#UberFare #RideShare #UberPricing #FairPricing
Have you ever noticed that your Uber fare seems to be higher than someone else’s, even when you’re both going to the same place at the same time? π It turns out that Uber actually charges you based on what they think you’ll personally be willing to pay. This means that your fare is personalized to you, taking into account factors such as your previous willingness to pay, distance, and driver availability.
Here’s how it works and what you can do about it:
###How Uber Determines Your Fare
1. **Personalized Pricing:** Uber uses data from your past rides to calculate the fare they think you’ll be willing to pay. If you’ve been willing to pay higher fares in the past, they may present you with a higher fare for similar trips in the future.
2. **Minimum Fare:** Of course, Uber also has a minimum fare based on factors such as distance and driver availability. However, the fare you see may still be personalized within that minimum threshold.
###Example of Personalized Fare
Let’s say you have two different Uber accounts – one for work and one for personal use. On your work account, you’re less concerned about the fare since it’s linked to a corporate card, and you often take long trips to and from the airport. On your personal account, you’re more conscious of surcharges and avoid taking trips with exorbitant fares.
You might notice that the fare for the exact same trip at the exact same time is higher on your work account compared to your personal account. This is because Uber has personalized the fare based on your past willingness to pay, leading to a price difference for the same ride.
###What You Can Do
1. **Use Different Payment Methods:** If you have multiple credit cards, consider linking them to different Uber accounts. This could potentially lead to different personalized fares for each account, allowing you to choose the lower fare for certain trips.
2. **Be Mindful of Your Willingness to Pay:** If you consistently accept higher fares, Uber may continue to present you with elevated prices. Be selective about the fares you accept to avoid being overcharged in the future.
3. **Compare Prices:** Before booking a ride, consider comparing the fares on different accounts or with friends to ensure that you’re not being presented with an inflated personalized fare.
###Avoiding Overcharging
Understanding how Uber determines your personalized fare can help you avoid being overcharged for rides. By being mindful of your past willingness to pay, using different payment methods, and comparing prices, you can ensure that you’re not paying more than necessary for your Uber trips.
So, next time you book a ride with Uber, keep in mind that the fare you see is based on what they think you’ll pay, and take steps to ensure that you’re getting a fair price for your journey. π±π¦
Had a similar thing requesting a refund today for an order that wasn’t picked up. My spouse foolishly canceled the order. They offered a $10 credit, all you had to do was say no to receive a full refund.
It’s an easy instant $20 profit to exploit someone who thinks ‘welp this is probably as good as it gets’.
Does Uber do the same thing to the drivers?
I had a short trip say it was going to cost $25 when it really should have been about $9… I canceled, closed the app, waited a minute, requested again and it came back to the “normal” rate. It only happened once but I’ll never forget π
I keep Lyft on my phone for this reason. Was needing a ride to the airport 10 miles away. Uber was $57 and Lyft was only $25.
What’s the best way to “train” it for your benefit? Do I just view the prices and then not select an Uber and that’s sufficient? Or, do I select the Uber X first and then cancel the ride? Thanks!
Iβm almost positive this is what Airbnb has done to me. I paid an outrageous rate one weekend in a jam, and Iβve never found a cheaper lodging since. Absolutely bizarre.
I once was offered a “faster service” to skip the wait of purportedly 20+ minutes, with the price differential of about 20-30+%. because there were no drivers available right now for the regular service. I said no, I am willing to wait — almost immediately after I clicked no (not even 10 seconds), I was assigned a driver.
I have seen Uber will slowly increase the price on my regular route, by half a dollar to 1 dollar all the time, not much individually, but when they do it to all the riders, I am sure it add significantly to their profits. Unfortunately, Lyft is no longer very active in bay area (with consistently longer wait times).
Like the classic taxi scam of “oh this is a short cut” and doubles the length. Companies are so scammy
Itβs called price discovery and itβs trying to figure out your price elasticity, just turn it down and the algo should learn to offer lower rates.
I donβt get why some people are only loyal to one service. They literally have the same people driving on both. Open both and check prices.
In 2018, I took an Uber from the hospital ER home and was charged $30. Earlier this year I got one to pick up my car at a tire shop and it was about $10. Both rides were about 7 miles.
The web says their CEO blamed inflation for their 83% rate hikes from 2018-2022, but that was 4 times the inflation rate. So color me confused at this point. Perhaps I misremembered and one ride wasn’t an Uber?
I think iirc, itβs called price scaling.
The idea is that, instead of charging people what itβs worth, you try to find out how much people are willing to pay. Then set the prices by the highest people are willing to pay without getting them to leave and buy somewhere else.
This is much more common with the digital age as websites and services can track you across the web and determine whatβs the mostly likely highest price you would be willing to pay.
Itβs easier today since customers often donβt see each otherβs prices, unlike in a physical store.
This is how all businesses work, by the way. Pricing isnβt pure supply and demand, as some people think. Businesses will always try to charge as much as they believe customers will pay, no matter how much the product cost to produce. This has been made much easier and more scientific for these businesses with the explosion of data collection over the past decade.
I suspect Amazon does this.
I create the same ride in both Uber and Lyft and pick whichever is cheaper. The difference could be $10-40 and it only takes an extra minute or so.
By chance, is your work Uber account setup for Business Comfort? I know business accounts pay a slightly higher fare for Business Comfort rides. I drive for Uber and I will take all Business Comfort rides because fares are slightly higher and people willing to tip more because itβs a business expense.
Every once in a while, make sure to check Uber for somewhere you frequent. Do this when you know youβre not going to go, and the app will register it as declining the price. helps keep uber prices down.
This is wild, I had no idea. Awesome tip. If they’re doing it I bet others are/will be soon.
I only use Uber a few times a year but I will pay closer attention. I’m also going to try this trick of trying a couple of different addresses (e.g., pharmacy near the restaurant I really want to go to) and see what happens.
Crazy that this is legal. Would be completely illegal in a taxi to charge different people different rates.
An interesting corollary that you may be unaware of is that Uber pays the driver what they think they’ll accept. The difference is their profit margin.
The algorithm is very good at maximizing that. They offer the driver a rate, not based on time and distance, but based on what the algorithm thinks the driver will accept. And it’s different for different drivers. Lately, that number has been going lower as more drivers are available.
Uber is dirty, especially towards its drivers. Drivers get paid in terms of cents per mile. There was a time when Uber would take a bigger share out of the ride’s fare than the driver. As a former driver, the worst was when Uber took 50% (or more) of a ride’s fare from me. I scrambled out of that job the moment an opportunity became available to me.
If you want to read more about Uber’s dirty tactics, I recommend you go visit the rideshare forum called UberPeople . Net.
I stopped using Uber when I went to see Alvvays in Asheville. Uber wanted $46 to take me 1.8 miles from my motel (The Beaucatcher Inn) to the venue (The Orange Peel). I closed Uber and tried again. This time they wanted $43 for the same trip.
I tried Lyft instead, and they only wanted $8 and change for the ride. As a bonus, when Alvvays left the stage before their encore, I checked Lyft (to go ahead and book a ride in case there was a 45 minute wait). The wait was 16 minutes. That seemed a bit too short given that the encore would probably be at least 10 minutes. I tried Lyft again immediately after the concert ended and the wait was “45 seconds”. I walked out of the venue just as the Lyft driver was pulling up. It was magic.
I guess the lesson is donβt use Uber Black.
I once used UBER app as a bargin. I showed the fare I got from UBER to the taxi driver outside the airport and he agree of a lower price (10 EUROs less)