# Uber driving promotions?



## jacobbogage (Aug 10, 2016)

Hey there, I'm a reporter with The Washington Post and I'm writing a story about the promotions and subsidies Uber offers drivers in some cities. For example, does Uber pay you extra money if you take a certain amount of trips each week? Are you guaranteed a certain fare with every trip you take?

I'd like to hear about it and maybe ask you a few questions. Reply to this thread to let me know.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Since early summer, there are no longer any guarantees or promotions in Raleigh-Durham. When they did hourly guarantees it was always gross fares (before Uber's cut) tomake it look like you were getting more money. It seems like they do their best to mislead the new drivers.


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## Fresnouber (Jun 21, 2016)

The answer is that it's different in every market.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

In Madison, WI, my minimum share of any ride is $3.19. Right now there are no special incentives being offered except two that are always ongoing -- to recruit new drivers and new passengers. 

I have seen a few incentive offers but none have worked for me. I have a full-time day job, and I can't put in enough time driving to meet the requirements. Ironic -- the company portrays us as part-time drivers picking up extra cash in our spare time (which is true in my case), but structures its incentives in ways that we can't use. 

Another thing about driver incentives -- the more new drivers we recruit, the more drivers there are to take a cut of the available rides and therefor diminish the pay of the other drivers. It doesn't matter to Uber -- every new driver costs them only whatever the price of processing the application is. There is no additional cost to Uber to have MORE than enough drivers, it gets the same per ride whether ten or a hundred drivers do them. It's the drivers that lose out in a market flooded with too many drivers, because Uber doesn't guarantee us any minimal income.


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

With the guarantees Uber is ensuring that they have enough drivers to handle the large volume of requests. The issue is that drivers have been conditioned to make there profit off of large surges. In other words drivers are doing what drivers need to do and that is to make a profit. Here's the issue. Drivers should not have to chase surge to be able to make a profit. Many drivers especially new ones have very little clue what it takes to make a profit they are just trying to make a little extra money. The hourly guarantees don't work to the benefit of the driver and I don't think they benefit Uber either long term since they chase away good drivers who after the guarantees are implemented several times realise that making a profit is near impossible without decent surge pricing.

What the real issue is that when uber began it heavily marketed and branded itself as the rideshare where tips were not expected. Drivers were to turn down tips and only if the rider insisted could they take them. If the tip issue was never used as a marketing tool at the beginning making a profit would not be as big of an issue. Now we are in a situation that riders are already conditioned to not give tips and the app even doesn't allow tips. So to fix the tip issue will take a long time I'm afraid without users help and support and since they created the no tip required then I doubt that will happen.

Uber is trying to fix the surge situation so it's not near so high at peak times but while doing that drivers will continue to turn over because they can't make a profit. So in the end there is no good answers for this mess.


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## jacobbogage (Aug 10, 2016)

yojimboguy said:


> In Madison, WI, my minimum share of any ride is $3.19. Right now there are no special incentives being offered except two that are always ongoing -- to recruit new drivers and new passengers.
> 
> I have seen a few incentive offers but none have worked for me. I have a full-time day job, and I can't put in enough time driving to meet the requirements. Ironic -- the company portrays us as part-time drivers picking up extra cash in our spare time (which is true in my case), but structures its incentives in ways that we can't use.
> 
> Another thing about driver incentives -- the more new drivers we recruit, the more drivers there are to take a cut of the available rides and therefor diminish the pay of the other drivers. It doesn't matter to Uber -- every new driver costs them only whatever the price of processing the application is. There is no additional cost to Uber to have MORE than enough drivers, it gets the same per ride whether ten or a hundred drivers do them. It's the drivers that lose out in a market flooded with too many drivers, because Uber doesn't guarantee us any minimal income.


That's a pretty thorough view of what you're seeing in Louisville. Think I could talk with you about it?


