# Surge price explained



## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

Last night I was in the middle of a clearly red colored area (Newport Beach, Costa Mesa) showing a surge of x 2.90. Does that mean entire red area will pay the per minute, per mile price x 2.90? I'm not sure I understand how surge pricing works. I took a ride from CM to Seal Beach (14.8 miles, about 27 minutes) and the charge was only $31.55. Does that sound right? I'm uberX. Thanks for the replies in advance.


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## arto71 (Sep 20, 2014)

mUberIE said:


> (14.8 miles, about 27 minutes) and the charge was only $31.55


that sounds 1.8x only


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## ontheroad (Aug 31, 2014)

arto71 said:


> that sounds 1.8x only


A few weekends ago I sat in the middle of a surge watching it go up and up. As requests were coming in, I saw, at the bottom of the app, if it was a surge fare or not. I noticed that a couple of the requests were in the middle of the surge but without surge pricing. Lesson to be learned, check waybill or make sure you are accepting the fare with the surge price before proceeding.


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## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

How do you do that, though, while the ping is hitting your phone? Bottom of app showed x2.90, and I was right in the middle of surge area, that's why I took ping.


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## ontheroad (Aug 31, 2014)

I am not totally sure, but as I recall, while the ping is coming in, you should see at the bottom if the request is a surge. If it is, it should display the surge amount, such as:
x 2.8 in your case.


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## ontheroad (Aug 31, 2014)

I would like to make clear that, regardless of surges, you will most likely average out just below minimum wage. Cheers!


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## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

Ok. I'll check it out next time. Thanks.


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## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

ontheroad said:


> I would like to make clear that, regardless of surges, you will most likely average out just below minimum wage. Cheers!


That's what I don't understand then, drivers claiming jackpots on surge times, what's the secret??


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## ontheroad (Aug 31, 2014)

There is no secret..at $1.20 a mile, you will find more satisfying jumping into a wood chipper. On a more serious note, turn down all trips that don't make financial sense. During surge times, when there is a MAJOR event, be patient: let the surge build. Don't be afraid to call riders and ask them where they are going. If it is a short fare, CANCEL the trip and Wait for another ping. When a good fare presents itself, that's when you should grab it.


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## arto71 (Sep 20, 2014)

mUberIE said:


> That's what I don't understand then, drivers claiming jackpots on surge times, what's the secret??


it seems they put cap on surge ,it does not go up like 10x or 12x anymore, max I have seen is 4.8 for last few months,


mUberIE said:


> 14.8 miles, about 27 minutes


that would have been $230 ride with 10x.


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## Optimus Uber (Oct 7, 2014)

mUberIE said:


> Last night I was in the middle of a clearly red colored area (Newport Beach, Costa Mesa) showing a surge of x 2.90. Does that mean entire red area will pay the per minute, per mile price x 2.90? I'm not sure I understand how surge pricing works. I took a ride from CM to Seal Beach (14.8 miles, about 27 minutes) and the charge was only $31.55. Does that sound right? I'm uberX. Thanks for the replies in advance.


When the phone pings it will have that little lightning bolt symbol as well as the surge rate. You don't like the rate, let it time out. Wait for the rate you want.


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## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

Just to confirm: with ping beeping on phone, I should be able to see rates for that particular request somewhere on the screen before accepting, right?


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## Optimus Uber (Oct 7, 2014)

Yes, at the bottom of the timer circle it will tell you the surge rate next to the lightning bolt symbol, like 2.2x. If you're in a surge zone and it doesn't come up with an x factor, then there's no surge


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## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

So technically, you could be right smack in the middle of a surge area, with surge rates displayed on bottom banner, but not all requests coming from within will be paid at that rate? Thanks guys.


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## No-tippers-suck (Oct 20, 2014)

ontheroad said:


> There is no secret..at $1.20 a mile, you will find more satisfying jumping into a wood chipper. On a more serious note, turn down all trips that don't make financial sense. During surge times, when there is a MAJOR event, be patient: let the surge build. Don't be afraid to call riders and ask them where they are going. If it is a short fare, CANCEL the trip and Wait for another ping. When a good fare presents itself, that's when you should grab it.


