# How do I catch surges?



## Phantomshark (Jan 21, 2018)

So been driving for Uber and Lyft for about a month. Lyft is easy, with their power zones, and knowing about what time and where they will be a week in advance. (The tiny pink rectangles that pop up occasionally in very far away sections of the map that disappear after a minute or 2 I ignore). But I have had no luck catching Uber surges. If one pops up close I can never seem to get to it before it's gone. They always seem to happen in the same isolated areas, but I have had no luck with waiting in those areas. I even have tried Rydar, but it never hits me with a surge I can get to. Now today, a massive surge opened up all around me, with areas up to 3.2x. Rydar never even gave an indication it was happening. When I asked it for a wait point figuring it would put me somewhere in the surge away from other drivers, it actually tried to send me away to an area that was not surging. So I'm sitting in this big surge area, online since before it even popped up, and no ping. No ping. No ping. After like 5 minutes when it started to dissipate I finally got a ping from a few miles away for a 1.9 surge ride (probably only the 3rd surge ride I've ever gotten). So now I'm thinking I don't understand surges well. Anyone got advice?

And to those guys that just sit on here and bash Uber in every post, no answers from you please. I have chosen to drive for Uber, and I want advice on how to do it in the best way possible, not listen to trolls telling me Uber sucks, and I shouldn't drive for them.


----------



## Anthony 11 (Jan 1, 2018)

They are hard to catch. In my area they stay consistent when events let out, bar closing time, and if the weather is bad. Otherwise they usually disappear since most people wait them out.


----------



## Phantomshark (Jan 21, 2018)

I always assumed surges meant there were riders in the area asking for rides and no drivers to give them. So if a surge opened up right around where I was parked with my app on, shouldn't I have gotten an immediate ping?


----------



## Anthony 11 (Jan 1, 2018)

No most riders see the surge and just wait until it disappears. Uber also fakes surges to get drivers in an area they anticipate will need more drivers. I usually get pinged immediately after the surge ends. I always deny them since I figure it was a cheap pax who waited out the surge.


----------



## ratethis (Jan 7, 2017)

Welcome to uber "fake surge"


----------



## Saltyoldman (Oct 18, 2016)

Phantomshark said:


> So been driving for Uber and Lyft for about a month. Lyft is easy, with their power zones, and knowing about what time and where they will be a week in advance. (The tiny pink rectangles that pop up occasionally in very far away sections of the map that disappear after a minute or 2 I ignore). But I have had no luck catching Uber surges. If one pops up close I can never seem to get to it before it's gone. They always seem to happen in the same isolated areas, but I have had no luck with waiting in those areas. I even have tried Rydar, but it never hits me with a surge I can get to. Now today, a massive surge opened up all around me, with areas up to 3.2x. Rydar never even gave an indication it was happening. When I asked it for a wait point figuring it would put me somewhere in the surge away from other drivers, it actually tried to send me away to an area that was not surging. So I'm sitting in this big surge area, online since before it even popped up, and no ping. No ping. No ping. After like 5 minutes when it started to dissipate I finally got a ping from a few miles away for a 1.9 surge ride (probably only the 3rd surge ride I've ever gotten). So now I'm thinking I don't understand surges well. Anyone got advice?
> 
> And to those guys that just sit on here and bash Uber in every post, no answers from you please. I have chosen to drive for Uber, and I want advice on how to do it in the best way possible, not listen to trolls telling me Uber sucks, and I shouldn't drive for them.


When you get em you get em. Pax do wait them out and drivers sit at home and wait for a surge then turn on their apps and that also makes it go away.


----------



## Anthony 11 (Jan 1, 2018)

Guilty of only turning my app on for surges


----------



## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

ratethis said:


> Welcome to uber "fake surge"


Is that " Bashing "?
Or Honesty ?
If Honesty Bashes . . .


----------



## Cableguynoe (Feb 14, 2017)

Phantomshark said:


> And to those guys that just sit on here and bash Uber in every post, no answers from you please. I have chosen to drive for Uber, and I want advice on how to do it in the best way possible, not listen to trolls telling me Uber sucks, and I shouldn't drive for them.


You call me out like this and think I'm not going to respond? 
Uber sucks!!!!



Anthony 11 said:


> Guilty of only turning my app on for surges


So you don't turn your app on, huh?



Phantomshark said:


> They always seem to happen in the same isolated areas,


The isolated areas are obviously fake.

There could be 1 freakin person needing a ride with no drivers in the area. 
So you see a surge and 11 drivers head that way. 
How do you think that's going to play out?