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## jacobbogage (Aug 10, 2016)

Louisvilleuberguy said:


> With the guarantees Uber is ensuring that they have enough drivers to handle the large volume of requests. The issue is that drivers have been conditioned to make there profit off of large surges. In other words drivers are doing what drivers need to do and that is to make a profit. Here's the issue. Drivers should not have to chase surge to be able to make a profit. Many drivers especially new ones have very little clue what it takes to make a profit they are just trying to make a little extra money. The hourly guarantees don't work to the benefit of the driver and I don't think they benefit Uber either long term since they chase away good drivers who after the guarantees are implemented several times realise that making a profit is near impossible without decent surge pricing.
> 
> What the real issue is that when uber began it heavily marketed and branded itself as the rideshare where tips were not expected. Drivers were to turn down tips and only if the rider insisted could they take them. If the tip issue was never used as a marketing tool at the beginning making a profit would not be as big of an issue. Now we are in a situation that riders are already conditioned to not give tips and the app even doesn't allow tips. So to fix the tip issue will take a long time I'm afraid without users help and support and since they created the no tip required then I doubt that will happen.
> 
> Uber is trying to fix the surge situation so it's not near so high at peak times but while doing that drivers will continue to turn over because they can't make a profit. So in the end there is no good answers for this mess.


From what I've been seeing, Uber's angle is to force drivers away from Lyft. The promotions are geared toward only being able to drive for Uber and trying to keep drivers on the road longer. Think I could talk to you a little bit about this for my story?


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

jacobbogage said:


> That's a pretty thorough view of what you're seeing in Louisville. Think I could talk with you about it?


I'm fine with talking


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

jacobbogage said:


> From what I've been seeing, Uber's angle is to force drivers away from Lyft. The promotions are geared toward only being able to drive for Uber and trying to keep drivers on the road longer. Think I could talk to you a little bit about this for my story?


Sure ubers angle is to force drivers away from Lyft by being the only player in this new industry. My concern is that the more you create a system that squeezes any profit from the drivers the less quality you are going to see. And without quality drivers Uber becomes no different than the taxi industry. Right now I see an increase in drivers becoming more and more angry with there riders because they are not able to make a profit. This is not an easy thing to fix unfortunately. Because so many things have already been portrayed to the public. I do however believe that this is an industry that is here to stay and that there will be those few drivers who figure out how to make a profit and really Excell doing it. I'm not sure if those few are going to be individuals or business owners who own fleets of vehicles but there will be some big winners sooner or later.

As time goes forward there is going to be a big issue with insurance and there is zero way for a driver to purchase commercial insurance and make any profit. But this was never originally about drivers being profitable it was about ridesharing. It was about drivers being able to defray some of there driving coat they were already going to incur driving everyday life.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

jacobbogage said:


> From what I've been seeing, Uber's angle is to force drivers away from Lyft. The promotions are geared toward only being able to drive for Uber and trying to keep drivers on the road longer. Think I could talk to you a little bit about this for my story?


There is no doubt that the hourly guarantees are structured in such a way as to keep you from driving Lyft as well. Lots of folks have both turned on and take whatever they get first, turning the other off. Hourly guarantee is structured by time online, minimum acceptance rate of 90% usually and minimum number of trips per hour. If you are logged off of Uber while doing a Lyft call, you are getting less guarantee. If you stay online, you have to take the Uber call or risk not having a high enough acceptance rate, for a 3 hour window you may have to take 6 trips so if you miss even one, you won't make the 90% acceptance. So when I used to go for the guarantees, if it was slow I would have both apps on but only consider taking a Lyft call if it was no more than 3 or 4 minutes away and when it was busy I wouldn't bother to turn Lyft on.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

jacobbogage said:


> That's a pretty thorough view of what you're seeing in Louisville. Think I could talk with you about it?


Ask me any question and I'll try to answer. Or do you mean talk over the phone, or what?

You work for the Post? I used to be neighbors with Paul Richard -- he still there writing about culture?


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

jacobbogage said:


> That's a pretty thorough view of what you're seeing in Louisville. Think I could talk with you about it?


Email me at [email protected]. I ca give u contact info.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

jacobbogage said:


> That's a pretty thorough view of what you're seeing in Louisville. Think I could talk with you about it?


Maybe somebody's seeing it in Louisville. I'm seeing it in Madison, WI.


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## Do nan tram (Aug 3, 2016)

The promotion is up to 100 rides, but the majority drive gets only or less than 60 riders during rush hours. I took 4 uberpool but they count only 2 rides, It could give me more problems because the uber app is automatic accept new rider while i still have riders still in the car. When it very hot 100 degree and humid, I turn ac on maximum and it cost me more on gas, I realized I lose money so last week I stopped the incentive, i only work on surge price .


