# Driving for Lyft in Tampa



## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

I'm wondering if there are any Lyft drivers specifically in the Tampa area who might help me decide if I've made a horrible mistake signing up for this. I have driving experience, but just started with Lyft yesterday and my first four hour shift was not at all what I expected, in pretty much every way.

So, a four hour shift in a relatively busy area with a number of bonus zones. I got five riders, one with a bonus.

_bing_ My first rider! 14 minutes away. Ok, I was hoping for closer in an allegedly busy zone with light traffic, knowing I don't get paid to go get her, but what the heck. As soon as hit the accept button the time estimate for pickup jumped to 21 minutes. The navigation insists I meander through a residential neighborhood for 10 minutes, and when I pop out on the other side, I see I could have done that part in one minute if I had just stayed on the road I was already on, and the pickup estimate was then at 18 minutes. 5 minutes later the estimate was at 16 minutes. All told, it took me 35 minutes to get to her instead of that 14 minute initial estimate. She wasn't upset, but the result after her 15 minute ride and me getting back out on the road again was I made $4.86 for the first hour. Even for the 15 minute ride, that seems kind of low. There wasn't a lot of traffic.

Second ride was 30 minute combined pickup/ride time for $8, for which the navigation insisted I get on a toll road that cost me $4.80.

Third ride was a little over $8 and 45 minutes combined pickup/ride time with the navigation constantly updating and telling me to turn around, then five seconds later putting me back on the right path. I mean I knew it was a glitch and I stayed where I should have, but it would say 1 minute and then suddenly say I should turn around and it's 13 minutes and then flip back if I ignored it long enough, and my rider was like "Am I paying for that?"

Two of the five went smoother, but here's the bottom line on four solid hours of drive time in and out of Tampa including one bonus:

$44.76 in earnings, minus $4.80 in tolls and roughly $40 in gas. I literally made $0.

($5 a gallon and about 145 miles all with mostly city driving at 18 mpg)

This can't be normal, can it? I know it's different city to city and some of you make good bank in a lot of areas, but can anyone here in Tampa comment? My last rider was a chatty guy who said he usually uses Uber, but for his ride home from work (through a construction zone coming up on rush hour ... that was another 45 minute one for $10) Lyft was quoting 50% less than Uber. Seems weird, but right in line with the rest of my day.

And I don't mean to preempt anybody's help, but just to be clear: Even if gas was at $3 a gallon and I managed to avoid that toll without extending the rider's trip and making her angry, that still would only have gotten me to $20 net on a four hour shift. That still wouldn't cut it. The bigger issue, like the regular Uber user said, seems to be the rates.

Thanks for any insight!

There's a big cloud of $5-$10 bonus zones about 15 minutes from me that's been active in the AM while I've been spying on the app the last couple days waiting to be approved. I'm heading over there now to see if I can make today better than yesterday, but even two great hours per day would not make repeating that four hour shift worth it. I'll be back in a few hours to see what you experienced folks think.


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## lxlsamiamlxl (Nov 20, 2021)

Lyft was just testing your ANTtitude. They want to know if you will accept everything that they throw at you. 

I wouldn't accept any pings north of 10 minutes that aren't combined with a long ride. (30+/45+) and definitely don't take a toll road to get to them. 

When I first started, they sent me a 15 minute pickup that required that I took a toll bridge ($1.50 toll) The ride was to a Walmart 5 minutes away. 😕

Their navigation is also pretty sh***y. I'd recommend running Google maps on a separate device through Android Auto/Apple Car play, if you're able.

Good luck & stay safe!


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## 25rides7daysaweek (Nov 20, 2017)

Vagabond1 said:


> I'm wondering if there are any Lyft drivers specifically in the Tampa area who might help me decide if I've made a horrible mistake signing up for this. I have driving experience, but just started with Lyft yesterday and my first four hour shift was not at all what I expected, in pretty much every way.
> 
> So, a four hour shift in a relatively busy area with a number of bonus zones. I got five riders, one with a bonus.
> 
> ...


You should get the toll $ back
Download and use waze for navigation
Both uber and Lyft lie about distance to pickup
Those bonus monies will add up
Dont take longer distance pickups
on that first ride
At some point you will figure out if it's worth
it to do the next pickup or abandon the streak 
and start another one instead
Lyft really sucks and ubers not much better
Read these pages for tips
Read these pages for tips
Read these pages for tips
Florida does pay 
some of the lowest rates I think...
Welcome to the jungle 😉


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## Beninmankato (Apr 26, 2017)

AT 65 cents a mile plus 8 cents a minute I would be hestiant to pick up anybody further than a couple of miles and even then not much profit at the price of fuel. Best of luck!!


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

You need to decline more offers. You need to be refusing everything over 5 minutes away, because pings that say they are 5 minutes away can balloon to 10 minutes out.

Someone else said anything 10 minutes away, trust 5 minutes will turn into 10. So if it says 5 minutes it's OK.

You can cut 40% of so out of your total miles driven by declining properly. If you accept everything 20-25% of your miles will be paid, you can push it to 50% by properly declining.

The unexpected thing is that it actually increases your revenue by doing this as it _can_ decrease your time between pings. As in you decline something 15 minutes away and 5 minutes later you get something 5 minutes away, saving you 5 minutes.

But for Florida your numbers aren't a surprise at all. Losing money to barely breaking even. Definitely less than min wage for sure.

And that's when your taking pings left and right.

