering orders.
Now, DoorDash is consolidating all those benefits into one rewards program called Dasher Rewards that unlocks benefits as you increase your rewards tier.
Dasher Rewards is replacing Top Dasher and other benefits
And there’s a big catch: The Dasher Rewards tiers have an acceptance rate requirement to unlock perks that didn’t have one before.
That means you can’t getting early access or catering orders with a low acceptance rate anymore!
Dasher Rewards is still a pilot program in select cities, but it may spread nationwide soon.
Here’s how Dasher Rewards works, how to reach each tier, and the changes it makes to some of the perks you’re accustomed to.
What you need to know
- Dasher Rewards is a pilot program that unifies criteria for Top Dasher, Early Access, and catering orders
- Level up to Silver, Gold, and Platinum by meeting requirements for acceptance rate, completion rate, and customer ratings
- Priority Access to high-paying orders requires a 50% acceptance rating
- There is now an acceptance rate requirement for Early Access scheduling
- Only Platinum drivers can unlock large orders (catering)
- Top Dasher is gone, but the same benefits are offered in the Platinum level
- Benefits are on a constant rolling basis. You lose benefits as soon as your ratings drop below the requirement
The Dasher Rewards program
Dasher Rewards is a program that unlocks benefits when you meet rating requirements for acceptance rate, completion rate, and customer rating. You can level up to Silver, Gold, and Platinum as your ratings increase to meet the qualifications.
It combines existing programs like Top Dasher and Early Access into one unified program with more straightforward criteria that you can view in one place.
In participating cities, view your rewards in the Ratings area of the app. You’ll see your ratings, unlocked rewards, and the requirements to reach higher levels.
Where is the pilot program live?
Check the Dasher rewards page to see the list of active cities and the most recent changes to the program.
Requirements for Dasher Rewards
Meet these requirements to unlock each tier. New rewards will unlock within 48 hours. Note that some markets may have different requirements.
| Acceptance Rate | Completion Rate | Customer Rating | Deliveries in last 30 days | Lifetime deliveries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 50% | 90% | 4.5 | n/a | 50+ |
| Gold | 70% | 90% | 4.5 | n/a | 50+ |
| Platinum | 70% | 95% | 4.7 | 100 | 50+ |
Some markets have different requirements
While the table above applies to most markets, some areas have unique requirements. For example, Dashers in California shared these requirements, which are more strict than the default requirements.
Requirements are higher in some cities
Benefits of each rewards tier
Unlock benefits by reaching the Silver, Gold, and Platinum reward levels.
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority access to high-paying orders | Priority | Increased Priority | Top Priority |
| Advance Scheduling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| VIP Support | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Access to Large Orders | ✓ | ||
| Dash Anytime | ✓ |
Here’s an example of a Dasher who reached the Platinum level. Note the extremely high ratings!
Here’s what it looks like when you reach Platinum
More details about each benefit
Priority Access to high-paying orders
With priority access to high-paying orders, you are more likely to see offers for high-paying orders than other Dashers who don’t have the same perk.
And as your reward status increases to Gold and Platinum, DoorDash says that the level of your priority increases.
But what exactly are high-paying orders, and what does it mean to get priority access to them?
DoorDash only says that high-paying orders are “some of the highest paying deliveries in the area, which can vary by area, over time, and by delivery distance.”
So far, DoorDash hasn’t given much detail about how the priority access system actually works. A similar priority access system is in other markets and not all Dashers agree that it actually makes a big difference.
You’ll have to experiment for yourself to see if priority access actually makes a difference in your area. You might find that the only way to consistently get orders is to get priority access, or you might find that getting priority access actually lowers your earnings by forcing you to take too many low-paying orders
You’ll see this banner when you get Priority Access
Advanced Scheduling — Previously called Early Access scheduling
With advanced scheduling, you can schedule a dash up to 6 days in advance beginning at 3 PM each day. It is unlocked at the Silver level.
Without advanced scheduling, you can only schedule your dash 5 days in advance, and new hours are released at midnight instead of 3 PM.
Advanced acheduling replaces Early Access. It offers the same benefits as Early Access, but requires a 50% acceptance rate.
Dash Anytime
With Dash Anytime, you can Dash Now at any time—even if a zone isn’t busy and marked in red on the map. Without Dash Anytime, you can be blocked from going online if you don’t have scheduled hours and if a zone isn’t busy enough.
Dash Anytime is unlocked at the Platinum level. Previously, Dash Anytime was a Top Dasher benefit.
Access to large orders — Catering orders
Dashers who reach the Platinum level become eligible to receive catering orders in the Large Order program. To start getting Large Order requests, you must also have an eligible catering bag and upload photos to the app.
Catering orders tend to have higher tips and higher overall pay. Before Dasher Rewards, there was no acceptance rate requirement to access catering orders. Now, you need to accept 70% of orders.
