Amazon Flex Rewards – Upcoming Preferred Scheduling Perk Breakdown

Fresh off the presses from CNBC is the introduction to the upcoming Amazon Flex Rewards program. This new feature is going to gamify the Amazon Flex app even more in an attempt to increase driver loyalty. Amazon wants to keep drivers coming back to Flex rather than having them switching to other gig worker app likes Uber and InstaCart.

To do this they’ve introduced the Rewards program where drivers will earn points for each delivery and block. These points will come with a number of perks such as cash back with the Amazon Flex Debit Card, including discounts provided by Green Dot Bank, which we’re not sure what those will be nor is it stated anywhere by Amazon. This all sounds pretty great, I mean.. at least Amazon is doing something for their Flex drivers.

Perhaps the most interesting perk in the rewards program is Preferred Scheduling. With this perk drivers who’ve earned enough points can receive Rewards reserved offers. It’s like the reserved offers that we’re all used to except they’re a result of your rewards points and you’ll be able to set preferences like preferred delivery stations, days of week, and times of day. Depending on how many points you have, you’ll have more time to accept them, up to 30 minutes at the top level.

Woah! Amazon went all out on this one. I know many drivers are going to have issues with it. I personally have some reservations myself but I want to see the program in action before being critical. For now I’ll take Amazon’s word for it that they’re actually trying to help drivers.

Preferred Scheduling Breakdown

So the question is how many blocks will it take to get in on the Preferred Scheduling feature?

Here is Amazon’s points breakdown:

https://flex.amazon.com/amazonflexrewards

Preferred scheduling begins at Level 2 and you need 650 points to reach that. Since most logistics blocks are more than 20 deliveries, we’ll say about 40.

With a Fair standing and 40 packages per block, that would be 50 points total for each completed block. (50 x 13 = 650) It’s going to take roughly 13 logistics blocks with a fair rating to reach level 2 where you can then begin to use Preferred scheduling. With other types of blocks it’s going to take more because they have less deliveries.

For drivers with a Great standing it’s going to take about 6.5 logistics blocks. Where each block is about 40 packages. That would make the total points per block 100. (100 x 6.5 = 650)

Finally for those fancy drivers who have a Fantastic standing it’s going to take about 4.5 logistics blocks. Where each block is about 40 packages. That’s 150 points per block (150 x 4.5 = 675).

Whew! I hope I didn’t make any mistakes there but you get the idea. Fair standing means less points per deliver and block and more points with a higher standing. More points, more rewards, more rewards, more blocks!

After you’ve reached your level and racked up all the points, feeling like an absolute boss. You’ll have to do it again because it’s going to reset every 3 months.

At the end of each earning period, your point balance resets to zero and a new earning period begins.

https://flex.amazon.com/amazonflexrewards

Honest Opinion

I hope that the Rewards program is beneficial for drivers but I know a lot of them aren’t going to like it at first. Really, Amazon is using this as a way to make drivers work harder without actually paying us more, and that’s kinda some BS.

They might as well give us one of those loyalty rewards cards like you get at the gas station or Starbucks.

Coincidentally, I wrote about Amazon’s “rewards” in the Activity Hub just weeks ago before this program came out. Not to brag but.. I totally called it.

Before being too critical, lets see how it works out.

Appreciate it!