If it makes you feel any better you're getting 12c a mile more than Orlando.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Thank you for all the feedback. Today my four hour test shift turned into an eight hour actual shift, and I wasn't happy about it. This relates to advice above on long rides and some other input, so I'll fill you in. Keep in mind, please, I'm not whining. Really. I swear. I take most things for what they are. But maybe with full disclosure you guys know something I don't.

So I hit my bonus zone this morning at 6:30 and I do four rides in three hours. I'm at about $45 and thinking after gas this is not fantastic, but if the last hour ticks up and I get a couple more generous tippers, maybe it won't be horrible. Then ride five pings. "This ride is longer than 45 minutes." So I think, well, I can put in an extra hour today, two if necessary. Let's find out what the money balance is on a long ride. 

Ya, it's over 45 minutes alright. The guy is going to freakin' Orlando. 2 hours in traffic and another hour and a half back. He's already had two drivers cancel on him. So I decide to bite it and go ahead. See what happens. $73. Now I've got the 86 miles and $20 in gas ride back and I've read Tampa "averages" $17 an hour and Orlando $31, so I figure I'll pick up a few rides there and/or on the way back and see if I can at least pay for the gas. 

The first one is - get off the highway and pay $1.75 toll, pick up the guy, get back on the highway and pay another $1.75, drop the guy off at work (no exit toll there) then get back on the highway to start back for another $1.75. $5.25 in tolls. $5.76 earnings. Twenty minutes for $.51. LOL! Thankfully he left me a $5 tip, so I think he almost exactly paid for his gas. The next two were better and Orlando's fares definitely seemed higher than what I get here for comparable trips, but still involved tolls. I finally gave up and just headed back.

So! That's an eight hour day. $153 in earnings from nine rides, three including bonuses and three including tips (not the two hour guy who says he was an Uber and Lyft driver for two years and talked my ear off for the whole two hours, of course  ), and according to the trip meter 270 miles at 22 mpg (eight of the rides were city). Soooo .... _bites tongue * ... *squints_ ... carry the 1 ... Ya that's $63 in gas and I'm guessing at least $25 in tolls for the day. $65 net for eight hours.

It's not 0 like yesterday, but it's not big league Publix bag boy money.

The nav system in my truck is great. I just haven't wanted to tick anybody off making them wait for me to enter an address into it. I suppose I'll just have to start doing it anyway as it's already programmed to avoid tolls, and it's way more reliable than this Google Maps interface the Lyft app uses.

So I guess that just leads us back to my original question in slightly better circumstances ... Is this normal? I mean if this is as good as it gets, then I'll find something else to pad my income. If you guys are saying it can get better than this if I feel more free to reject people (which I have only not been doing because it says too many declines hurts my score - I assumed that was just them wanting people to pick up as much as they can, but I didn't want to test it my first day by chucking 80% of the offers to the curb), then I'll stick with it for a while.

Really, thanks for the replies.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

25rides7daysaweek said:


> You should get the toll $ back


Ya I'm reading more about this now and apparently while it says the rider is responsible for all tolls, it also specifically tells them not to pay the driver for the tolls in cash because they're included in the ride price. These are the only tolls in FL that are automatically included in the ride price when you drive through:

Broad Causeway (Eastbound)
Card Sound Bridge
Rickenbacker Causeway

Seems like an argument waiting to happen with the rider and I should avoid it altogether.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

I'm not in Tampa.
Hell, I'm not even a driver ....
and I can tell you that you made a mistake.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

UberBastid said:


> I'm not in Tampa.
> Hell, I'm not even a driver ....
> and I can tell you that you made a mistake.


Well then I guess I'm going back to being a porn star.


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## Beninmankato (Apr 26, 2017)

Tolls are usually paid automatically through lyft; check your app earnings. You can set lyft to use Google Maps independently of the app so you can avoid tolls that way as well. I don't know if it will get better for you but I would suggest waiting for rides with attached bonuses or see what Lyft offers you next week for bonuses, streaks, challenges etc. A lot of Florida is a tough market and Lyft customers are IMO the worst at tipping and behaviors. Maybe try more affluent areas if you know where they are. Porn market seems oversaturated as well, that's why I drive.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Beninmankato said:


> Tolls are usually paid automatically through lyft; check your app earnings. You can set lyft to use Google Maps independently of the app so you can avoid tolls that way as well. I don't know if it will get better for you but I would suggest waiting for rides with attached bonuses or see what Lyft offers you next week for bonuses, streaks, challenges etc. A lot of Florida is a tough market and Lyft customers are IMO the worst at tipping and behaviors. Maybe try more affluent areas if you know where they are. Porn market seems oversaturated as well, that's why I drive.


Oh thanks for the app/map tip. I didn't notice that. Actually I came down here to visit my parents for the holidays in 2019, then between COVID and their aging and a few health scares I just never left. They're about a half hour from my place down here and every morning there's a $13-$18 bonus not far from them. Every morning and some afternoons. Long time too, like an hour or two, not ten minutes. I'm going to try different areas and scenarios, but one is going to be camping out in that area at 7:00 AM. I'm also thinking about ditching the truck since I'm not traveling and towing anymore and getting something that would qualify for Lux Black.

Ya porn's never saturated as long as you're young and beautiful, or quite acrobatic. But ya know my back just isn't what it used to be.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Vagabond1 said:


> But ya know my back just isn't what it used to be.


Yea, that's why I retired as a Suma wrestler.

But, RS driving is worse than dead end.
It IS the end.