And during a real surge many just wait it out.
Surging doesn't guarantee getting a ride.

This is why i like driving the drunks.

It's 2 am and they need to get home. 
They're not worried about money at that point.


----------



## Mido toyota (Nov 1, 2015)

Give me one reason, why would anyone give you the trick of catching a surge fare , what is in it for me, beside you will be one more compitator, for me to not get the surged fare


----------



## Phantomshark (Jan 21, 2018)

Mido toyota said:


> Give me one reason, why would anyone give you the trick of catching a surge fare , what is in it for me, beside you will be one more compitator, for me to not get the surged fare


I thought this was a forum for drivers to help other drivers, but it seems it's more for bitter people to ***** about their life and tell everyone how much Uber sucks, or brag about how many people they were able to rip off with fake no-shows. If anyone knows a real forum where drivers get together to actually try and be helpful please let me know (better send it in a private message or the trolls will head there too).


----------



## Julescase (Mar 29, 2017)

Surges can be a blessing and a curse. When you magically end up in the middle of one, it's awesome. But sitting in the middle of one while getting no pings, or pings from OUTSIDE the surge area, can be one of the most frustrating endeavors you'll encounter as a driver. It makes me freaking CRAZY sometimes!

Surges occur when riders OPEN the Uber app and there are fewer drivers available than riders who have the app open. It doesn't mean the riders are all ordering rides. They're just looking. And remember, riders are getting smarter, plus they're told "Prices will be cheaper in 15 minutes " by the app, so usually a surge isn't quite as amazing as it appears on screen. 

I've learned to take surge rides that might be lower than the maximum surge numbers showing on the map (ie, the map says 3.2x and I'm in the very middle of the 3.2 zone, yet I get a ping for 2.1x) because odds are, the surge will dissipate very quickly since most riders will think to themselves "I'll just wait the 15 minutes and save myself $20" especially if they're not in a rush. Some pax will still order during a surge (going to work, specific set time to be somewhere, etc) but MANY think "screw this" and turn the app off and wait. 

I have tried holding out for higher numbers too many times, then been burned by waiting too long and being forced to take a much much lower surge ride since they can die in a quick second. Aaagghhh!! So infuriating!! 

You'll also notice about 5-10 minutes after a surge dies, suddenly a ton of non-surge requests start coming in. I always turn off my app at that point and wish a slow painful death on those pax, since they were the asshole shitheels who were too cheap to pay surge prices and are now bombarding my phone with their base X requests. No thank you - I don't want them in my car at their pathetic base rates. Cheapos. Those pax are some of the worst. 

Good luck! I often call myself "surge kryponite" because it seems like when I show up, surge dies. Or I'll wait in a place that ALWAYS has huge surges at 9 am on Fridays- and the one Friday at 9 am I'm there, ready and waiting, and NO GD SURGE! Ridiculous. I also picture everyone else catching the surge while I miss out-ALL the time- but I think I'm in good company most likely. It just FEELS like you're alone in the surge fight.


----------



## Phantomshark (Jan 21, 2018)

I think in protest I will only go online in Uber when I’m in a surge and turn it off when the surge disappears, and keep my Lyft on all the time. Wonder if that would work?


----------



## Juggalo9er (Dec 7, 2017)

Best way to catch a surge, watch the app when you plan On driving, you'll notice a small pattern...drive to area with app off..be sneaky...profit?


----------



## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

Phantomshark said:


> I always assumed surges meant there were riders in the area asking for rides and no drivers to give them. So if a surge opened up right around where I was parked with my app on, shouldn't I have gotten an immediate ping?


it means pax opened the app. Doesnt mean they requested. As others have noted, some pax will wait out the surge.



Phantomshark said:


> I think in protest I will only go online in Uber when I'm in a surge and turn it off when the surge disappears, and keep my Lyft on all the time. Wonder if that would work?


Depending on how busy lyft. What percentage of your trips are uber versus lyft?


----------



## negeorgia (Feb 1, 2015)

Wait for football games to end and NYE.


----------



## Ride Nights & Weekends (Jan 5, 2018)

Mido toyota said:


> Give me one reason, why would anyone give you the trick of catching a surge fare , what is in it for me, beside you will be one more compitator, for me to not get the surged fare


So simple minded.

You can only give one ride at a time.


----------



## Phantomshark (Jan 21, 2018)

steveK2016 said:


> it means pax opened the app. Doesnt mean they requested. As others have noted, some pax will wait out the surge.
> 
> Depending on how busy lyft. What percentage of your trips are uber versus lyft?


