RIDEGURU
How far have you driven on a ride
Posted 6 years, 1 month ago
Posted In
Ask a RideGuru
Questions from riders and drivers answered by our Ride Gurus and Rideshare Experts
Posted By
Kayla Krum (KaylaKrum)
26
Ride Apprentice
Popular Links
- Maximum Ridesharing Profits
- Fare Estimator
- Rideshare 101
- Sign up for UberAd
- Sign up for Uber EatsAd
- Sign up for Lyft - $5 offAd
Comments
I have had 3 long rides since I started driving for Uber. One was to Brookly NY 2 weeks ago (87 miles) Atlantic City NJ (77 miles), and Hoboken NJ (82miles).
Were the three people you took on the long rides nice and were they quiet or did they talk to you?
The one to Hoboken was a very sweet man who was a steward on an airline. He was ftom England visiting the Katherine Drexel Shrine. His Aunt was a Nun there who passed away. He couldnt make the funeral so he came before they closed the Shrine down. He was headed back to get on a plane that was flying back to England. Super nice interesting man. Talked the whole way. He was also my 40.00 tipper :) AC trip was a young woman who was very quiet. I had to pull over to get my wallet out of trunk for tolls. Forgot my cash in it. That opened up a discussuon so we talked the rest of the way. Most times you can tell when a rider wants to talk or not. She was one of the few I wasnt sure. Tried when she first got in but she seemed to want to be left alone. Guess I was wrong :). Brooklyn trip 2 guys missed train trying to get to concert. After 25 min. of both of them assuring their women they were going where they said they were. That they could be trusted & not cheat on them …
Read more...
The one to Hoboken was a very sweet man who was a steward on an airline. He was ftom England visiting the Katherine Drexel Shrine. His Aunt was a Nun there who passed away. He couldnt make the funeral so he came before they closed the Shrine down. He was headed back to get on a plane that was flying back to England. Super nice interesting man. Talked the whole way. He was also my 40.00 tipper :) AC trip was a young woman who was very quiet. I had to pull over to get my wallet out of trunk for tolls. Forgot my cash in it. That opened up a discussuon so we talked the rest of the way. Most times you can tell when a rider wants to talk or not. She was one of the few I wasnt sure. Tried when she first got in but she seemed to want to be left alone. Guess I was wrong :). Brooklyn trip 2 guys missed train trying to get to concert. After 25 min. of both of them assuring their women they were going where they said they were. That they could be trusted & not cheat on them they were talkers also. Thankfully my long rides were all nice friendly people. In my opinion its nice when riders talk to you especially long rides as it gets boring and awkward when there is total silence other than radio. If you are tired having a conversation helps you stay awake. I had a 47 min rude last night. Rider talked for few minutes asked some questions and then I could tell he was done talking so I said no more. He got laptop out and was doing some work. If rider is occupied headphones on, playing games on phone, talking, texting etc... its not awkward if they dont speak to you. If they seem to be watching your every move and seem bored out if their mind then its awkward. Uber should have icon on app passenger open to conversation and dont talk to me lol. I would like to know that they dont want to talk or they would like to have conversation. Sometimes you try to talk and they give 1 word answers or they say nothing. It gives impression they dont want to speak. Three blocks before drop off something comes up they start tslking and dont shut up. Lol Then your thinking damn I read that one wrong. Lol Most awkward is when rider sits in front seat right next to you. Doesnt say 2 words and gives impression they want know parts of talking. Not often but does happen, so awkward. :) Sorry all my answers are always long. Lol
Short answer -
Yes all of the 3 trips were super nice people, no awkward moments. Well maybe a little with AC ride in the beginning. Lol Dreading a long trip with someone that is annoying or it being totally awkward. Thanks for the upvotes.
Read less...
Its ok lol and your welcome
Had another long trip tonight. Flushing NY 104 miles.
What road did you take home? What bridge/tunnel?
Was ride to flushing the only one you did prior to returning to Philly?
How long was round trip from pickup to return to home market or until next passenger?
I didnt take toll roads home. Lincoln tunnel I assume lol I didnt know where I was I am a slave to GPS. Lol First ride of the night. Yes, didnt put app back on until 95 it was 1am by then. Approx. 1hr 55 min (traffic) to get there as rider took 8 min to get his butt in my car. Does snyone ever sleep in NY traffic always a mess. Approx. 2 hrs to get back to Knights and Frankford. I stopped to fill up in Jersey andcanswer a few texts and emails. It was a scheduled ride he was still late:) Had me stop to pick up a key 5 blocks from destination. Made sure he handed me 20.00 as he was asking me to make stop. That was nice of him but I would've stopped for free :)He had a child with him. Let's see if you can guess car seat or no car seat? Lol Good thing he was 5 yrs old and decent weight and height. My booster seat has paid off. Wouldnt of been happy if I had to cancel that ride. No way would I have taken them with no seat regardless of how much I was p…
Read more...