I know a guy that runs a septic pump out company, and he has trouble getting people to pump shit out of a hole ... for $25 an hour. 
Full bennies. 
One guy has one guy been with him for five years ... he pays him $34 an hour, pays him for 40 hours a week, and he has every Friday off.

THAT is a better job. 
Pump shit.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

First, it's okay to decline trips. Lyft will try to intimidate & bully you into accepting them all, do not. They can't and won't deactivate you for declining trips. 

Second, uber is way more busy and surges more, you'll probably make more, definitely will drive less miles to pick ups. 

Third, see #1 .


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Forth) get a sunpass and request a toll reimbursement.


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## TulsaUberDriver (11 mo ago)

Vagabond1 said:


> Well then I guess I'm going back to being a porn star.


Are you Stormy Daniels?


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> Thank you for all the feedback. Today my four hour test shift turned into an eight hour actual shift, and I wasn't happy about it. This relates to advice above on long rides and some other input, so I'll fill you in. Keep in mind, please, I'm not whining. Really. I swear. I take most things for what they are. But maybe with full disclosure you guys know something I don't.
> 
> So I hit my bonus zone this morning at 6:30 and I do four rides in three hours. I'm at about $45 and thinking after gas this is not fantastic, but if the last hour ticks up and I get a couple more generous tippers, maybe it won't be horrible. Then ride five pings. "This ride is longer than 45 minutes." So I think, well, I can put in an extra hour today, two if necessary. Let's find out what the money balance is on a long ride.
> 
> ...


$153 for 277 miles?
Yeah that's probably about normal-ish.

The tolls will _kill you_.

Don't worry about acceptance rating. it's a BS meaningless metric. Literally meaningless. The drivers who do well have acceptance rates in the 1-5% range, meaning the reject 24/25- 99/100 pings.

Dropping your acceptance rate for closer pings will get your total miles driven way down.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Boca Ratman said:


> Forth) get a sunpass and request a toll reimbursement.


Fifth) get a real job


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

UberBastid said:


> Fifth) get a real job


I have a real job. And no offense, but I'm not sure any of us are inclined to take advice from someone who has nothing better to do with his time than storm into driver threads when he's not even a driver just to shit all over everyone to feel better about himself. Ok, maybe a little offense.  Buzz off. You're wasting everyone's time.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

If you have a real job, why do you waste your time and risk your wealth, health and safety for pennies?
Is this a hobby?


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

UberBastid said:


> If you have a real job, why do you waste your time and risk your wealth, health and safety for pennies?
> Is this a hobby?


I'm an accountant, though I'm technically retired and just advise a handful of old clients through the year and then do about 50 small business tax returns in March. I'm just looking for something to fill some time the rest of the year and stretch dipping into the retirement account. Like the opening post said, if it's going to be pennies then I'm not going to do it. That's why we're all here talking about it. But, I'm not the only driver in here. You seem to be addressing all of us and there are obviously people here who are comfortable with what they're making doing this.

I'm not even sure why you think I owe this explanation to justify your comments and assumptions. I mean if you walked into a room full of stock market experts and asked how to leverage a call option six months out, would you listen to the guy who happens to be lurking in the corner and jumped up to say "Don't listen to these experts who make their living doing this! I've never done it, but I know better! This is a waste of time!" 

C'mon man. Let it go.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

I know a lot of people have complained about Lyft really taking more than 20%, but has anybody gotten an answer for how these published rates on the fare estimator end up being $.08 a minute and $.65 a mile to the drivers? Seems like a pretty bold difference to have published in the same place they say 80%. LOL


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## June132017 (Jun 13, 2017)

What huge SUV are you driving to burn $40 in gas? First of all was the tank full before you started? Maybe you did some hobby activities to burn so much gas beforehand. 55 MPH= best gas mileage. Don't be going over 70 MPH because you're just making the gas companies rich at that point. I know it's hard to do and can't always follow these rules, but it takes me almost 300 miles to burn $40 in gas. I can have some losing trips here and there and don't care. Something is seriously wrong here.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Vagabond1 said:


> I'm an accountant, though I'm technically retired and just advise a handful of old clients through the year and then do about 50 small business tax returns in March. I'm just looking for something to fill some time the rest of the year and stretch dipping into the retirement account. Like the opening post said, if it's going to be pennies then I'm not going to do it. That's why we're all here talking about it. But, I'm not the only driver in here. You seem to be addressing all of us and there are obviously people here who are comfortable with what they're making doing this.
> 
> I'm not even sure why you think I owe this explanation to justify your comments and assumptions. I mean if you walked into a room full of stock market experts and asked how to leverage a call option six months out, would you listen to the guy who happens to be lurking in the corner and jumped up to say "Don't listen to these experts who make their living doing this! I've never done it, but I know better! This is a waste of time!"
> 
> C'mon man. Let it go.


If I was a DEGREED accountant, with CPA or EA or some other advanced certifications, (not a bookkeeper with QuickBooks experience) I would be able to run a P&L worksheet and realize that I'm not making any money at this endeavor.
Then, because a CPA is known to be able to apply common sense and reasoning to a problem, I would wonder if the miniscule amount I might be making would be worth the risk to my health and life.
So, don't listen to these experts who make a 'living' driving an Uber car, I know better. This is a waste of time.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

June132017 said:


> What huge SUV are you driving to burn $40 in gas? First of all was the tank full before you started? Maybe you did some hobby activities to burn so much gas beforehand. 55 MPH= best gas mileage. Don't be going over 70 MPH because you're just making the gas companies rich at that point. I know it's hard to do and can't always follow these rules, but it takes me almost 300 miles to burn $40 in gas. I can have some losing trips here and there and don't care. Something is seriously wrong here.