This Platinum Dasher scored a HUGE tip from a Chipotle catering order
Reach Platinum to access the Large Order program
VIP Support
Platinum level Dashers get VIP Support, which promises to ‘route you to top support agents.’
You’ll have Dasher VIP Support at your fingertips to resolve your issues when you reach out to Dasher support, on or off your Dash.
Here’s what Dasher Rewards is changing
Most of the benefits in Dasher Rewards—like Advanced scheduling and Dash Anytime—may look the same to you. But here’s how some of the best benefits are changing.
Top Dasher is gone, but you can unlock the same benefits with Platinum
The Dasher Rewards pilot eliminates Top Dasher status, but you can still get the same benefits by reaching the Platinum level.
You can unlock Dash Anytime—the primary benefit of Top Dasher—by reaching Platinum.
But there’s one big difference between the old Top Dasher and Platinum rewards: You can lose the Platinum benefits as soon as your ratings drop below the requirement.
In the past, Top Dasher benefits lasted an entire month. You only had to meet the rating requirements at the end of the month to qualify for the next month.
Many Top Dashers allowed their acceptance rating to dip early in the month, then worked it back up in time for the end of the month cutoff.
Now, you’ll have to consistently keep your AR above 70%, which is usually the most challenging rating requirement to meet. That’s a big loss in flexibility.
Early access scheduling is now ‘Advanced scheduling’ — with an AR requirement
The ‘Advanced scheduling’ benefit replaces Early Access scheduling. It is unlocked in the Silver tier, which requires a 50% acceptance rate, 90% completion rate, and 4.5 star rating.
The benefit of Advanced scheduling is the same as Early Access: You can schedule hours up to 6 days in advance, at 3 PM each day.
Dashers without Advanced Scheduling can schedule only 5 days in advance, starting at midnight.
The most significant difference between Early Access and Advanced Scheduling is that Advanced Scheduling requires a 50% acceptance rate.
Early Access did not have an acceptance rate requirement, which gave you the flexibility to decline more orders while still giving you more access to better hours.
It was one of the best-kept secrets that gave you great benefits with almost no cost, but the new 50% acceptance rating requirement might be too high of a price.
The large order program (catering orders) now has an acceptance rate requirement
The large order program is an invite-only perk that gives you access to lucrative catering orders. There were strict requirements to get into the program, but there wasn’t an acceptance rating requirement.
With Dasher Rewards, to get catering orders you must reach the highest tier with a 70% AR requirement.
Before, you had to be an active, highly-rated Dasher to get catering orders, but you were free to reject as many orders as you wanted and still be eligible.
Benefits start as soon as you meet the requirements and end as soon as your ratings drop
One new feature of Dasher Rewards is that you unlock benefits as soon as you meet the requirements.
Previously, there were weekly or monthly cutoff dates to meet the requirements. For example, Top Dasher was awarded on the 2nd day of each month.
But there’s a new downside: You lose access to a rewards level as soon as your ratings no longer meet the requirement.
You can’t lock in rewards and coast for or a month. You have to constantly monitor your ratings and make sure they don’t slip.
That means less flexibility and more pressure. Every order matters. You can’t regularly skip most orders and still expect to keep access to perks like Early Access and Dash Anytime.
Other new elements of Dasher Rewards
You have the option to clear your completion rate
As part of the program, DoorDash offers the option to clear your completion rate and let you start fresh.
As you work to rebuild your new completion rate, you’ll be able to reach new reward levels once you meet the acceptance rate and customer rating requirements.
Your completion rate won’t be factored in for up to 50 deliveries or a minimum of 3 weeks, whichever is longer.
After that period, you must meet all ratings requirements—including completion rate—to unlock new levels..
Brand new dashers get benefits for first 50 deliveries
To help new Dashers get comfortable with the platform, DoorDash offers Dash Anytime, Priority access to high-paying orders, and VIP support on your first 50 deliveries.
After you complete 50 deliveries, you’ll have to meet the usual requirements for Dasher Rewards.
In other words, you don’t need strong ratings to qualify for some program benefits if you have completed fewer than 5o deliveries.
The big takeaway: DoorDash wants you to accept more orders!
The Dasher Rewards pilot doesn’t offer any new perks that Dashers didn’t previously have access to. Instead of adding new rewards, DoorDash added new requirements to get rewards.
One positive change is that it consolidates all rewards programs into one place, with easier-to-follow requirements.
But there’s one massive change that many Dashers won’t like: All benefits now have an acceptance rating requirement.
Cherry picking—skipping bad orders and only taking good ones—is no longer a viable strategy if you want Early Access, catering orders, or the ability to Dash Now at any time.
DoorDash wants you to accept more orders! And they don’t want you to let your AR dip early in the month and build it back up later in the month. They want you to constantly accept 50%–70% of orders.
And when pay for many orders is as low as $2.50, it can be hard to accept more than 50% of orders. Many Dashers will have to say goodbye to perks they used in the past.
The message is clear: If you want any perks at all, start accepting more orders!