About 5050 actually.


----------



## TedInTampa (Apr 5, 2017)

Learn your area. Is there someplace that routinely let's people off work at the same time each day? Tampa has an Air Force base, and the area just outside it surges from 5 to 5:30 pm every M-F.

Learn the events. Tampa has 2 arenas, and the smaller one is often in use. When it lets out, 2x surge. Now, a football game or major concert at the big one can go 5x, but they are rare. We had a parade a couple weeks back, and I caught several surges. Unfortunately, the police were ruining traffic, so the pickups and trips took forever.

Bar closings sometimes surge. Universities at just the right time can surge. If you expect mobs of tourists and partiers, expect surge.


----------



## kdyrpr (Apr 23, 2016)

Listen.....rookie. If you don't want the truth on UBER then stay away from this forum. We are not trolls. Would you of called a 23 yr old kid coming back from Vietnam in the 60s a Troll?? We speak the truth! WE ARE UBERPEOPLE.NET ! !


----------



## kaycee (Jun 23, 2017)

Surge

Not all surge areas are the same.

Transport breakdowns

Major events

The type of population in that area.

Surge us an anticipation of demand. Put yourself in a riders shoes.


Advice

Get a feel for surge trends and times in specific areas.

Head to that zone and wait.

Patience is a virtue

Yes it can be wildly frustrating. At some point say 15-30 mins turn on and drive.

DO NOT AUTO-ACCEPT next trips unless it is nearing the end of a known surge. eg morning peak or at an event.


----------



## joebo1963 (Dec 21, 2016)

There are many drivers that sit offline and wait for the surge. I do it too but it’s harder than ever to catch a good surge ride because more pax are going to lyft and request a lyft with no PT. I see this all the time here in South Florida. But more drivers are wising up too and we go offline or let the lyft rider keep requesting and I not accept it. Uber have surge and lyft no pt. Ok offline lyft. I’ve had several pax tell me they paid the surge because lyft drivers weren’t coming. Sure some pax are cheap a holes and keep requesting lyft or just wait out the surge. That’s it


----------



## Makeabuck (Jul 21, 2017)

Phantomshark said:


> So been driving for Uber and Lyft for about a month. Lyft is easy, with their power zones, and knowing about what time and where they will be a week in advance. (The tiny pink rectangles that pop up occasionally in very far away sections of the map that disappear after a minute or 2 I ignore). But I have had no luck catching Uber surges. If one pops up close I can never seem to get to it before it's gone. They always seem to happen in the same isolated areas, but I have had no luck with waiting in those areas. I even have tried Rydar, but it never hits me with a surge I can get to. Now today, a massive surge opened up all around me, with areas up to 3.2x. Rydar never even gave an indication it was happening. When I asked it for a wait point figuring it would put me somewhere in the surge away from other drivers, it actually tried to send me away to an area that was not surging. So I'm sitting in this big surge area, online since before it even popped up, and no ping. No ping. No ping. After like 5 minutes when it started to dissipate I finally got a ping from a few miles away for a 1.9 surge ride (probably only the 3rd surge ride I've ever gotten). So now I'm thinking I don't understand surges well. Anyone got advice?
> 
> And to those guys that just sit on here and bash Uber in every post, no answers from you please. I have chosen to drive for Uber, and I want advice on how to do it in the best way possible, not listen to trolls telling me Uber sucks, and I shouldn't drive for them.


I give up on the surge. If it happens great. Every time i go into a surge area they want to send me a pickup outside of that area. Now there are some areas that always have a surge at certin times. I have found if i want to hit a close surge. Go offline. Get to the middle of it then go online. Tired of aproching the edge of a surge just to have it dissaper.


----------



## joebo1963 (Dec 21, 2016)

You should easier get surge rides the next 4 weeks. I did nothing but surge yesterday and today go offline and wait. Watch the stupid ants takes non rides and then the stupid ants are gone and the smart ones appear. Then I go online. Sometimes I wait 2 minutes sometimes 20. But it’s worth it


----------



## whiskeyboat (Oct 14, 2017)

These five surges are real: morning commute, evening commute, bar time, big events, and bad weather.
All others are not worth your time, they will disappear by the time you get there or if you are in it you will get a nearby non-surge request.