I liked this comment the best and agree !

In the beginning I was logged in to Lyft and Uber and always when Uber was surging I got Lyft rides at normal price.
What I didn't immediately realize is that I now was just helping the pennypinchers to get a cheap ride.
I now don't do that anymore..

*my new strategy :* I still accept Lyft pings but just for the reason to waste their time. I will just wait and usually the rider tells me where they are and so..
I just say hey look I am at the gas pump right now and it might take a few more minutes before I move.

As soon I get an Uber surging ping I cancel the other Lyft ride..
If I do not get an Uber surge ping I wait until the Lyft rider cancels (after 5 minutes I still get the cancellation fee)
If he would ever complain about it I would just say : "I kindly told you that I was at a gas station and called you immediately right?)

Just be patient when it surges


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## ReviTULize (Sep 29, 2014)

mUberIE said:


> How do you do that, though, while the ping is hitting your phone? Bottom of app showed x2.90, and I was right in the middle of surge area, that's why I took ping.


The pickup location has to be in the surge zone...not you


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## caspiy257 (Aug 19, 2014)

arto71 said:


> that sounds 1.8x only


1.4


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## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

upnetuser said:


> just know the surge rate showing in the driver app doesn't update in real time and may or may not show the current surge rate.
> 
> if you zoom in on the driver app, it will refresh the screen and update the surge multiplier if it has changed. Make sure when you zoom the multiplier value stays on the screen.
> 
> also, when you get a ping, on the countdown timer screen look for the lightning bolt and multiplier, which will show the actual surge rate for that ride. unfortunately, its hard to read on the iPhone, wish they made it bigger and easier to read. Also wish they changed the info screen from a black background with white text to a more readable white background with black text.





upnetuser said:


> just know the surge rate showing in the driver app doesn't update in real time and may or may not show the current surge rate.
> 
> if you zoom in on the driver app, it will refresh the screen and update the surge multiplier if it has changed. Make sure when you zoom the multiplier value stays on the screen.
> 
> also, when you get a ping, on the countdown timer screen look for the lightning bolt and multiplier, which will show the actual surge rate for that ride. unfortunately, its hard to read on the iPhone, wish they made it bigger and easier to read. Also wish they changed the info screen from a black background with white text to a more readable white background with black text.


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## mUberIE (Nov 30, 2014)

Thank you all! Most helpful. Be safe out there.


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## pengduck (Sep 26, 2014)

upnetuser said:


> there is no secret. You either don't get a ping during a surge, get a min rider who will pay the surge as its still cheap, or get the rare person you drive 20 miles and get a great fare. People are always going to post that one time they got some huge fare, so when you see those posts, don't think its the norm and you're missing out or there is some secret.


Most of my 2x surges or more have been around $30.00. Hey beats the hell out of regular fares!


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

mUberIE said:


> Just to confirm: with ping beeping on phone, I should be able to see rates for that particular request somewhere on the screen before accepting, right?


Yes on the bottom. I gotta have my glasses on to read it though


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

ReviTULize said:


> The pickup location has to be in the surge zone...not you


^ This is correct. You will also find that when rates are increasing that sometimes your ping will come through with the previous surge rate, as if it were in a queue and had not been filled yet. So even though the passenger app shows a higher surge rate, 3x for example, you may get a ping and accept it and find it was at a lower previous rate, 2.4x for example. It is another reason why if rates are increasing, it pays to be slow to go back online.


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

Another thought for the OP: How did you know what the rate was for the area you were in?

If there are multiple surge areas in Orange County, the driver app will show the range for all of the areas that are surging. I believe that darker the red, the higher the surge. My point is, that the highest rate on the screen could have been the rate for a different part of Orange County, and not the CM/NB area you were in. You would have to use the passenger app to know the rate for the area you are in, unless you are in the only surging area (or of course, see the rate on the screen as the ping comes in).


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## 1uberdriver4u (Nov 11, 2015)

I read somewhere that uber only does not take additional fees on surge price fare.. However last night I have one surge trip and looked at the trip later, the fare was 8.56 and the surge fee was 14.99 and the uber fee was 5.84
This is higher than normal on an 8 dollar fare!!!!


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