AppleInsider Staff
With summer in full swing, Apple on Thursday issued its latest Apple Pay promotion featuring freebies and discounts from Sonic Drive-In, ParkWhiz and HotelTonight.
Announced in an email, the new round of deals come with an invite urging Apple Pay users to "hit the road and save" with the payments service.
Headlining the promotion is a free cheeseburger from Sonic, available to MySonic account holders when they place their next order while logged in online or through the Sonic app.
Parking service ParkWhiz is offering 10% off on users' next three reservations when applying promo code "APPLEPAY10" in the company's app.
HotelTonight is also providing a 10% discount when booking hotel reservations through its app with promo code "APPLEPAYHT."
Finally, Apple includes an advertisement for Apple Pay integration in the Exxon Mobil, ChargePoint and Taco Bell apps.
All deals are valid through Aug. 4, Apple says.
Apple routinely partners with retailers, brands, service providers and app makers to increase Apple Pay engagement and boost adoption. The most recent Apple Pay promotion ran in June and brought discounts on summer clothing and scooter rentals.
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Andrew O'Hara
1 Comment
Deals are always good. Apple expanding the preferred retailers is what I want to see most.
Apple Pay is among the best credit card offers out there but comes with a couple of negatives.
Positives: Cash Back rewards become available quicker than most. Ability use the cash back rewards is about as good as it gets(much better than any card I've had). If an outlet takes Apple Pay then it's guaranteed 2% cash back (except for specialty cards or annual fee cards, that's a great %). There really is no fees and no annual fee. Favored retailers including Apple give you 3%.
These are all excellent. Also, the purchase and payment alerts as well as security integration with iPhone are excellent.
The negatives: if a place doesn't take Apple Pay it's only 1% cash back, not great. Also, Apple Pay integrates with some financial software but not with the most popular, Mint.
If Apple could up the non Apple Pay locations to 1.5% or even better get Apple Pay virtually everywhere? The Apple Pay Card is among the best if not the best card there is for someone who wants just one credit card. OTOH if you go the multi specialty card route, Apple Pay is still a good card to have. You use the specialty card when their specific rewards outdoes the 2 or 3 percent, otherwise use Apple Card.