Nothing's seriously wrong. I get 20-25 mpg mixed driving. Perfectly mid-range. Gas is just expensive and as you can see it included some pretty long pickup times, and in one case a two hour drive back from Orlando. The math was number of miles driven for the shift divided by the mpg on the computer when I finished the shift.

I pay for super because it's usually 15-20% more on price and I get 15-20% better mileage. It's a wash and I have to stop for gas 15-20% less often. So, I'm paying $5 a gallon. But if you're getting 300 miles out of $40 in gas even at a buck a gallon less, you're saying you're consistently doing over 30 mpg no matter what the conditions. So I don't know what you're driving, my friend, but it doesn't take a huge SUV to do worse than that.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

UberBastid said:


> If I was a DEGREED accountant, with CPA or EA or some other advanced certifications, (not a bookkeeper with QuickBooks experience) I would be able to run a P&L worksheet and realize that I'm not making any money at this endeavor.
> Then, because a CPA is known to be able to apply common sense and reasoning to a problem, I would wonder if the miniscule amount I might be making would be worth the risk to my health and life.
> So, don't listen to these experts who make a 'living' driving an Uber car, I know better. This is a waste of time.


Man, you are just impossible. Of course I can do math. That's why I'm here. I only asked if anybody else had tips to improve the situation. For Pete's sake. You're obviously just looking for people to argue with. That's my last response to you on this topic, because if you want to talk about wasting time, this conversation is the perfect example. LOL. Enjoy your day.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Oh look ... there's an "ignore" button. Well thank goodness that's over. HA!


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Yup. 
Ignore the inconvenient.

I would suggest, if you need part time employment, with your credentials, that you check with a company called Robert Half Account Temps. They do temp work offering people with skills like yours. They offer remote, work from home positions. And they pay very well.

Why would somebody with the kind of education and skills you have, sell yourself so cheap? 
Doesn't make sense.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> I know a lot of people have complained about Lyft really taking more than 20%, but has anybody gotten an answer for how these published rates on the fare estimator end up being $.08 a minute and $.65 a mile to the drivers? Seems like a pretty bold difference to have published in the same place they say 80%. LOL
> 
> View attachment 653567


Where are you getting 20%? 

It hasn't been 20% since 2015.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> Where are you getting 20%?
> 
> It hasn't been 20% since 2015.


I didn't think so, but it's still what I see pretty much everywhere they advertise for drivers and on a lot of boards. Sometimes I see the average with some extra fees is more like 25%, but those rates above for Tampa against my rate card is closer to 40%.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Vagabond1 said:


> I'm wondering if there are any Lyft drivers specifically in the Tampa area who might help me decide if I've made a horrible mistake signing up for this. I have driving experience, but just started with Lyft yesterday and my first four hour shift was not at all what I expected, in pretty much every way.
> 
> So, a four hour shift in a relatively busy area with a number of bonus zones. I got five riders, one with a bonus.
> 
> ...


As a newbie here in the FL market....I'll pitch in my .02 cents. My hubby and I moved down here at the beginning of this year....to an area called 'The Villages'. I've been driving FULL-TIME for LYFT for over 6 yrs....and started with Uber but only stayed with them 1.5 yrs. Anyway, I'm from the Chicago market....much, much busier, to say the least. Rates were lower though. I averaged $500-$1K a week and I drive a Prius Plug-In that averages 70-80 mpg. So, with that all said....If you aren't DEPENDANT on the income, it's a nice side job. If I average $500 a MONTH now, I'm doing good.  I'm logged on as I write this, but I've only done ONE ride in the last 2 hrs. The area I live in pays 1.39 per mile and .15 a minute. So IF I get a ride into Orlando from here, it would be at least a $75 fare. People in The Villages tend to tip HIGH.._.IF they tip at all that is_. My ONE ride this morning....tipped $33. ($30 cash and another $3 in the app) I accept high cash tips, because STILL...._most pax don't tip. _

Not only do I do this job for the extra money....but I love driving AND I love talking with the pax. I think it's a fun job! I learn about new places....especially since I'm new to the area myself. I turn on the Instacart app when Lyft gets slow...like today. It's weird....but weekends are slower than the weekdays in this area. I don't know why though. 

First advice though, if you want to make any profit at ALL doing this job.....you MUST get something that gets better gas mileage! I love my Prius! This is actually my 2nd Prius since I traded in my '09 regular Hybrid that _ONLY got 51 mpg_ for this Hybrid/Electric that gets up to 80 mg....and sometimes there are numerous FREE charging locations....depending where you live. Not so many near me now....only about 2 that I know of. In my last area, there were at least 10 that I plugged in at regularly. So it's like free gas. 

Also, learn how to use the Destination Filters to your advantage! I love the Filter by TIME the best. If I put in that I need to be home in 1.5 hrs....I avoid getting pulled into Orlando if it's already late. In the daytime, I don't mind as much. Orlando rates are terrible from what I saw. I did a couple rides there a month ago when I got a ride INTO Orlando....and I think it only paid like .53 a mile. I'd rather stay close to home and get $1.39 a mile. 

That's all I have for now. HTH. 😜


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

LEAFdriver said:


> The area I live in pays 1.39 per mile and .15 a minute.