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## Ron Swanson (Aug 8, 2016)

I'm a new driver in Chicago and I've been getting the following promotion for the past few weeks
10 rides = $50 bonus
20 rides = $100 bonus
40 rides = $300 bonus


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

Is this for those rides within a certain time period? Or on completion of that number of rides because you're a new driver? Jeez, I have 1800 rides and they never offered me an extra penny just for completing rides.


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## Ron Swanson (Aug 8, 2016)

Just complete any number of rides between Mon 6am and Friday 12pm for the bonus. Once I get to about 5 or 6 select-only rides I switch to my X/Select account to hit the ten ride bonus.


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

I want to clarify some things. I love the idea of paying a bonus to drivers who provide a larger number of rides in a certain time. The promotion that I question is the guaranteed hourly rate. 

I also love driving for Uber despite the challenges. It's a new industry and will go through growing pains. What I don't want to see is Uber becoming a company that only focuses on the bottom line or how little they can pay their drivers and let service go down the tube. I spend a lot of time making sure when I give people rides I do everything I can to provide over and above what is expected. That's just good business. Normally doing this would mean great tips and profitability but because of the way Uber was founded and marketed at the start and the refusal to include a tip in there app providing real 5 start service doesn't always mean increased tips.

My focus isn't to tear Uber down and become a driver that is always negative because If that happens I won't do it any longer. I want to be a part of drivers who are willing to struggke through this growth period with Uber and come up with a world class service that is a part of everybody's daily life.

Let's be honest there are not many easy ways to make extra money that can be as fulfilling as Uber. I do think Uber wants to work to have top notch drivers who help build Uber and not tear it down. Changes made that are a mistake is going to happen but Uber needs to find a way to communicate that to the drivers and make the necessary changes. But drivers also need to give Uber a chance to make the corrections and changes and not automatically bail or try to crucify them.

I have no idea which way this goes. If Uber values there drivers and attempts to work with them and include them in building this great concept I know it will be unique because in the day we live that no longer happens very often. Too often the people who really build the brand and company are in the end locked out and never see any benefit.

I just hope as drivers there are more people like myself and others who are willing to see both sides and if you can't and you need to consider doing something else before you lesson your commitment to the riders and provide sub par service. 

With all this talk I am just afraid this will turn all negative with no positive.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

Louisvilleuberguy said:


> I want to clarify some things. I love the idea of paying a bonus to drivers who provide a larger number of rides in a certain time. The promotion that I question is the guaranteed hourly rate. ...


I think the exact opposite. We have absolutely no control over how many pings we get, or over how long the drives we accept turn out to be.

1. Someone in a post upthread suggested Uber is pinging people NOT participating in incentives and instead routing the calls to non-participants, with the intent of making the participants fail the requirements. I don't know if that's true but it's possible.

2. If the customers are not calling in sufficient numbers, it is simply not possible to make requirements.

3. If we get longer rides, especially that take us well away from areas where we get calls, it may also be impossible to make the requirements.

I would much prefer them to offer a guaranteed minimum dollars per hour. So long as I have the app on, and accept all the calls that come in, I should make that bonus.


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

The point with the guarantees is from what I see if your just making the guarantee and that is it you will be making at the very most break even for the night. I understand your points but if Uber would just offer the guarantee let's say 20 an hour which equates to 15 a hour I wouldn't drive. Honestly until the tip situation works itself all the way out I think it's hard to,are very much money at all.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

No, in my mind the guarantee is a guaranteed minimum. If your normal driving earns more than the guarantee, Uber doesn't pay you any extra. What makes no sense is an incentive program structured in a way that most people can't meet the requirements.

And why do you think the tip situation will "work itself all the way out?" I'd bet as far as Uber is concerned, there is nothing more to work out at all. They used to actively discourage tipping, now they don't. Period, end of story. Yes, it'd be nice if they allowed tipping on the app. It would also be nice if they calculated every mile you drive while the app is on, rather than just the miles where a paying passenger is on a ride. I don't expect Uber to do either, because there's nothing in it for them


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## ChiChilly (Jun 9, 2016)

Ron Swanson said:


> I'm a new driver in Chicago and I've been getting the following promotion for the past few weeks
> 10 rides = $50 bonus
> 20 rides = $100 bonus
> 40 rides = $300 bonus


Same here Ron. Are you in Chicago or the burbs?