I didnt take toll roads home. Lincoln tunnel I assume lol I didnt know where I was I am a slave to GPS. Lol First ride of the night. Yes, didnt put app back on until 95 it was 1am by then. Approx. 1hr 55 min (traffic) to get there as rider took 8 min to get his butt in my car. Does snyone ever sleep in NY traffic always a mess. Approx. 2 hrs to get back to Knights and Frankford. I stopped to fill up in Jersey andcanswer a few texts and emails. It was a scheduled ride he was still late:) Had me stop to pick up a key 5 blocks from destination. Made sure he handed me 20.00 as he was asking me to make stop. That was nice of him but I would've stopped for free :)He had a child with him. Let's see if you can guess car seat or no car seat? Lol Good thing he was 5 yrs old and decent weight and height. My booster seat has paid off. Wouldnt of been happy if I had to cancel that ride. No way would I have taken them with no seat regardless of how much I was paid. They didnt speak English well but the wife understood pretty good. I had to tell them 4X to put kid in seat. Little did I know at some point she took him out of seat so he could sleep on her lap. I will say this over and over again, what the hell is wrong with these parents? It totally blows my mind that they just dont get it. 126.00 + Tolls 20.00 tip. Although Uber cheated me on NJ TP toll. I sent a message they gave it to me. Took the new TP route 95 North got off after Bristol exit. Very convenient. Saved on that 3.00+ toll they charge you when you get on up by Neshaminy. You know the one that you drive maybe a mile and come to a toll as soon as you get on. I think I covered your ques. Lol its too early in the morning actually late for me. I am going home to bed to start all over again at 6pm. Have a great weekend. Be safe out there.
Read less...
I want a long trip headed down 95 going South with destination not far off 95. Lol PA TP up the extension. Areas I know better. Lol
What happens for the ride back? Do you have a rider? Is it boring? Does it pay enough taking long rides or is it not worth it?
On all of my long rides I chose not to accept any trips until I got closer to home. I dont like driving in areas I dont know at all. We cannot pick up in New York. I could've picked up in NJ though. It was worth it for me as 1 trip I was tipped 40.00 cash, the other trip 10.00, AC trip no tip. All 3 trips were approx 3 hrs roundtrip. I think its worth it approx 22.00 to 35.00 per hr after subtracting gas, taxes, tolls, etc. Dead miles on way back sucks. It would be great if we had a rider. Especially if that rider was headed back close to your home city but dont see that happening :) Tips on long trips definately are a help when you have those dead miles. :)
Those rides back to your home location is often called a "dead leg", where the drivers do not get paid at all.
Uber's driver app has this feature that allows you to specify where you would like to go, e.g. home. If you set this, the app will try to match you up with a passenger that is going in the direction of where you are going. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it's great.
On super long trips, this doesn't work that well, unless it's between airports where there are many exchanges. Say between Newark and Philadelphia or something. Two cities that are relatively close and plenty of people travel between them on long Uber rides. There are other examples like LA and Las Vegas, where drivers could drive people on both directions (~4 hours) making for a very lucrative day.
I think it is worth it
On that particular ride it was worth it, because I got rear ended and at fault driver offered to pay $1,200 for repairs. Repairs cost me half of that :)
What did suck is because I had a passenger in car, I reported it to Lyft and they said, ok finish this ride and then we are disabling your account, until you send us pictures of car being fixed
So that killed my chances of getting a rider on way back. I used Uber on way back with destination filter, but learned that I can't pick up anyone in Baltimore as I am registered in PA, so then I drove back on a different road to cross over into PA faster than the highway I wanted to take.
If you plan driving correctly and know where to go for next pickup after a long ride it works out good. You spend less gas and less wear and tear on car. Must have EZ Pass - tolls are cheaper with it :)
LG PA did you drive Saturday night? I started at 7pm it's 145am. Just took first break. It's been ride after ride. Only 2 pool sent my way of course I declined. This is how Saturday nights used to be last year. People were strange tonight also and its not a full moon. Lol Carried a 5.00 surge with me leaving Kensington. Managed to fly up 95 got up to Academy before I was pinged. No surge around Maggies near Delaware but the young guy that got me got stuck with 5.00 surge on his ride. Bad luck for him. Dont think thats fair but what do you do? It's Ubers fault.
