Freebird App Rewards Austinites For Supporting Local Businesses
Ridesharing app offers cash back deals and reward points for visiting local bars and restaurants

Freebird wants to show you new places to eat and drink in Austin, and save you a bit of cash, too.
An app for mobile devices, Freebird connects to your Uber or Lyft account and offers cash-back rewards and discounts for your visits to participating bars and restaurants in Austin. The idea, according to Freebird, is to encourage Austinites to support local businesses, while providing safe and rewarding rides throughout the city.
“Our company mission is to make transportation free and fun, so we built an app that’s all about discovering new venues, enjoying worry-free fun, and earning rewards for going out,” says Freebird CEO Kurt Brendlinger.
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The app is free to use. Perks from Freebird’s restaurant and bar partners include reward points, cash-back offers, subsidized safe rides home and more. The company says its lineup of participating merchants grows larger every day. Some of the deals currently on Freebird include:
- $5 cash-back when you spend a minimum of $15 at Wanderlust Wine Co.
- $5 cash-back when you spend a minimum of $15 at Kinda Tropical.
- $5 cash-back at Indian Roller during business hours.
- 250 reward points at Emmer & Rye during business hours.
Freebird debuted in 2016 in Los Angeles and Boston as a general rideshare rewards platform, but relaunched in Austin last month with a focus on driving business to local bars and restaurants. Brendlinger says his company chose Austin as its relaunch site because of the city’s rapidly expanding population: “The huge influx of transplants continues to fuel an ever-expanding nightlife scene in Austin, and we want to play a role in this growth.”