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## ChiChilly (Jun 9, 2016)

yojimboguy said:


> In Madison, WI, my minimum share of any ride is $3.19. Right now there are no special incentives being offered except two that are always ongoing -- to recruit new drivers and new passengers.
> 
> I have seen a few incentive offers but none have worked for me. I have a full-time day job, and I can't put in enough time driving to meet the requirements. Ironic -- the company portrays us as part-time drivers picking up extra cash in our spare time (which is true in my case), but structures its incentives in ways that we can't use.
> 
> Another thing about driver incentives -- the more new drivers we recruit, the more drivers there are to take a cut of the available rides and therefor diminish the pay of the other drivers. It doesn't matter to Uber -- every new driver costs them only whatever the price of processing the application is. There is no additional cost to Uber to have MORE than enough drivers, it gets the same per ride whether ten or a hundred drivers do them. It's the drivers that lose out in a market flooded with too many drivers, because Uber doesn't guarantee us any minimal income.


I got 2.35 for a trip as the lowest. There have been around 4-5 less than three dollar fares (none of those gave tips either).


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

ChiChilly said:


> I got 2.35 for a trip as the lowest. There have been around 4-5 less than three dollar fares (none of those gave tips either).


Your profile says you're near Chicago. Are you Ubering in Madison?


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## ChiChilly (Jun 9, 2016)

No Yojimboguy, that is across state lines.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

ChiChilly said:


> No Yojimboguy, that is across state lines.


Do you mind telling me what the rates for miles and minutes are for Chicago? I started another thread to collect this from anyone willing to post it. In Madison it's $1.20 per mile and 0.20 per minute.


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## ChiChilly (Jun 9, 2016)

Oh Jim, it's rather all still confusing to me how calculated exactly but here it is from the web- However, the minimum fare is not the drivers minimum collect on fare (that much I do know because a few times I was paid less then $3 for a ride- but you know that)

Base Fare: *$1.70*
Per Minute: *$0.20*
Per Mile: *$0.90*
Cancellation Fee: *$5*
Service Fees: *$1.20*
Minimum Fare: *$4.20*


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

The minimum fare is what the customer pays, I think. So your minimum would be $4.20 minus Uber's cut. It's really surprising to me that Madison has the highest pay rate/mile of any of the rates I've seen. I'm lucky, I 'spose, but I wonder why that is.


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## ChiChilly (Jun 9, 2016)

It is definitely a good question - Madison over Chicago in rates. Maybe you have less competition there (i.e. cabs, limos, public transportation).


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## Bill Collector (Dec 17, 2015)

yojimboguy said:


> The minimum fare is what the customer pays, I think. So your minimum would be $4.20 minus Uber's cut. It's really surprising to me that Madison has the highest pay rate/mile of any of the rates I've seen. I'm lucky, I 'spose, but I wonder why that is.


Shhhh.... Keep quiet Jim lest Uber reduces our rate!!!! I think it has to do with the minimum wage being $9-10 around here. If Uber paid less than let's say Walmart, there will be no attraction. Saw some signs for starting wage for low skilled jobs even $12/hr.


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## jacobbogage (Aug 10, 2016)

Ron Swanson said:


> I'm a new driver in Chicago and I've been getting the following promotion for the past few weeks
> 10 rides = $50 bonus
> 20 rides = $100 bonus
> 40 rides = $300 bonus


Think I might be able to talk with you for my story? I'm interested in how these incentives that you're describing change people's driving habits.


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## American Idiot (Aug 8, 2016)

I have read somewhere in this thread what I understand the true principle of Uber to be. A ride share. The whole concept of: I'm driving from one end of town to the other, in a (minivan, sedan, bus) and I have room to take "X" number of people with me. Since I'm already headed that way, why not make some extra cash by giving a lift to someone else. 

How many people are trying to turn this into an unregulated taxi service? I am exploring the options for Uber, seeing as I lost my job a week ago and have a brand new sedan to pay for. But I have a ton of questions.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

yojimboguy said:


> I think the exact opposite. We have absolutely no control over how many pings we get, or over how long the drives we accept turn out to be.
> 
> 1. Someone in a post upthread suggested Uber is pinging people NOT participating in incentives and instead routing the calls to non-participants, with the intent of making the participants fail the requirements. I don't know if that's true but it's possible.
> 
> ...