Thank you for your feedback. Just to be clear, you're saying Lyft _charges_ 1.39 a mile and .15 a minute or _they pay you_ 1.39 a mile and .15 a minute? Because I thought The Villages was in the Tampa Bay rate area. If it's not and you guys make that much I might not mind a leisurely drive up there for a day once in a while. I'd only need half the fares and burn half the gas to get the same gross.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> I didn't think so, but it's still what I see pretty much everywhere they advertise for drivers and on a lot of boards. Sometimes I see the average with some extra fees is more like 25%, but those rates above for Tampa against my rate card is closer to 40%.


They did away with a commission based pay system years ago. 2017ish. 

You get paid your rate card. What lyft charges pax has no bearing on your pay. Lyft regularly charges 2-5x reg price and pays you nothing extra

Your rate card is what you get.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> Your rate card is what you get.


I wonder why everybody writing about RS pay keeps trying to make it come out to percentages. I mean it is what it is. It's just quite a spread.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> I might not mind a leisurely drive up there for a day once in a while.


It's considerd the Ocala area and it's slow, slower than slow. 
I bet she goes hours with out a ride at times. She's sitting at home, you'd be in your car. 

I strongly suggest you sign up for Uber too. You'll find it's much busier, you'll drive less to pick ups and stay busy. I beleive uber in Tampa on upfront fares. You see the destination and the total you'll make.






























The payout per mile fluctuates, I haven't really been able to figure out what causes the increases. 

I'll get a 3 mile offer for $12. Then get a 4 mile offer for $6 seconds later. 

In my experience, I get better rides with uber and it's definitely the busier if the two.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> It's considerd the Ocala area
> 
> I beleive uber in Tampa on upfront fares. You see the destination and the total you'll make.
> View attachment 653582


Ya The Villages is so spread out ... Uber gives you all that information before you accept? That's more what I was expecting. Frankly I was a little shocked when I just saw a picture and time to pickup and was expected to accept based on that. I was clicking around, nothing. They don't even put the destination address on the waybill after you've accepted. Honestly that's the part I hate most. Too many surprises. Thanks for the screenshots. That's very helpful.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> I wonder why everybody writing about RS pay keeps trying to make it come out to percentages. I mean it is what it is. It's just quite a spread.


It used to be we paid a commission, 20--28% at 1st. Then more, then they changed the pay structure to a set mile and min rate regardless of what they charge. 


When you see that they are charging $22 for a ride, and you get paid $10 it's disheartening to say the least, especially when you drove 14 miles and 30 minutes for that 10 bucks. So people have taken to point out that these companies are taking 35-60% of the total rider's price.


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## lxlsamiamlxl (Nov 20, 2021)

Boca Ratman said:


> It's considerd the Ocala area and it's slow, slower than slow.
> I bet she goes hours with out a ride at times. She's sitting at home, you'd be in your car.
> 
> I strongly suggest you sign up for Uber too. You'll find it's much busier, you'll drive less to pick ups and stay busy. I beleive uber in Tampa on upfront fares. You see the destination and the total you'll make.
> ...


Uber's surge areas are always pretty consistent, as well. Lyft pop-ups are extremely random and typically in odd suburbs. (At least ithey are n the greater, Houston, TX area)

Run both apps & don't sweat your acceptance rate. I'd like to keep Lyfts at 80% for the upfront info but it's impossible with some of the garbage that they send me. They also throttled my 3/$15 & 3/$18 consecutive bonuses so I'm definitely taking more Uber pax.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> Ya The Villages is so spread out ... Uber gives you all that information before you accept? That's more what I was expecting. Frankly I was a little shocked when I just saw a picture and time to pickup and was expected to accept based on that. I was clicking around, nothing. They don't even put the destination address on the waybill after you've accepted. Honestly that's the part I hate most. Too many surprises. Thanks for the screenshots. That's very helpful.


Yeah, they are rolling it out. It was 4 or 5 cities in the 1st wave, 10-15 in the second wave. It's been basically a pay cut. Most offers are less than the rates prior would have paid. The ones I posted are obviously higher. I haven't been Driving, perhaps they are trying lure me put, i really haven't been Able to figure it out. 

I'll get a 60 mile off that pays $45. And two minutes later a 40 mile offer that pays 70. 

I've seen some that are less than 50c mile.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

lxlsamiamlxl said:


> Uber's surge areas are always pretty consistent, as well.


Indeed. Plus once you figure out the surge, and get a rider paying actual surged rated, uber pays more. I've never had a lyft ride pay additional than what's been on the request.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

lxlsamiamlxl said:


> Uber's surge areas are always pretty consistent, as well. Lyft pop-ups are extremely random and typically in odd suburbs. (At least ithey are n the greater, Houston, TX area)


Ya they really are. Plus I've had a couple situations where there's a huge cloud bonuses, so I go over there and 80% of them disappear not just on my way, but literally when I'm like 1000 feet from the area. Then I've had two situations where it said busy area and I was locked in for a bonus on the next ride, and the next ride never came. Like "Oops. It slowed down and we don't want to pay that now, but you're locked in so you get nobody." One day I tested it after sitting there for 15 minutes waiting in this allegedly busy area after being locked in. I went offline then immediately went back online just to lose the bonus, and _boom_ I got a request immediately.

It's all pretty sketchy.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> It's all pretty sketchy.


You should read up on the history of these companies. Sketchy is being polite! 

