# Does Lyft prioritize Express Drive program drivers at airports?



## EmOinDallas (Oct 14, 2018)

I was in the DAL airport lot yesterday after dropping off a pax (don't make it a habit to hang out waiting for airport rides). I was walking around and a driver wanted to get my opinion on a matter.

She said she'd rented a car from Lyft for awhile and said whenever she came to the airport, she always got rides within 15-30 min max...often immediately when entering the area. Even when the queue was 50+. Now that she has her own car, she said and has to wait a long time for rides. She'd been there over an hour and was still 20+ in the queue. Apparently this is the new norm. She noticed some drivers coming in and going out pretty quickly and wondered is they rented.

Her feeling was Lyft matches drivers that rent through express drive very quickly so they can continue to profit from the program and keep the drivers happy.

I couldn't offer any intel since I don't rent...I've always had to wait the few times I've sat in the waiting lot.

She makes a good point...just looking for opinions and/or experience because she got my curiosity piqued.


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## Gtown Driver (Aug 26, 2018)

Some things are just conspiracy theory stuff, but she may be right.


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

I've gotten Lyft pings from Reagan Airport when I'm in downtown D.C. and there are 30+ in the Lyft Queue


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## EmOinDallas (Oct 14, 2018)

New2This said:


> I've gotten Lyft pings from Reagan Airport when I'm in downtown D.C. and there are 30+ in the Lyft Queue


Do you rent your car?


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

EmOinDallas said:


> Do you rent your car?


Nope.

Lyft will do bizarre shit sometimes.


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## KK2929 (Feb 9, 2017)

Nope, I do not agree with her thought. Maybe your airport is slow. The drivers leaving may not wish to wait. At LAX pig pen, the drivers are only suppose to wait 15 minutes, I think, or they get a ticket. ( But I have never seen one issued)
I rent and cannot tell a difference but then again, we are talking about LAX but Dallas tri-city airport is not a small one either.


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## LoveBC (May 16, 2017)

She was probably getting pings rejected by other drivers.


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## beezlewaxin (Feb 10, 2015)

She needs to follow a renter into the lot and talk to him/her and then see who gets pinged first. If she does this 5+ times she will have a pretty good idea of if her theory is true or not.


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## EmOinDallas (Oct 14, 2018)

She was pretty frustrated. Unfortunately, it sounded like she is doing this as her primary income source while in school. Left another job to do this. I felt bad for her as it was clear she was in fear mode (financial stress). 

To make matters worse, she was da’d by Uber for a pax claim that she said was false, so lost that income stream which she claimed was ~$200/day (eats and x and I assume Lyft). That’s doable here in Dallas if you stay out for 12+ hours or so, but I sure wouldn’t bank on it to pay all the bills. Plus, I didn’t get the feeling she was one to work smart to maximize her $/mile, although I don’t doubt she’s not willing to put in the time

The day I met her was busy with Thanksgiving travelers but it seemed like most pax were getting picked up by family/friends judging by the line of traffic In and out which was unusually long. I left after a bit. It’s near my home so no big deal. 

I went into the lot a couple nights ago on way home to see if I could catch a Select ping for the last incoming plane (from LAX). Short queue. I have an app that tells me all that intel. I didn’t get a rider so took off after waiting 25 min. Couldn’t believe how many drivers were still hanging out waiting for a ping with zero planes coming in until the morning. 

As far as the Airport (DAL). It’s a smallish airport with smaller planes (Southwest Aitlines home hub) flying in and out. It’s pretty busy but nothing like DFW. The trips are usually pretty short too. I find the queue torturously slow. I’m not gonna waste my time sitting in the waiting lot again.


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## BostonTaxiDriver (Nov 23, 2014)

I know when I rented a Lyft thru Hertz in Boston back in Spring 2017, I had what seemed like many long waits. 

I would be surprised to hear they actually feed their renters first, but certainly see the logic to it.


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## Ghwwe72 (Sep 23, 2016)

BostonTaxiDriver said:


> I know when I rented a Lyft thru Hertz in Boston back in Spring 2017, I had what seemed like many long waits.
> 
> I would be surprised to hear they actually feed their renters first, but certainly see the logic to it.


Well when I was in the rental program here in Boston it felt like I was fed more rides than I do not being in it. It was like they would feed you the rides to obtain the rental rewards. That was my experience. But airport I never got quicker pings than other drivers.


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

yes
Rental cars / hertz
They need to do certain amount of runs
Icahn owns hertz and he is a investor in
Lyft...
Queue number is just a number. When you see 20 going to 15... it does not mean 5 cars just got a ping. It just means that you are number 15...you could be number 15, and still have 100 cars go in front of you
If you have strong internal numbers with Mr. Algo, you will be just fine.

If she has her own car, and not able to skip the queue, it means that her numbers not that great and it was the rental program that helped her skip the queue
Example
Pax comes, has low avg to below avg ratings... pax has high decline numbers by other drivers in his or her market
Algo could look into the first 20 drivers, and give it to the driver that has high acceptance rate and high ratings.
You don't have to be in the rental program to get the early ping... if your numbers towers over the field , you could get the ping
Now the negative... most of these pax will not be 5 star


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Also 
Bonus attached to acceptance rate , number of runs and cancellation on rental cars
So most of these rentals have 100% acceptance rate, no cancellations on pax , plus all vehicles 2016 or newer

So customer will not have a cancellation experience, which is important for U/l
Why should Algo take a risk on a driver that has 10% cancellation rate when it has a option for 100% acceptance rate driver??? What if the pax spends 700 dollars a month on U/l??? Do you want to make him mad??? What if the pax lives in a 5 million dollar home??? Do you want to take a risk on losing him to your competition??


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## Talcire (May 18, 2016)

mbd said:


> Also
> Bonus attached to acceptance rate , number of runs and cancellation on rental cars
> So most of these rentals have 100% acceptance rate, no cancellations on pax , plus all vehicles 2016 or newer
> 
> ...


Only one question mark at the end of a sentence. Thanks.
There is no acceptance rate needed for Rewards when renting (in my market). Cancelling does not affect things any differently than a non-rental.


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## hulksmash (Apr 26, 2016)

Rental drivers get rides quicker because they generally accept everything thrown their way and stay online longer in order to meet the ride requirements. When you accept everything naturally your wait time between rides given is short


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Talcire said:


> Only one question mark at the end of a sentence. Thanks.
> There is no acceptance rate needed for Rewards when renting (in my market). Cancelling does not affect things any differently than a non-rental.


Bonus attached to the acceptance rate, I believe (90%)
Most rental drivers have 90% or higher acceptance rate. They get to skip few spots due to rental agreement with Mr uncle Icahn and high acceptance rate.


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## Uber_Yota_916 (May 1, 2017)

Car rental drivers for Lyft are considered second class citizens. It benefits Lyft to throttle them and not prioritize them.


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## Ghwwe72 (Sep 23, 2016)

Talcire said:


> Only one question mark at the end of a sentence. Thanks.
> There is no acceptance rate needed for Rewards when renting (in my market). Cancelling does not affect things any differently than a non-rental.


Here in Boston the rental rewards still have a peak hour requirement and acceptance rate requirement tied to it.


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