Makes a lot of sense but the problem with your suggestion is that if you guarantee me a certain amount of money just for being online and taking all trips, I'm going to find a place to hide so I don't get any calls or get sneaky and have someone ping me and then take a half hour waiting for them and never start the trip. If they simply had a decent rate, we would drive. Having to pay incentives means that there's an issue with the compensation scheme.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

jacobbogage said:


> Think I might be able to talk with you for my story? I'm interested in how these incentives that you're describing change people's driving habits.


See if you can find out why they offer these incentives in some markets and not others.

I've been driving for 26 weeks. Looking at my driving history, had that incentive been offered to me every week, I would have earned an additional $3350. That would have increased my net income by more than 25%.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

Disgusted Driver said:


> Makes a lot of sense but the problem with your suggestion is that if you guarantee me a certain amount of money just for being online and taking all trips, I'm going to find a place to hide so I don't get any calls or get sneaky and have someone ping me and then take a half hour waiting for them and never start the trip. If they simply had a decent rate, we would drive. Having to pay incentives means that there's an issue with the compensation scheme.


I certainly agree that the general rates should be higher, but if there are going to be incentives, I'd want there to be a guaranteed minimum.

I'm struggling with this right now with Lyft. It seems they just sent out a slew of free coupons in my market a few weeks back. Generally, no one in Madison seems to know Lyft even exists, so 90%+ of my business has been Uber. But now with all these coupons around, I'm getting pinged for Lyft rides that are 30 minutes away and only 5 minute rides. I'm pretty sure I'm losing money compared to what I would be getting if I just shut down the Lyft app and only too Uber rides.

Which is too bad, because Lyft pays me better. If Lyft guaranteed me a minimum hourly rate competitive with what I'm making with Uber, I'd shut down the Uber app and help Lyft grow there business here. And they're doing a bad job of it. I hear almost nothing but complaints from the Lyft passengers I puck up -- they've tried repeatedly for rides and been told no cars were available, or if takes a long time for a car to get to them. It's a vicious circle -- they don't have enough passengers to keep the drivers interested, and they recruit more riders, and then there's not enough drivers for their new customers.

As of 26 weeks, my hourly Uber pay is $14.81, calculated by take home pay over hours online.


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## LASAC_BER (May 19, 2016)

I hope you can speak with someone knowledgeable in the LA market, jacobbogage 
I think there is a lot of knowledge from some veteran drivers here (not myself, but I could give some pointers to the right ones.)


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## UberEricLong (Oct 28, 2015)

I would gladly trade every single Uber reward for a tip feature built into the app! Rewards, such as the Uber Doggie Sweater, are cool and fun but they do not pay the bills!! Luckily, demand for Lyft has increased substantially in my area so I rarely, if ever, have to drive for Uber.


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## UberEricLong (Oct 28, 2015)




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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Well, I agree about the tip feature, would help a lot but we don't even get Uber points here in RDU so no doggie sweater in my future. 

What I have found is that they only do these promos and incentives in areas where they feel they need to and even within an area they do not give the same promotions to every driver. They may only send out guarantee pay hours to 1/3 of the drivers or only drivers that are not likely to drive those periods, ... We are not all treated equally by a long shot.


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## U for Uber (Jun 28, 2016)

I'm skimmed through the comments on this post and it looks like no one understands how the hourly guarantees, which is SAD. This incentive is the best thing for this gig. If they are offering them to you every week and weekend, you better be doing them!! I'm not sure about you guys and I don't know about the different markets, but in Chicago, any suburb you're in, you can make the requirements and make easy good money at driving less. I usually only work the Friday, Saturday 10pm-4am shifts at $32-34/hr, 1.5 rph. (which is low. I heard LA drivers get $40-50/hr! A Chicago friend has a $40/hr on Saturday nights... jealous)

Anyways...

After the 20% cut, I can only make a max of $27.2/hr, which suck, but that's when hiding comes into play. (you'll need to do your own research on finding a dead area)

I usually get $25-26/hr after the weekend. So in 12hours, I'm at ~$300 after gas. 

You have to drive smart, not hard. The other night I earned $40 GROSS in 6hours and made the minimum ride requirement. Bad night? Nope. Uber paid me my guarantee bonus and I earned ~$161 in 6hours. And I only drove 50miles total. Including deadhead, driving to pickup and drop off. This was at a DEAD suburb time. 

