# So, is Lyft testing no more surge



## Alantc (Jun 15, 2018)

Ever since Lyft went to the dollar amount it hasn't surged. While uber still surges. Lyft doesn't surge during football games, friday and Saturday night parties. I've noticed they stack you with rides to avoid surge, im thinking they're doing this to get more riders to take Lyft than uber, but im seeing it backfiring. Last night an other busy night and days uber surging up to $15, but Lyft never surges, Lyft just gives the color bar for busy area. The collage students saying it was going to take an hour to get a ride from Lyft so they took an uber. Im wondering if Lyft is using my area as a test area to see if they can do away with surge. Ive been driving 4years so i know something is up. The area pretty much has the same amount of drivers, and the area has more students every year, 35 thousand this year, And uber is giving more quest , i haven't seen quests and promotions around here in 3 years.


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## nouberipo (Jul 24, 2018)

Alantc said:


> Ever since Lyft went to the dollar amount it hasn't surged. While uber still surges. Lyft doesn't surge during football games, friday and Saturday night parties. I've noticed they stack you with rides to avoid surge, im thinking they're doing this to get more riders to take Lyft than uber, but im seeing it backfiring. Last night an other busy night and days uber surging up to $15, but Lyft never surges, Lyft just gives the color bar for busy area. The collage students saying it was going to take an hour to get a ride from Lyft so they took an uber. Im wondering if Lyft is using my area as a test area to see if they can do away with surge. Ive been driving 4years so i know something is up. The area pretty much has the same amount of drivers, and the area has more students every year, 35 thousand this year, And uber is giving more quest , i haven't seen quests and promotions around here in 3 years.


You have to realize that algorithms are at the point where they are down to the individual drivers in terms of determining what they will drive for (no surge versus surge). In Cleveland they have not done away with surge (paxoles are still charged the surge rates but drivers don't get it) for concerts, football games, etc. It is surely testing to see how many drivers they can get to pick up people during crappy weather after a major event for no surge. It is their games being played and you as a player need to decide how you are going to be played or to play it.


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## pizzaladee (May 23, 2018)

It seems like I have to decline about a dozen requests before a PPZ will pop up. Then decline a couple of those before it gets to a decent amount.


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## peteyvavs (Nov 18, 2015)

Lyft, ?, are you still driving for them.


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## Alantc (Jun 15, 2018)

O


peteyvavs said:


> Lyft, ?, are you still driving for them.


Only when uber is slow, use Lyft for backup, and always hit sign off button so i dont get a stacked trip.


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## Dekero (Sep 24, 2019)

Lyft hasn't had driver paid surge or promos in Memphis in forever... When Uber is surging I have to turn off the Lyft app because it's blowing up from UBERs passengers who are trying to use LYFT and not pay surge... Nope. Powered off. They don't wanna pass any extra to us then I'm not doing extra.. at least with Uber you still get something more even if it's a penance...


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

Dekero said:


> penance


You mean pittance, low pay.
Penance is an act of self-sacrifice to repent from sins, which also could apply to driving Uber but in a different context.


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## Alantc (Jun 15, 2018)

Dekero said:


> Lyft hasn't had driver paid surge or promos in Memphis in forever... When Uber is surging I have to turn off the Lyft app because it's blowing up from UBERs passengers who are trying to use LYFT and not pay surge... Nope. Powered off. They don't wanna pass any extra to us then I'm not doing extra.. at least with Uber you still get something more even if it's a penance...


Uber pays better than Lyft anyway down here


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## pizzaladee (May 23, 2018)

Lyft is always off and in the background for me until they offer a PPZ better than Uber surge. If no surge on Uber than I’ll flip on Lyft.


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## tmart (Oct 30, 2016)

Alantc said:


> Ever since Lyft went to the dollar amount it hasn't surged. While uber still surges. Lyft doesn't surge during football games, friday and Saturday night parties. I've noticed they stack you with rides to avoid surge, im thinking they're doing this to get more riders to take Lyft than uber, but im seeing it backfiring. Last night an other busy night and days uber surging up to $15, but Lyft never surges, Lyft just gives the color bar for busy area. The collage students saying it was going to take an hour to get a ride from Lyft so they took an uber. Im wondering if Lyft is using my area as a test area to see if they can do away with surge. Ive been driving 4years so i know something is up. The area pretty much has the same amount of drivers, and the area has more students every year, 35 thousand this year, And uber is giving more quest , i haven't seen quests and promotions around here in 3 years.


