RIDEGURU
Anybody want a good laugh? This was so funny that I couldn't be upset...even though I wanted to!
I took a last ride tonight from Uber because the app told me that it was "likely" I was going to get a long pickup fee...so I was SOLD!
When I went on my computer to check out the breakdown of the ride...this is what I saw:
Long Pickup Fee $0.08
Lunch on me fellas ![wink]()
Comments
Amateur move, brotha! LOL. When given the opportunity to receive the long pickup fee, you must take the longest route possible. If you got $0.08, that means the clock JUST started running for you. This means you drove like 20 minutes or (8 miles or something) just to cross the threshold for the fee, and you failed to not enjoy it. You were probably in the bonus zone for like 6 seconds. Only if you had gotten stuck at that red light for 3 minutes, you would have gotten $6 more!
Don't worry, dude. It happens to me all the time. I started to notice this more in the suburbs. I drove like 25 minutes somewhere and I made like $1.20.
See, everyone thought we'd make a killing on this, but they don't pay you nearly as much as the driving time/distance while there is a pax on the car.
Unreal! So when they say that the long pickup fee is "possible" (not likely) they are hoping that I won't park my car somewhere for 10 minutes on that particular trip before picking up the ride, I guess!
Come to think of it...why are there different levels of odds for getting a long pickup? It's a little weird because they put that out there with the ride ostensibly to get us to accept it...and frankly it doesn't exactly inspire me with a lot of confidence that I am going to get it.
1) Uber is still rolling this out, so it's not availabule for all cities and all areas within a city
2) The threshold is set differently for each city/area. I think they mentioned the range is 8-10 minutes?
In typical Uber style, they aren't clear on how they deploy a new feature. Some of it is that they're still trying to figure them out and easing into it and also so drivers won't try to take advantage of the program. (Heaven forbid if drivers get overpaid! Gasp!!)
I do not chase long pickups unless I am on destination filter and the pickup will help me fund my travel home or wherever I have my destination set. What I do is on slow night I may occasionally hit agree to go 10-15 min to scoop up a passenger but while on way to get them I keep the other rideshare app open and if that other app gets a ping that is not a pool/shared and is less time to passenger I will cancel the initial request and go get the closer one on the other app
Remember that the goal of these fees isn't so much to compensate the driver and keep them happy. The primary goal is to make sure the driver accepts the pickups that are far away. (Yeah, I know I am sort of saying the same thing, but there's a nuance there.)
So to put it bluntly, they just waned to display, "Long pickup fee possible!"
Is that what it is? You only make money on the part of the pickup that's above the threshold? I thought if you crossed the threshod, you make the rate multiplied by the whole distance and time. I guess that'd be too good to be true. but that's how I read it when Uber announced it.
First remember there are two statements, one is likely and one is "possible"... and also remember that every market area has a threshold. So for example, it Cleveland, OH it is 10 minutes, but in the Southern area which we term the "Akron" or Southern market, the threshold is 15 minutes!!!
You ONLY get paid for the time/miles OVER the threshold, not the entire trip! So if you're accepting them (and I do if it's somewhere I want to be) take your time. Don't rush to pick up - it's to your advantage to take MORE minutes to arrive at the threshold!
I've had quite a few trips that actually paid more for the pick up than the ride itself, so while I'm not out to abuse the system, I do drive at the speed limit and take my time while going to the pick up location.