Only way to beat that is to drive during surge/boost/medals, whatever. But that usually means you're driving a lot more miles, so wear & tear, etc. 

Hope this helps.


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## U for Uber (Jun 28, 2016)

Louisvilleuberguy said:


> The point with the guarantees is from what I see if your just making the guarantee and that is it you will be making at the very most break even for the night. I understand your points but if Uber would just offer the guarantee let's say 20 an hour which equates to 15 a hour I wouldn't drive. Honestly until the tip situation works itself all the way out I think it's hard to,are very much money at all.


I agree I wouldn't drive for the $20/hr, sh*t I don't even anything that's under $32/hr. But for you to say that there is NO money to be made while doing guarantees/other promotions, you are horribly wrong. You think adding the tip feather will help? Lol no. Just drive smart not hard. Look. You turned down the $20/hr. See, we aren't all mindless drivers. Think a little and you can make that $25-30/hr at low miles and no tips! Maybe it's your market only offering $20/hr, but in that case, kick rocks I guess haha. LA get hourly G at $40+/hr!! And they have medals at 2.2x+... super jealous.


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## ipv321 (Jan 25, 2016)

Here in Atlanta we have hourly guarantees offered and - particularly early in the week - there are SO MANY DRIVERS driving in the guarantee area it becomes close to impossible to make the minimum number of rides required to get the guarantee. So what happens is you have all these drivers driving around the guarantee area, looking back and forth at the passenger app to see areas of saturation, and getting a ping an hour when you need to be getting 50% more pings to qualify for the guarantee. You can try all the different strategies you want with regard to where to drive, where to wait for rides, etc and if the number of drivers on the road is far greater than demand VERY few drivers will earn the guarantee. NOT ONLY THAT, because the area they've been frantically driving around without passengers, wasting gas and putting unnecessary mileage on their car in the HOPE of getting the net $17-$19 guarantee, after all that trouble, they're rewarded with a net "reward" for all that time, stress, and expense of $9 or so per hour (here in Atlanta where the per mile rate is $.78). That's why whether guarantees are worth it or not depends on how many people Uber is offering the guarantees to each week. They're in full control of that and crunching data like crazy to try to figure out the best balance which will get the drivers into the guarantee area (without them realizing they're not likely to earn any money and giving up). These are all just GAMES Uber plays to address the supply/demand issue. They dangle the "carrot" of $17 an hour, people come from miles area into the guarantee area to drive including from the exurbs and most of them fail to make the guarantee and earn pennies. (Only Uber knows the exact percentage of drivers operating within the guarantee area who actually GET the guarantee and the percentage of those drivers who fail and THAT WOULD BE A VERY INTERESTING NUMBER TO DISCOVER but I'm sure Uber guards that particular stat quite carefully....it would reveal the actual number of people Uber is comfortable with screwing with this whole misleading guarantee scheme). Unintended consequence: the exurbs in Atlanta now OCCASIONALLY go into surge when before they almost never did. BECAUSE the drivers in those areas have driven 25 miles or more to operate in the "guarantee" area.


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## Nirvana3163 (Aug 13, 2016)

Honestly I thought uber sounded like the perfect job.work whenever u want and I keep seeing the average for drivers advertised around 25 dollars an hour,that is complete bullshit...I worked my first night Friday night for 6 hours and made 43 dollars,I also blew threw 20 dollars in gas lowering my profit down to 23 dollars in 6 hours(this still does not include wear and tear on the car or the taxes I have to pay on the measly 23 dollars)I took every ride available I wasn't even picky..this means I've made $3.83 an hour for 6 HOURS OF DRIVING...so I've quickly come to realize that uber prays on people trying to get that $150 driver refer bonus which is the only reason they can keep drivers active..all they're drivers are either new or just use uber for the advertising purposes..and every year they have a whole new generation of drivers to rip off that don't even know any better...so stop advertising for uber,it's a shitty thing to do


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## alextheboss (Jul 1, 2016)

American Idiot said:


> I have read somewhere in this thread what I understand the true principle of Uber to be. A ride share. The whole concept of: I'm driving from one end of town to the other, in a (minivan, sedan, bus) and I have room to take "X" number of people with me. Since I'm already headed that way, why not make some extra cash by giving a lift to someone else.
> 
> How many people are trying to turn this into an unregulated taxi service? I am exploring the options for Uber, seeing as I lost my job a week ago and have a brand new sedan to pay for. But I have a ton of questions.