Showtime just put out a series on the history of uber, it does a fairly good job but doesn't nearly cover everything qnd goes a little easy on them. Completely let's lyft off the hook, they are just as bad. They play Mr nice guy but they are equally as "sketchy" worse in some ways.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> You should read up on the history of these companies. Sketchy is being polite!
> 
> Showtime just put out a series on the history of uber, it does a fairly good job but doesn't nearly cover everything qnd goes a little easy on them. Completely let's lyft off the hook, they are just as bad. They play Mr nice guy but they are equally as "sketchy" worse in some ways.


Ya I've heard. I just figured I like to drive, I've been working for over 35 years in offices and with numbers and am supposed to be retired, I don't really care how much they keep as long as I know what I'll make and I can do it when I want. Well, I found out how much I'd make, so experiment successful. LOL

Another plus in Uber's column, Larry my truck qualifies for Uber Comfort and does not qualify for any of the Lyft upgrade programs.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> Ya I've heard. I just figured I like to drive, I've been working for over 35 years in offices and with numbers and am supposed to be retired, I don't really care how much they keep as long as I know what I'll make and I can do it when I want. Well, I found out how much I'd make, so experiment successful. LOL
> 
> Another plus in Uber's column, Larry my truck qualifies for Uber Comfort and does not qualify for any of the Lyft upgrade programs.


I get it, my situation is similar. I can live without the income but the less I dip now, the better off I'll be later. Plus I enjoy it usually. I won't work for peanuts though. 

Here's a good example on why people ***** about Uber's & lyfts cut. I'm not driving today but I like to log on and screenshot the offers I'm trying to find a pattern to the difference in the offers. 
This just came in a little while ago. 





















123 miles for $102 and almost no chance of getting a ride even half way back and uber gets 40% before this new pay structure it would have paid ~$125. 

Incidentally, shortly after the above I got these offers.
















Uber wants about 75 for these. 
I almost always am able to work my way at least 3/4 of the way home in a short time from palm beach with just a few trips. 

Makes no sense, the obvious reasons for the variations in fares, extra busy or few drivers aren't there. In fact, there were fewer drivers around when the Orlando trip came in. It just seems so random.


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

And keep in mind, a trip that distance FROM orlando would pay out less.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> I get it, my situation is similar. I can live without the income but the less I dip now, the better off I'll be later. Plus I enjoy it usually.
> 
> Makes no sense, the obvious reasons for the variations in fares, extra busy or few drivers aren't there. In fact, there were fewer drivers around when the Orlando trip came in. It just seems so random.


Exaaaactly. Because I usually start early in the morning, I get some pretty good riders. The trips might suck, but I get the lady coming out of her social services office trying to get a wheelchair, and the single mom who opens the front door 10 seconds before the wait time runs out with a baby seat and infant and her tween autistic son all frantically trying to get to the hospital for the last minute waitlist appointment they just got called for, and the teenager whose dad moved him down here away from his friends who gabbed with me his whole way to work about how it sucks not having any friends here and then said "I feel a lot better!" before he climbed out. 

Thankfully I have yet to be puked on or cussed out. Just a couple relatively entitled folks, but nothing terrible. I'd drive all of them again and the ones above make me feel like I'm actually providing a service when they stretch out in a back seat the size of their dining rooms (and mine) when they're stressed out or just need the space. It's ok. Actually the mom one was disappointed I couldn't move the seat back any further to squeeze on the baby seat. "That's never happened before. It's so big in here!" Hahaaha.

On the randomness, Lyft is constantly pulling the bonus cloud thing I mentioned earlier and I swear it's BS just to try to get drivers to that area. I've made some bonuses and I'm sure SOMEONE (probably one someone) gets that $25 bonus once in a while, but I got locked into a $19 one this morning and just sat there waiting for 15 minutes while the mile-wide cloud went down to zero that fast. Then they sent me a ride 40 minutes away to justify the $19 bonus. I went offline and came home, but it makes me wonder sometimes how many people pay enough for that bonus to stay up and Lyft just grabs it back anyway. So some of the padding on Lyft's side is their computer making sure they stay profitable on whatever the trip is I'm sure, and some of it's just BS to get you there. I'm sure Uber has some math in their algorithm that even with the upfront pricing basically does the same thing for them. Minimum acceptable and then "What can we screw everybody out of on this trip?"

I applied to Uber. Thanks for those screen shots. That's exactly what I want to see when I decide to take a ride. It might be inconsistent, but at least you know. And I don't mind 100 rides to qualify for Comfort.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> I'd drive all of them again and the ones above make me feel like I'm actually providing a service


Yeah, that feeling will pass 😆 🤣 😂. 

You'll almost assuredly not get enough comfort requests to make a difference. The upfront fares and volume of requests will make a difference. Along with better surges. There's a learning curve but once you figure things out you'll laugh at your first results.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> Yeah, that feeling will pass 😆 🤣 😂.
> 
> You'll almost assuredly not get enough comfort requests to make a difference. The upfront fares and volume of requests will make a difference. Along with better surges. There's a learning curve but once you figure things out you'll laugh at your first results.


LOL! Ya probably soon too.

Sure, I don't expect to get Comfort rides often. But it'd be nice to be ABLE to so it's at least once in a while. I'd put up with Lyft's stuff if I was getting the Lux rate here and there. But like I said with what I've got now I don't qualify for that or XL. More space, leather, blah blah, wrong badge on the hood or one seatbelt short. How an Expedition is Lux and an XLT SuperCrew cab isn't I don't understand, but Uber's list is far less elitist. So at least it's an option.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> Here's a good example on why people *** about Uber's & lyfts cut.