No, I rarely go out driving on Saturdays, kids are usually busy with swimming, soccer then have friends come over, etc.
My main driving days are Friday after work 4:30pm to about 2:00am and then on Sunday all day (when no kids activities)
When you say 5.00 surge you are referring to $5.00 extra Uber will add to the next ride since you drove through the surging zone - right?
I bet the actual rider did not get charged this fee and Uber just ate it. At the time rider who was in non surge zone ordered the ride Uber probably has no idea you would be the one accepting the ride, so I bet they just ate it.
Flat fee surge is a joke. Imagine this ride carried a % multiplier of 2.00% vs a $5.00 flat fee. Then this ride guessing about 15 miles would have earned you $15.00 extra instead of just $5.00. In NJ though % multiplier still applies ;)
So that is another example how Uber came up with yet another innovative, self benefiting way to reach into our pockets for our money ;)
Yes flat fee. It was listed under rider payment and no negatives for Uber so I think he did get stuck with it. Of course Uber only looks out for themselves. Had an XL trip it was really short I only made .25 more than Uber on the trip. My booking fees are still fluctuating between 2.00/2.20 and 2.50/2.60. Still cant get a straight answer from Uber. Same scripted answer all the time. I gave up. That was one trip I should've booted 5 young males out of my car. I have 3 boys grew up with brothers no sisters so not much phases me but they were really inappropriate. Had a group of snotty, stuck up, self entitled millenials that reeked up weed (skunk). Had a rider right after that Blunt Effects to the rescue:) If I find it inappropriate its bad. Lol Wasnt a full moon but most of my trips were weird, awkward, or silent. Last night is how it was when I first started 1 trip after another. Wish all nights were like that. Started at 8pm finished at 230am 15 trips, too…
Read more...
Yes flat fee. It was listed under rider payment and no negatives for Uber so I think he did get stuck with it. Of course Uber only looks out for themselves. Had an XL trip it was really short I only made .25 more than Uber on the trip. My booking fees are still fluctuating between 2.00/2.20 and 2.50/2.60. Still cant get a straight answer from Uber. Same scripted answer all the time. I gave up. That was one trip I should've booted 5 young males out of my car. I have 3 boys grew up with brothers no sisters so not much phases me but they were really inappropriate. Had a group of snotty, stuck up, self entitled millenials that reeked up weed (skunk). Had a rider right after that Blunt Effects to the rescue:) If I find it inappropriate its bad. Lol Wasnt a full moon but most of my trips were weird, awkward, or silent. Last night is how it was when I first started 1 trip after another. Wish all nights were like that. Started at 8pm finished at 230am 15 trips, took 2 half hour breaks 195.00 for the night. Declined 2 pool rides and didnt take any in Kesington until I got up here. Also didnt get any back from Richboro on destination filter. I did however take 2 rides in CC but too much traffic down there. Lots of accidents all over last night also. Thanks for replying to post. Dont know any drivers in the area or any area so know one to complain to or talk about Uber stuff:) You ever wait at 30th street? Only 4 cars in queues last night 10 min wait time. Last week airport only had 7 X and 3 XL. Wasnt sure where wait lots are though. Have to find them :) Lastly took an Uber driver (older guy, retired) and his son to dinner 15 min ride. He was talking about tipping we talked the whole way. He tipped 3.00 cash. Only 2nd driver to tip :) Kinda felt awkward though especially since we both complained. Then my thoughts were he is still a rider probably should've watched what I said. He was cool though let him do most of .complaining. Dont like talking about tips with anyone when subject comes up if you complain or make negative comment you know it will be held against you. Lol If rider asks I redirect conversation quickly. Ok done complaining and explaining my night. Headed out to drive. Have a good night. Stay safe.
Read less...
135 miles Philadelphia burbs to Colombia MD
I have gotten several trips from Boston Logan that were about a 100 miles. To Portsmouth, NH, Springfield, MA, and Hartford, CT. All very lucrative because they are right off of Interstates so I can travel great distance in a short period. I will admit that the return requests haven't been kind, but I definitely came out on top on those days.
I spoke to these passengers, and they all did this due to flight arrangements or to save costs on airfare. Sometimes, it's much cheaper to take UberXs from city to city as the last leg of the flight.