That's a good idea if it were true, but the name ridesharing is just that... A name. If your driving from point A to point B: uber doesn't tell you where the passenger is going so you won't control if they go your way.

I room for to take "x" ppl: your not allowed to have anybody in the car with you when you pick up a passenger.

The only ones trying to turn it into unregulated taxi service is uber themselves since they control the app.


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## Faile (Jul 1, 2016)

Far from you a bit, but no incentives in Toronto. None. No medals, no points. Only driver sign up bonus ($250).


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## U for Uber (Jun 28, 2016)

Nirvana3163 said:


> Honestly I thought uber sounded like the perfect job.work whenever u want and I keep seeing the average for drivers advertised around 25 dollars an hour,that is complete bullshit...I worked my first night Friday night for 6 hours and made 43 dollars,I also blew threw 20 dollars in gas lowering my profit down to 23 dollars in 6 hours(this still does not include wear and tear on the car or the taxes I have to pay on the measly 23 dollars)I took every ride available I wasn't even picky..this means I've made $3.83 an hour for 6 HOURS OF DRIVING...so I've quickly come to realize that uber prays on people trying to get that $150 driver refer bonus which is the only reason they can keep drivers active..all they're drivers are either new or just use uber for the advertising purposes..and every year they have a whole new generation of drivers to rip off that don't even know any better...so stop advertising for uber,it's a shitty thing to do


Sounds like you just started, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you.

You said Uber is bs. That's not fair. Just because you're bad at something, doesn't mean it's bad. Maybe it's you and your own fault. You're driving at normal rate like a noob. I said before... you HAVE to drive !!ONLY!! when Guber offers you promotions, like the hourly guarantees or boost, whatever is in your market. If you do those, I'm telling you, you can EASILY net $20/hr without trying. Every single night I drive, I'm making nothing less than $25/hr AFTER gas expenses (**I only drive Friday and Saturday nights after @ 5-6hours each and always make ~$300 for the week. Obviously, I won't be making the same hourly rate on a weekend night vs 2pm on a Tuesday or something, common sense...) I have countless screenshots to post. I don't feel like it now, but if any of the doubters need help understanding, I like proving people wrong.

It's common sense. My first night was straight trash earnings like yours. But like any line of work, you learn as you go on. I didn't have this site at the start, but you do now.

So... when Guber doesn't offer you promotions, don't drive. When Guber offers you promotions, (decent ones, I got picky quick since it's a part-time thing for me) you drive. Easy


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## U for Uber (Jun 28, 2016)

ipv321 said:


> Here in Atlanta we have hourly guarantees offered and - particularly early in the week - there are SO MANY DRIVERS driving in the guarantee area it becomes close to impossible to make the minimum number of rides required to get the guarantee. So what happens is you have all these drivers driving around the guarantee area, looking back and forth at the passenger app to see areas of saturation, and getting a ping an hour when you need to be getting 50% more pings to qualify for the guarantee. You can try all the different strategies you want with regard to where to drive, where to wait for rides, etc and if the number of drivers on the road is far greater than demand VERY few drivers will earn the guarantee. NOT ONLY THAT, because the area they've been frantically driving around without passengers, wasting gas and putting unnecessary mileage on their car in the HOPE of getting the net $17-$19 guarantee, after all that trouble, they're rewarded with a net "reward" for all that time, stress, and expense of $9 or so per hour (here in Atlanta where the per mile rate is $.78). That's why whether guarantees are worth it or not depends on how many people Uber is offering the guarantees to each week. They're in full control of that and crunching data like crazy to try to figure out the best balance which will get the drivers into the guarantee area (without them realizing they're not likely to earn any money and giving up). These are all just GAMES Uber plays to address the supply/demand issue. They dangle the "carrot" of $17 an hour, people come from miles area into the guarantee area to drive including from the exurbs and most of them fail to make the guarantee and earn pennies. (Only Uber knows the exact percentage of drivers operating within the guarantee area who actually GET the guarantee and the percentage of those drivers who fail and THAT WOULD BE A VERY INTERESTING NUMBER TO DISCOVER but I'm sure Uber guards that particular stat quite carefully....it would reveal the actual number of people Uber is comfortable with screwing with this whole misleading guarantee scheme). Unintended consequence: the exurbs in Atlanta now OCCASIONALLY go into surge when before they almost never did. BECAUSE the drivers in those areas have driven 25 miles or more to operate in the "guarantee" area.