Yes that strategy will fail them though if that's what they're trying to do... trying to lowball ... not going to work in my opinion Uber has too large of a market share


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

tmart said:


> Yes that strategy will fail them though if that's what they're trying to do... trying to lowball ... not going to work in my opinion Uber has too large of a market share


Yep, I'll drive lyft on the KS side of KC. Once Uber starts going nuts with surge, lyft stays off.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

Alantc said:


> Ever since Lyft went to the dollar amount it hasn't surged. While uber still surges. Lyft doesn't surge during football games, friday and Saturday night parties. I've noticed they stack you with rides to avoid surge, im thinking they're doing this to get more riders to take Lyft than uber, but im seeing it backfiring. Last night an other busy night and days uber surging up to $15, but Lyft never surges, Lyft just gives the color bar for busy area. The collage students saying it was going to take an hour to get a ride from Lyft so they took an uber. Im wondering if Lyft is using my area as a test area to see if they can do away with surge. Ive been driving 4years so i know something is up. The area pretty much has the same amount of drivers, and the area has more students every year, 35 thousand this year, And uber is giving more quest , i haven't seen quests and promotions around here in 3 years.


Are other drivers not seeing any surging on Lyft as well? Since their personalized power zones every driver can potentially be different. If your numbers aren't what they want you're not going to get a power Zone and if you do, it's very minimal. That's the category I'm in LOL but I often times will be sitting with some other drivers and their power zones are way higher than mine. Also are you checking the passenger app confirm they're not charging a surge and just not paying you? They seem to always have a 25% surge going on in my city. It's almost like that's the new going rate



pizzaladee said:


> Lyft is always off and in the background for me until they offer a PPZ better than Uber surge. If no surge on Uber than I'll flip on Lyft.


Exactly! And even when I do flip on Lyft, I still deny almost every ride as I filter through for an XL??


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

Daisey77 said:


> Are other drivers not seeing any surging on Lyft as well? Since their personalized power zones every driver can potentially be different. If your numbers aren't what they want you're not going to get a power Zone and if you do, it's very minimal. That's the category I'm in LOL but I often times will be sitting with some other drivers and their power zones are way higher than mine. Also are you checking the passenger app confirm they're not charging a surge and just not paying you? They seem to always have a 25% surge going on in my city. It's almost like that's the new going rate
> 
> 
> Exactly! And even when I do flip on Lyft, I still deny almost every ride as I filter through for an XL??


I can show them where to stick their numbers.... Worst part is they wont show what they charged the rider. I guarantee they are charging the max they think they can get away with and only paying the base per mile rate. This is why no tips, the riders think the driver is getting surge rates so less likely to tip.


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## MuchoMiles (Sep 16, 2019)

In South Florida Lyft surge is extremely rare.

Since school started in September, Uber is surging, at different times.

Today I cancelled a Lyft ride & drove to Uber surge and got $8 surge. Tuned a $12 ride to $20. 

I loved a previous point, Lyft pax were trying to get cheap rides (& F’n share) during Uber’s surge.

Shut that F’n crappy Lyft app off !!!!!!


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

Alantc said:


> Ever since Lyft went to the dollar amount it hasn't surged. While uber still surges. Lyft doesn't surge during football games, friday and Saturday night parties. I've noticed they stack you with rides to avoid surge, im thinking they're doing this to get more riders to take Lyft than uber, but im seeing it backfiring. Last night an other busy night and days uber surging up to $15, but Lyft never surges, Lyft just gives the color bar for busy area. The collage students saying it was going to take an hour to get a ride from Lyft so they took an uber. Im wondering if Lyft is using my area as a test area to see if they can do away with surge. Ive been driving 4years so i know something is up. The area pretty much has the same amount of drivers, and the area has more students every year, 35 thousand this year, And uber is giving more quest , i haven't seen quests and promotions around here in 3 years.