----------



## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Phantomshark said:


> So been driving for Uber and Lyft for about a month. Lyft is easy, with their power zones, and knowing about what time and where they will be a week in advance. (The tiny pink rectangles that pop up occasionally in very far away sections of the map that disappear after a minute or 2 I ignore). But I have had no luck catching Uber surges. If one pops up close I can never seem to get to it before it's gone. They always seem to happen in the same isolated areas, but I have had no luck with waiting in those areas. I even have tried Rydar, but it never hits me with a surge I can get to. Now today, a massive surge opened up all around me, with areas up to 3.2x. Rydar never even gave an indication it was happening. When I asked it for a wait point figuring it would put me somewhere in the surge away from other drivers, it actually tried to send me away to an area that was not surging. So I'm sitting in this big surge area, online since before it even popped up, and no ping. No ping. No ping. After like 5 minutes when it started to dissipate I finally got a ping from a few miles away for a 1.9 surge ride (probably only the 3rd surge ride I've ever gotten). So now I'm thinking I don't understand surges well. Anyone got advice?
> 
> And to those guys that just sit on here and bash Uber in every post, no answers from you please. I have chosen to drive for Uber, and I want advice on how to do it in the best way possible, not listen to trolls telling me Uber sucks, and I shouldn't drive for them.


Dude, this one of the reasons WHY we bash uber. And clearly you haven't read much of our advice or you'd already know not to chase the surge AND why you get no pings when it's high.


----------



## RunWithScissors SLC (Mar 1, 2018)

Actually getting a surge ride over 2.0 is rare. Pax will wait it out or go Lyft or even taxi at that point. If you're in or near a surge and it's pinging you for a ride at 1.8 or better, TAKE IT. Even 1.6 is usually good. Chances are the surge will dissipate and riders will watch it go down until it's gone. At that point even a 1.2 sounds great.


----------



## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

Last night I was already in a 3+surge zone after a Flogging Molly concert. I got a ping right outside the venue to go 14 miles but it didn't have surge pricing.  I took the ride and it was fun, they tipped by paying my cover into the strip club they went to then I drove them another 6 miles home. I had dead mileage on the way back but I had been wanting to see some boobies for a long time so it was kinda worth it.


----------



## Mole (Mar 9, 2017)

What is a surge?


----------



## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

Mole said:


> What is a surge?


A surge is a special time with red areas on the map. During this time you will only get riders who are outside the red area


----------



## Juggalo9er (Dec 7, 2017)

Mole said:


> What is a surge?


See myth, legends, other fairy tales


----------



## antonfilip (Mar 16, 2017)

Phantomshark said:


> So been driving for Uber and Lyft for about a month. Lyft is easy, with their power zones, and knowing about what time and where they will be a week in advance. (The tiny pink rectangles that pop up occasionally in very far away sections of the map that disappear after a minute or 2 I ignore). But I have had no luck catching Uber surges. If one pops up close I can never seem to get to it before it's gone. They always seem to happen in the same isolated areas, but I have had no luck with waiting in those areas. I even have tried Rydar, but it never hits me with a surge I can get to. Now today, a massive surge opened up all around me, with areas up to 3.2x. Rydar never even gave an indication it was happening. When I asked it for a wait point figuring it would put me somewhere in the surge away from other drivers, it actually tried to send me away to an area that was not surging. So I'm sitting in this big surge area, online since before it even popped up, and no ping. No ping. No ping. After like 5 minutes when it started to dissipate I finally got a ping from a few miles away for a 1.9 surge ride (probably only the 3rd surge ride I've ever gotten). So now I'm thinking I don't understand surges well. Anyone got advice?
> 
> And to those guys that just sit on here and bash Uber in every post, no answers from you please. I have chosen to drive for Uber, and I want advice on how to do it in the best way possible, not listen to trolls telling me Uber sucks, and I shouldn't drive for them.


If Uber drivesr kept the pax app off then we would get a real pax surge....
Happy hubering


----------



## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

Makeabuck said:


> I give up on the surge. If it happens great. Every time i go into a surge area they want to send me a pickup outside of that area. Now there are some areas that always have a surge at certin times. I have found if i want to hit a close surge. Go offline. Get to the middle of it then go online. Tired of aproching the edge of a surge just to have it dissaper.


You got that right...

Also don't give in easy on low surge...

I had a student pinged me

at 1.2 I said no thanks...

At 2.0 I said no thanks...

I just didnt want a college student



Mole said:


> What is a surge?


That's how you got here...8>)

Be careful how you handle...

Anything red and surging...8>O

Rakos








PS. Now come here and give mama monkey a big kiss...8>)


----------

