# Uber's "Long Trip" Designation



## JerryGfan (Aug 3, 2017)

I got a request today that had something new. Right above the riders name and star rating were the words, "Long Trip." Sure enough, he was going 245 miles away. I had to decline it unfortunately but it got me wondering...How long does a trip have to be before Uber considers it long? Has anyone noticed a miles threshold?


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## PepeLePiu (Feb 3, 2017)

Nope, but I wish it was widespread. I'll take long trips any day, I know I will be getting some dead miles but I love long trips.


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## Yulli Yung (Jul 4, 2017)

PepeLePiu said:


> Nope, but I wish it was widespread. I'll take long trips any day, I know I will be getting some dead miles but I love long trips.


Did you write, "some dead miles"? How about 50% are dead miles


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## PepeLePiu (Feb 3, 2017)

Yulli Yung said:


> Did you write, "some dead miles"? How about 50% are dead miles


So you don't think you rake up some dead miles while waiting for pings. Any miles that you drive without a request are dead miles, at least in a long trip I know I made at least 50% of that in fares. When you go and pick up a pax that is 3 miles away, you get 3 dead miles on the way there.
This "dead miles" debacle is been blown out of proportion, I can guarantee you that if you check you mileage from last week and compare it to the actual miles driven with a pax in the car, you get no less than 40-50% defunct mileage anyways.


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## werty (Oct 1, 2015)

PepeLePiu said:


> So you don't think you rake up some dead miles while waiting for pings. Any miles that you drive without a request are dead miles, at least in a long trip I know I made at least 50% of that in fares. When you go and pick up a pax that is 3 miles away, you get 3 dead miles on the way there.
> This "dead miles" debacle is been blown out of proportion, I can guarantee you that if you check you mileage from last week and compare it to the actual miles driven with a pax in the car, you get no less than 40-50% defunct mileage anyways.


No.

In many places driving 3 miles for a pickup would be insane. If half of your total mileage is dead miles, you're doing something _very_ wrong.


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## PepeLePiu (Feb 3, 2017)

werty said:


> No.
> 
> In many places driving 3 miles for a pickup would be insane. If half of your total mileage is dead miles, you're doing something _very_ wrong.


See the OP original title is "Long Trips", as in I already got somebody in my car, not as if I go and get somebody 20 miles to drive them 3. And no, I'm not doing it wrong. I had pax that I took on trips over 100 miles, our base rate here is $1.50, with just a little surge it tops $ 1.75 a mile. It will be different if I was paid below 1 dollar base fare like it is on many markets. Simple math.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

I'm not the biggest fan of big trips. The per mile rate is too low to make them good, but the pay is still high enough that I will accept the pings as long as I've got no scheduled appointments that they will interfere with.

In my market it is $0.87 a mile. If you have a trip with 50% dead miles then it is $0.435 cents per mile. Considering a vehicle expense of $0.30 cents a mile, the profit is $0.135 cents per mile plus the time fee which is $0.15 per minute.

So a 100 mile trip if it lasted 100 minutes to get there and 100 minutes back is $15 in time profit and $13.50 in miles profit, for a total profit of $18.50 over 200 minutes (3.33 Hours). 18.5/3.33= $5.55 per hour profit. 

In town driving is still more profitable per hour for me since there is more stops, more wait time, closer ETA pings that reduce dead miles... I can kick that profit per hour up to the $8 range and even surpass minimum wage.

In my city I feel the most lucrative Uber ride is the one where they have you drive them to the store and wait half an hour for them to shop, then drive them back home!


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## melusine3 (Jun 20, 2016)

PepeLePiu said:


> So you don't think you rake up some dead miles while waiting for pings. Any miles that you drive without a request are dead miles, at least in a long trip I know I made at least 50% of that in fares. When you go and pick up a pax that is 3 miles away, you get 3 dead miles on the way there.
> This "dead miles" debacle is been blown out of proportion, I can guarantee you that if you check you mileage from last week and compare it to the actual miles driven with a pax in the car, you get no less than 40-50% defunct mileage anyways.


There's a BIG difference between 20 miles of dead miles and 200.



PepeLePiu said:


> See the OP original title is "Long Trips", as in I already got somebody in my car, not as if I go and get somebody 20 miles to drive them 3. And no, I'm not doing it wrong. I had pax that I took on trips over 100 miles, our base rate here is $1.50, with just a little surge it tops $ 1.75 a mile. It will be different if I was paid below 1 dollar base fare like it is on many markets. Simple math.


The base rate in my town is a little over half of what you're receiving.