Guarantee area? Are you talking about boost? Every market has a different name. Whatever. Yeah those zone guarantees can get over filled with drivers real quick, which is why you only drive during the highest times it offers (usually at night). Many drivers, like yourself, will drive for pennies/peanuts and drive during the lower-mid guarantee being offered then when you're frustrated because you can't Uber properly, you call it a night because you made sh*t. Wrong. You START at night. The newbies are scared of the bar/night scene, so demand is higher even at the highest multiplier/guarantee offered in the zone(s). Top drivers know this.

My market is $.90/mile, not a lot better and yeah the zones get saturated quick, which is why I don't drive those usually. That and I don't get offered those, just the hourly G. I normally drive the hourly guarantees, Fri $32/hr and Sat $34/hr @ 10pm-4am. Every night I'm making $25-27/hr after gas.


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## U for Uber (Jun 28, 2016)

Faile said:


> Far from you a bit, but no incentives in Toronto. None. No medals, no points. Only driver sign up bonus ($250).


If this is true, then don't drive! Find another line of work. STOP hurting your car for pennies!!!


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## bimmy5678 (Jul 17, 2016)

I'm a new driver in Los Angeles and I've been offered something like this the last couple weeks:

What's in your wallet? $30 in gross fares guaranteed

Additional rewards on every trip you take￼ plus $30/hour in fares guaranteed. The more trips you take, the bigger your per trip reward gets. 

Guarantee hours
Friday-Saturday 2pm-3am
Saturday-Sunday 5pm-3am
Sunday 10am-8pm

Trip count Earn per trip
Take 5-10 trips $1 extra
Take 11-20 trips $2 extra
Take 21-50 trips $3 extra


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## uber strike (Jan 10, 2016)

IT'S A SCAM:
Uber got sued for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. In order to fall in line with the settlement Uber cannot tell us when to drive, where to drive, and how much to drive. we are supposed to be our own boss. 
Hence, Uber formulated a plot. Uber cut our pay and then decided to dangle that same money over us under the guise of "incentives" in order to cause us to be at their disposal. In order to qualify for incentives you must: 
1) drive as much as Uber tells you. In Los Angeles it is 75 trips.
2) drive where Uber wants. In La you must drive in the "core" of La.
3) drive when Uber wants you to drive. the incentives are only offered during certain hours.
This is just a legal method of the continuance of treating their drivers as employees without having to give drivers any benefits, overtime pay, or having to pay expenses.
the pay cuts were instrumental in that now we are forced to opt in to incentives and be uber slaves because no driver wants to make the less than the minimum wage alternative.


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## Onthelake56 (May 24, 2016)

Keep "all" the extra incentive BS. Just pay a decent per mile rate and good drivers will work and stay. We get $.75 a mile while taxi get $2.50 a mile. Per minute rates are to low also. This concept grew because "driver" could make a living and riders saved money. Now it is just a sham where drivers are expected to provide black car service and work for less than $7-8 an hour after cost. Maint. cost for oil changes, tires etc. are high. I am already starting to see drivers in torn t-shirts and dirty cars. When the rates get low enough, the only drivers that will be left are those that have no choice! At that point, the city bus will look like a limo service.


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## U for Uber (Jun 28, 2016)

All the noobs who are having doubts of Uber haven't put in the time and effort to learn from their mistakes. It's ok! Please quit! More demand for the smart drivers!


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## Victor Monroy (Aug 15, 2017)

Good afternoon, I do uber in Los Angeles and I recently started working for uber about a little less than a month ago and it has been going good. It has been a learned experience and I get to explore the cities, which is pretty cool. I have a question for you Uber veterans. If i managed to complete my 75 trips under a month, per the referral that i was given by a friend, how long does it usually take for the bonus to kick into my account? The person who referred me already got paid. It has been one weekly pay out since i have completed the 75 trips. Does it take two pay periods or is there an uber email that I can contact to follow up with this? Id greatly appreciate any help. Thank you!


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