You know, it didn't really hit me earlier, but the cheapest payout on all your examples of that distance trip (assuming you don't get stuck in traffic for an hour) is $25 an hour and the others are over $30. You know what I made on my surprise 4 hour round trip to Orlando that Lyft didn't warn me about before pickup? $73.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> You know, it didn't really hit me earlier, but the cheapest payout on all your examples of that distance trip (assuming you don't get stuck in traffic for an hour) is $25 an hour and the others are over $30. You know what I made on my surprise 4 hour round trip to Orlando that Lyft didn't warn me about before pickup? $73.


Yeah, your rates suck. Ha an XL ride from Stuart to Tampa, plus 20% tip plus 40 cash tip. Pilot for UPS, they pay all but the cash tip. Guy was cool, when I pulled up he offered to change it to XL since he wasn't paying. I wouldnt havr done it at reg rates. Payout was $378 298 plus 80 tip. 



I caught a destination ride from Tampa to, Bartow I think, I knew the rates were bad, but wow. Was better than nothing, as it was 40 miles along the same route I had to go, only took me 2 miles off route at the end. 

Most of the trips I posted are ones that payout better than my old rates. I have a ton of screenshots of 70 & 80 cent per mile offers too. 

My old rates, I averaged about $1/ mile on hwy trips and about 1.20-1.30 around town. .95/ .15 mile/min. 

I think per hour is a poor metric for transportation jobs. Taxis charge 2.75 /mile or 50-60 per hour or
if moving under X miles per hour. 

Uber & Lyft love that most people use an hourly metric. That's how they get away with cutting 20-30% of longer rides.










This trip is roughly 43/hr. It's not a good payout, imo. No way I'd do this trip. 

I was talking with a kid the other day. He did a ride ft Lauderdale to Tampa bay.. 270 miles, 4.5 hours, one way. He made 202.00. There's no way in hell I'd do that trip. 














This one came in a amongst the others I posted today. The other west palm trips I posted the destinations are a few miles from the airport. 40-70 for basically the same trip. Makes no sense. The airport was surging at the time of airport request, apparently how busy it is at the destination,
at the time of the request , has a bearing on payout.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> This trip is roughly 43/hr. It's not a good payout, imo. No way I'd do this trip.


Oh no no. That's not $43 to me. I meant the overall hourly. 102 minutes x both ways is 204. The likelihood that trip takes you less than 3.5 hours is zero. So that trip at $69.84 is $20 an hour on a good day. That's the way I do the hourly numbers and all the original trips you screenshot were $25 to $35 on the roundtrip.. $20 turns into $15 fast too many times with traffic and at $15 ... that's barely more than the gas on some patterns. I wouldn't take that one either.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Mind you, I mean "I wouldn't take that one either" if given a choice. In my $73 example I didn't know where I was going until the guy got in and didn't know the mileage and final rate until I got there, which is why we're having this conversation in the first place. LOL!


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Vagabond1 said:


> Mind you, I mean "I wouldn't take that one either" if given a choice. In my $73 example I didn't know where I was going until the guy got in and didn't know the mileage and final rate until I got there, which is why we're having this conversation in the first place. LOL!


OK, sounds like you don't know a crucial piece of information. Once you have clicked ARRIVED, _BEFORE you unlock the doors to your pax,_ you can *SEE their destination*. Click on the the little line in the middle and it will show you the destination. For ME, as a Platinum driver, I always get the time and direction of each ride _BEFORE I accept_ it....so even though I don't know the EXACT destination, it is never a SURPRISE/SHOCK to me when I see the destination. Paired with the time/direction filter....makes it even better. So, if you accept a ride request and it ends up being a 4 hr round trip....if you don't already know the time/direction....then make sure you click on that bar to see the destination BEFORE they get in your car. This way you can cancel quickly without too much drama if you don't want to go where they are going. HTH. 😜


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

LEAFdriver said:


> OK, sounds like you don't know a crucial piece of information. Once you have clicked ARRIVED, _BEFORE you unlock the doors to your pax,_ you can *SEE their destination*. Click on the the little line in the middle and it will show you the destination. For ME, as a Platinum driver, I always get the time and direction of each ride _BEFORE I accept_ it....so even though I don't know the EXACT destination, it is never a SURPRISE/SHOCK to me when I see the destination. Paired with the time/direction filter....makes it even better. So, if you accept a ride request and it ends up being a 4 hr round trip....if you don't already know the time/direction....then make sure you click on that bar to see the destination BEFORE they get in your car. This way you can cancel quickly without too much drama if you don't want to go where they are going. HTH. 😜


Well sure, of course I know that. But you've already accepted the ride, driven all the way to the pickup, and now the passenger has been notified you're there and is walking out to you. You're suggesting I cancel on the spot then?

That guy's late for work now. Seems a little late in the game to back out to me. I mean on a four hour deal, ok so maybe I explain and go. But as a standard practice? I don't think I'm built that way. LOL


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Another thing I've been collecting private rides pretty much since I've started. Regular travelers whose rides benifit me. I do cash rides, I have a handful of Regulars, one guy Flys out probably 10-12 days/ month. I've been driving him 6 years now. Other come and go, some travel less. I'm undecided on the UPS pilot, he would be every 8 or 9 days. It's a long boring ride home from Tampa. But its $400 so hard to turn down. 

I look for every way to exploit the system. Over here there's a glitch with toll reimbursement. It pays me a lot more than I get charged, two decimal places more. It's only on one segment, if I enter and exit at specific exits. With the upfront fares it's been easy to exploit that. 
Somedays I'll do 3 or 4 of those rides. I'll make 60 in fares and 160 in tolls 😆 🤣 😂 . 

