# Lyft as a way to beat Uber surge?



## NJ_PATS FAN (Oct 23, 2015)

For the first time I did some after mid-night driving. I was having both Uber and Lyft on. One thing I noticed was that when there was a significant Uber surge, I would get Lyft requests. My theory is, the riders are "duo" users and they use Lyft as a way to avoid paying for the surging Uber. Your thoughts? Should we all turn off Lyft to help maintain Uber surge--maybe my understanding of how Uber surge works is too naive?


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## ChicagoHeat12 (May 6, 2015)

I've noticed the same thing in Chicago. It doesn't bother me much. I'll go to whoever pings first. I tried various ways to game the system and reached the conclusion that it is better to just have constant rides. Your volume will average out the missed surges and the short rides because you will eventually catch some long surge rides or longer distance non-surge rides.


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## ReviTULize (Sep 29, 2014)

Playing "the surge game" is probably _much_ easier in a small town.
Unfortunately, uber is more popular in Tulsa. I will leave both apps on until demand gets high enough(2.8x+) to warrant turning Lyft off because it never goes that high. Then when demand gets _stupid_ high(like 6.8x+) I will turn Lyft back on because pings almost come to a standstill.


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## grayspinner (Sep 8, 2015)

Yes, I get lots of lyft requests when uber surges. With the power driver bonus, it's like always getting a 1.5x surge so it had to go higher than that for me to consider logging out of Lyft. And when it surges, pax are just waiting it out these days instead of paying high prices. 

Pax don't really seem to be bothered by Lyft prime time rates though - at least not around here.


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## melxjr (Sep 10, 2015)

NJ_PATS FAN said:


> For the first time I did some after mid-night driving. I was having both Uber and Lyft on. One thing I noticed was that when there was a significant Uber surge, I would get Lyft requests. My theory is, the riders are "duo" users and they use Lyft as a way to avoid paying for the surging Uber. Your thoughts? Should we all turn off Lyft to help maintain Uber surge--maybe my understanding of how Uber surge works is too naive?


Lyft requests are more accurate to the closest driver within the request vicinity. I've tested this (A/B testing) to see how requests calculate. When you see a primetime, you need to be the closest driver to the request within the primetime parameters.


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Some people order both to see who gets to them first.


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