Since a lot of drivers do both, Lyft is what makes uber surge so much. A lot try to get a Lyft but drivers are too far or none at all so riders go to Uber and pay the higher rate. I leave Lyft on in the background to be a "ghost" car that rarely accepts rides. I some times accept if not on Uber and a Lyft ride is very close, like a block or 2 away.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

jfinks said:


> Since a lot of drivers do both, Lyft is what makes uber surge so much. A lot try to get a Lyft but drivers are too far or none at all so riders go to Uber and pay the higher rate. I leave Lyft on in the background to be a "ghost" car that rarely accepts rides. I some times accept if not on Uber and a Lyft ride is very close, like a block or 2 away.


I leave Lyft on to give pax that runner-up (loser) game show contestant feel as they see my car just around the corner on the app but they can't get me when they press Confirm.

[Game show announcer voice] "Here's what you could have won!". A 2 minute pickup! Thanks for playing!


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

The Gift of Fish said:


> I leave Lyft on to give pax that runner-up (loser) game show contestant feel as they see my car just around the corner on the app but they can't get me when they press Confirm.
> 
> [Game show announcer voice] "Here's what you could have won!". A 2 minute pickup! Thanks for playing!


Lol yep, the KC market is split for lyft though. On the KS side the per mile rate is like 26c higher than uber. So I will sometimes favor Lyft since effectively it is a 1.3x surge.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

jfinks said:


> I can show them where to stick their numbers.... Worst part is they wont show what they charged the rider. I guarantee they are charging the max they think they can get away with and only paying the base per mile rate. This is why no tips, the riders think the driver is getting surge rates so less likely to tip.


Are you checking rates from the passenger app though question mark you should always know how much it cost for you to get home from within different parts of the city. Especially the big event venues. Then when you're at an event, you can monitor the passenger app to see when it's actually surging


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## TheDevilisaParttimer (Jan 2, 2019)

jfinks said:


> Since a lot of drivers do both, Lyft is what makes uber surge so much. A lot try to get a Lyft but drivers are too far or none at all so riders go to Uber and pay the higher rate. I leave Lyft on in the background to be a "ghost" car that rarely accepts rides. I some times accept if not on Uber and a Lyft ride is very close, like a block or 2 away.


Lyft is testing no grease dipped in diamond dust. Now grab your ankles and take a deep breath.


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

Here in Seattle market we haven't seen Gryft surge in more than a year. We get PPZ in weird and random places, and when an event is ongoing.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

Amos69 said:


> Here in Seattle market we haven't seen Gryft surge in more than a year. We get PPZ in weird and random places, and when an event is ongoing.


 ppz is their only type of surge here now. There's no percentage Prime. I don't know how drivers drive for them with no ppz or Prime. Then again the most senior drivers who don't know better because all the older drivers they've found a way to shut out


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

Daisey77 said:


> ppz is their only type of surge here now. There's no percentage Prime. I don't know how drivers drive for them with no ppz or Prime. Then again the most senior drivers who don't know better because all the older drivers they've found a way to shut out


I use them for the things they can do for my business! For instance recently Gryft has been giving me AP 30 plus XL rematches that pay me $ 100 to 200 when I roll into SeaTac on a Goober run. No matter which company I am driving for I turn on the other App 4 miles from the AP.

I'm on a Gryft run to SeaTac I turn on Goober. PING Comfort plus 45,.

I am here to make money make me a better offer and I am all in.

Surge isn't everything, and this is a Cash Flow business.


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## TPAMB (Feb 13, 2019)

PPZ one after the other tonight in my city.


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## Dekero (Sep 24, 2019)

TemptingFate said:


> You mean pittance, low pay.
> Penance is an act of self-sacrifice to repent from sins, which also could apply to driving Uber but in a different context.