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## tryingforthat5star (Mar 12, 2017)

Usually anything over 45 min or I believe 45 miles somewhere in that ball park. When you see long trip request pop up and 3.3x surge next to it you will leave your wife and children to do that ride lol.. true story I had one 49 min drive $207!

Also a customer at times could use the wrong destination address for example a town with the same name but only 2 miles away but accidentally put in the wrong one from another state. I have had this happen you pick them up start the trip and notice its 4 hours away then they say wait no that's not right and you find out it's only a mile away.


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## backcountryrez (Aug 24, 2017)

JerryGfan said:


> I got a request today that had something new. Right above the riders name and star rating were the words, "Long Trip." Sure enough, he was going 245 miles away. I had to decline it unfortunately but it got me wondering...How long does a trip have to be before Uber considers it long? Has anyone noticed a miles threshold?


Long Trip notifications come up if the estimated time it takes to arrive to the destination is over 45 minutes. Of course, considering real-world driving, you could get to the destination significantly faster than that.

Here in RVA, I normally get a "Long Trip" notification from where I live (airport rides), which is in the complete opposite side of town from the airport. They end up taking 25-30 minutes to get to the airport. This is why I now call when I get these notifications. I'd rather a "Long Trip" take me up to DC or VB than to the lowly airport.


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## RideshareGentrification (Apr 10, 2018)

I love the trip notifications as for a couple reasons 
1st if I get the notification in an uber x or Lyft I can call and screen where they are going. I refuse to do long trips by on uberx or Lyft if the odds of a return trip are low the rate is too low

2nd long pick ups.. If the pick up is more than 10 min away I'm probably gonna ignore it. 2 says ago I got a lux suv request 25 minutes away I would normally pass but it had. 45 min long trip notice. Ended up taking me only 15 min to get to them about 7 miles and it was a $150 airport fare

3rd during traffic I use it as a faux DF I know Denver to denver Airport during rush hour usually comes with a long trip notification or Boulder to denver airport so it' aa nice way to screen rides without accepting


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## Jesusdrivesuber (Jan 5, 2017)

It's not defined by miles but by driven time according to the default app they use to predict it (G maps or waze).


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## Yulli Yung (Jul 4, 2017)

Trafficat said:


> I'm not the biggest fan of big trips. The per mile rate is too low to make them good, but the pay is still high enough that I will accept the pings as long as I've got no scheduled appointments that they will interfere with.
> 
> In my market it is $0.87 a mile. If you have a trip with 50% dead miles then it is $0.435 cents per mile. Considering a vehicle expense of $0.30 cents a mile, the profit is $0.135 cents per mile plus the time fee which is $0.15 per minute.
> 
> ...


I think you are off a wee bit with your cost per mile. Considering the IRS is allowing 54.5 cents per mile and that is a good barometer to use. We need to ensure that we make in excess of 54.5 cents per mile each trip. Otherwise, we are "losing money"


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

Yulli Yung said:


> I think you are off a wee bit with your cost per mile. Considering the IRS is allowing 54.5 cents per mile and that is a good barometer to use. We need to ensure that we make in excess of 54.5 cents per mile each trip. Otherwise, we are "losing money"


Depends on your car. With some cars the IRS $0.545 isn't even enough, like the local Hummer Uber driver.

I use a spreadsheet to estimate costs including gas, tires, oil changes, average unexpected costs like replacing car batteries, and the cost of replacing my car when the odometer turns over to a certain number, and I believe $0.30 is a decent estimate for my particular car.


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## RideshareGentrification (Apr 10, 2018)

Trafficat said:


> Depends on your car. With some cars the IRS $0.545 isn't even enough, like the local Hummer Uber driver.
> 
> I use a spreadsheet to estimate costs including gas, tires, oil changes, average unexpected costs like replacing car batteries, and the cost of replacing my car when the odometer turns over to a certain number, and I believe $0.30 is a decent estimate for my particular car.


That's the number I use my cars range from 29 cents to 32 cents to operate per mile including depreciation and everything u mentioned


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## Yulli Yung (Jul 4, 2017)

Trafficat said:


> Depends on your car. With some cars the IRS $0.545 isn't even enough, like the local Hummer Uber driver.
> 
> I use a spreadsheet to estimate costs including gas, tires, oil changes, average unexpected costs like replacing car batteries, and the cost of replacing my car when the odometer turns over to a certain number, and I believe $0.30 is a decent estimate for my particular car.


Some people would argue with a sign post. I am not writing or implying that the amount the IRS allows is accurate, but merely stating it's the benchmark to be used. If your cost is less then so be it.


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