Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend.  Hat tip to my friend Esther for telling me about the BART Perks program.  This program is only available to BART customers with a Clipper Card.  All of the information mentioned below came from the BART Perks FAQ PDF and all the screenshots came from my account.  I will summarize everything you need to know about BART Perks, but if you have any questions, please check the PDF for more information.

First things first, to join BART Perks, please click here to create your free account.  You will receive 250 points and start at gold status (more info on points and status below).  BART Perks is a 6 month test program to explore new ways to reduce train crowding during peak morning hours.  Riders earn points for every trip on BART and those points can be exchanged for small cash rewards or used to play a Spin to Win game for the chance to win additional points or cash rewards up to $100.  The BART Perks test program will end on February 2017 and the future of the program will be evaluated at that point.

After you join BART Perks, you will receive 250 points and start at gold status.  To keep gold status, you need to ride BART between 6:30am – 7:30am or between 8:30am – 9:30am on Monday through Friday – 3 times a week to keep gold status and 4 times a week to get platinum status.

Every trip you take on BART earns points.  You automatically earn 1 point for every mile traveled on BART and the number of points varies depending on the trip length, time of day, and program status.  Commuters who begin their trip during one of the bonus hours will receive additional points based on their program status.  If your trip begins during a bonus hour, you will earn 3x points for bronze status, 4x points for silver, 5x for gold, and 6x for platinum.  Here are a few examples:

• 10 mile trip at 8am for a bronze member = 10 (miles) x 1 (multiplier) = 10 points
• 10 mile trip at 7am for a bronze member = 10 (miles) x 3 (multiplier) = 30 points
• 10 mile trip at 9am for a platinum member = 10 (miles) x 6 (multiplier) = 60 points

There are 4 program status levels: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.  The more times you travel on BART during bonus hours, the higher your status and a higher status earns more points when traveling during bonus hours.

• Everyone starts out at the bronze level.
• For silver, you need 2 bonus trips a week for a period of at least two weeks.
• For gold, you need 3 bonus trips per week for a period of at least two weeks.
• For platinum, you need 4 bonus trips per week for a period of at least two weeks.

If you click on your name in the upper right corner, you can see your current rewards info (current points balance and dollars won), status level, recent trips, and points statement.  It can take up to 2 working days for your BART trips to post to your BART Perks account from your Clipper Card.

The Spin to Win tab allows you to redeem BART Perks points for a chance to win more points or cash prizes.  Each spin costs 10 points and you will randomly move 1-6 spaces.  If you land on a tile with points, those points will automatically be added to your account.  If you land on a split tile with 2 possible rewards, the program will randomly select your reward.  Each game board has a maximum prize, depending on your status level: bronze ($10), silver ($20), gold ($50), and platinum ($100).  If you win a prize with Spin to Win, your account will be credited with the rewards.  At the end of each month, you will receive a PayPal payment for your outstanding rewards (payment process could take up to 3 weeks).  By default, BART Perks is set to autoplay all your points each week.  If you want to turn off autoplay, scroll down to learn how.

From time to time, the Bonus Box tab will show targeted offers to earn more points, based on your commuting history.  Your offer will be effective only when you open the Bonus Box and starts from the day you accept the offer.  All bonus box offers have an expiration date and unopened offers expire from your account.  Bonus box offers are sent at the end of the week to select users, depending on your commute patterns.  If you regularly commute through the transbay tube (Oakland to San Francisco), you will receive more bonus box offers, since that is the trip that BART is attempting to shift.

The Connections tab is where you can refer friends to BART Perks and see which friends have joined the program.  You will receive 250 points for every person you refer who joins BART Perks.  Here is my referral link – thanks for your support!

To view your profile and make changes to your account, click the gear icon in the upper right corner.  You can change your avatar picture (based on your Gravatar email) and change you redemption preferences.  There are 2 ways to redeem your BART Perks – play Spin to Win game to win prizes up to $100 or redeem for cash rewards (1,000 BART Perks points = $1).

If you prefer the cash rewards option, you need to change your settings to Cash Buyout.  Your cash rewards will be sent via PayPal to the email address associated with your BART Perks account.  By default, your BART Perks points will automatically be spent every week to play the Spin to Win game.  If you do not like that option, change your redemption option to Manual.

If you go with Cash Buyout, the Spin to Win tab changes to the Redeem tab.  You cannot redeem BART Perks points unless you have 1,000+ points.

After playing the Spin to Win game for a few minutes, I ended up spending all my points and have nothing left to show for it.  Easy come, easy go.  Hopefully your luck will be better than mine.

If you have any questions about Bart Perks, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!