Yeah that lol


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

Daisey77 said:


> ppz is their only type of surge here now. There's no percentage Prime. I don't know how drivers drive for them with no ppz or Prime. Then again THEY'RE MOSTLY NEWER drivers who don't know better because all the older drivers they've found a way to shut out


*Edited*


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## tmart (Oct 30, 2016)

jfinks said:


> Yep, I'll drive lyft on the KS side of KC. Once Uber starts going nuts with surge, lyft stays off.


Yep this is when free market benefits us, it works sometimes in our favor


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## ABQuber (Jan 30, 2019)

Alantc said:


> Ever since Lyft went to the dollar amount it hasn't surged. While uber still surges. Lyft doesn't surge during football games, friday and Saturday night parties. I've noticed they stack you with rides to avoid surge, im thinking they're doing this to get more riders to take Lyft than uber, but im seeing it backfiring. Last night an other busy night and days uber surging up to $15, but Lyft never surges, Lyft just gives the color bar for busy area. The collage students saying it was going to take an hour to get a ride from Lyft so they took an uber. Im wondering if Lyft is using my area as a test area to see if they can do away with surge. Ive been driving 4years so i know something is up. The area pretty much has the same amount of drivers, and the area has more students every year, 35 thousand this year, And uber is giving more quest , i haven't seen quests and promotions around here in 3 years.


We just had the Balloon Fiesta out here in ABQ. Tons of tourists. Normally lots of surge. This year Lyft kept shading areas as "high demand" but no extra surges. Made 1/3 as much as last year. Terrible


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## TPAMB (Feb 13, 2019)

Tons of PPZ last night all over my city as much as $15 Uber managed about $8.50 albeit over a much larger graduated area.


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## joebo1963 (Dec 21, 2016)

pizzaladee said:


> It seems like I have to decline about a dozen requests before a PPZ will pop up. Then decline a couple of those before it gets to a decent amount.


I've done that and nothing. Last Saturday was Caribbean day and lyft solid orange for 2 hours. I sat there for 15 minutes and rejected 50 requests no ppz. Drove away. I knew rides were short because I drove them there in the am. Now they were wet and full of paint. No ppz forget it. I wrote Lyft about it said October 27 is Fort Lauderdale boat show. Same thing will happen I will avoid any and all no ppz. Uber has $8 surge


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## TPAMB (Feb 13, 2019)

I'm not sure what the trigger is but demand surely is one of them. Who gets them (locations) and the amounts are anyone guess till they hit your app.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

pizzaladee said:


> It seems like I have to decline about a dozen requests before a PPZ will pop up. Then decline a couple of those before it gets to a decent amount.


Yeah that definitely doesn't work for me lol I know drivers who that works for but it does not for me. Welcome to lyft's "personalized" world, i guess


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## Jo3030 (Jan 2, 2016)

Lyft has been scamming for a good minute.


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## Ddwdriver (Oct 17, 2019)

From what I have seen in Dallas, Lyft is still charging surge pricing to riders but they do not pay the driver. That's why they have moved to only display what you get paid for each ride versus what the rider paid for total cost. I have spoke with a rider that pay $50 for a ride that I only received $21.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

Ddwdriver said:


> From what I have seen in Dallas, Lyft is still charging surge pricing to riders but they do not pay the driver. That's why they have moved to only display what you get paid for each ride versus what the rider paid for total cost. I have spoke with a rider that pay $50 for a ride that I only received $21.


Yes we're pretty sure this is going on everywhere. You didn't think they would take a pay cut along with us did you? LOL


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Of course Lyft is still charging surge. Drive to the high demand area and wait for it. 30 cents a mile and 14 cents a minute is all you are going to get in my market while le is charging 72 cents a mile+more when it's busy.


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## james725 (Sep 14, 2017)

I thought this thread was from 2 years ago because that’s when they stopped in my market.

Lyft is a pos worthless company that doesn’t give two [email protected]@@s about you.

Breaking news


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## Alantc (Jun 15, 2018)

So what is Lyft really trying to do by not giving any of the surge to the drivers


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

Alantc said:


> So what is Lyft really trying to do by not giving any of the surge to the drivers


Ummmmm . . . turn profit ??


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