The new upfront fares had really been a blessing for me in regards to exploiting the toll glitch. 




Vagabond1 said:


> That guy's late for work now. Seems a little late in the game to back out to me. I mean on a four hour deal, ok so maybe I explain and go. But as a standard practice? I don't think I'm built that way. LOL


The guy going to work 20 minutes away isn't going to ruin your day. The guy going 2 hours away is.


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## 80sDude (Jul 20, 2015)

OP your above description Is really a no Brainer. You guys in smaller markets are being taken advantage of. This is meant for big metropolitan cities period end.

Please quit while you're ahead.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

80sDude said:


> OP your above description Is really a no Brainer. You guys in smaller markets are being taken advantage of. This is meant for big metropolitan cities period end.
> 
> Please quit while you're ahead.


Oh, there ya go.
Another bad attitude to be ignored.
LoL

OP is an accountant, that can get on-call, part time gig work that can be done from home and paid upwards of $30 an hour.
But her mind is made up that driving an Uber car is the thing to do.

Everybody needs a hobby I guess.

.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Vagabond1 said:


> Well sure, of course I know that. But you've already accepted the ride, driven all the way to the pickup, and now the passenger has been notified you're there and is walking out to you. You're suggesting I cancel on the spot then?
> 
> That guy's late for work now. Seems a little late in the game to back out to me. I mean on a four hour deal, ok so maybe I explain and go. But as a standard practice? I don't think I'm built that way. LOL


OK, maybe I didn't explain the dilemma clearly enough. *The ISSUE* really is....that ALL drivers should be given AT LEAST '_Time and Direction'_ on the initial PING. The fact that Lyft only allows CERTAIN drivers this information is WRONG.  (Hopefully that is one of the issues being addressed in the current class action lawsuit.)

There are times where I would like to sign on at about 8 pm to just do 1 or 2 rides and be back NO LATER than 10 pm. Thankfully, I have been given 8 ride filters per day to use. So no problem for ME to just use a filter. But, what I'm saying is, it should be_* STANDARD INFO given to ALL DRIVERS*_.....whether brand new like yourself, or someone who's been driving for U/L for 7+ yrs like myself. And yes, I feel bad for any pax that I would have to cancel on....because that is NOT the experience I would like to have as a passenger myself. But believe me, it happens so rarely, it's hardly worth talking about. That's why I try to educate my passengers and tell them that if they are ever requesting a semi long ride....if I were them, I would either CALL or TEXT the driver and let them know how far they are going so that when the driver gets there....they aren't surprised or feel OBLIGATED to take a ride they didn't want. And If they DON'T want a 4 hr R/T at 10 pm.....they can cancel it themselves and not waste THEIR time OR the Passenger's time.

So, NO....I'm not suggesting this as a STANDARD PRACTICE. And of course, it would NOT be an issue to give a ride to someone just 'late for work' on a 20 minute ride. And it's GREAT that YOU already knew that you can see the PAX destination BEFORE they get into the car....but when I WAS NEW...I DIDN'T know that....until someone told me. Lyft surely didn't tell me. And every time they 'update' the app....they change/move something and don't tell you where they put it! LOL So, I was just trying to be helpful to a newbie....like so many on this site were to me when I was a newbie. BTW, shout out to @80sDude! He's from my old area (Chicago) and he's been here on UP.net forever too!


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

80sDude said:


> OP your above description Is really a no Brainer. You guys in smaller markets are being taken advantage of. This is meant for big metropolitan cities period end.
> 
> Please quit while you're ahead.


Big metro areas where the taxis line up at the airport 300 long and cab drivers bring in $400+ a day?

Because that's Florida yo..

OP got a ton of rides and just can't make crap doing it, it's not like there's a shortage of business, he's driving his butt off but the rates are just so shit he can't make decent money.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

LEAFdriver said:


> And it's GREAT that YOU already knew that you can see the PAX destination BEFORE they get into the car....but when I WAS NEW...I DIDN'T know that...


Neither did I 😆 🤣 😂 what a game changer that was when I discovered that. Now with upfront fares from Uber, driving to a pick up just to see the destination ses like such a waste. 😆 🤣 

But I do remember how excited i was when I 1st learned about it.

Where you a driver when you could see the destination on uber the waybill? It was soul crushing when they fixed that.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Boca Ratman said:


> Neither did I 😆 🤣 😂 what a game changer that was when I discovered that. Now with upfront fares from Uber, driving to a pick up just to see the destination ses like such a waste. 😆 🤣
> 
> But I do remember how excited i was when I 1st learned about it.
> 
> Where you a driver when you could see the destination on uber the waybill? It was soul crushing when they fixed that.


Yes, I was! And Lyft also you could see the pax destination after accepting I believe thru the waybill also. It's criminal what these companies are doing by hiding crucial information that should be given to Independent Contractors....unless we are employees? Hmmmm.  

_I already made a good chunk of change on the Uber Class Action lawsuit....I'm hoping to make MORE on the current Lyft Lawsuit. 💰💵_


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Today I made $126 in 4 hours on $40 in gas. I'm getting the hang of what bonus amounts to go a little out of my way to snag before they disappear. Let's see if I can keep that going. 

LEAF, ya I got you. Just sounded funnier in my head.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Also it helped twice that I speak Spanish. They both tipped. LOL


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

UberBastid said:


> Oh, there ya go.
> Another bad attitude to be ignored.
> LoL
> 
> ...


You know, for a pot farmer you're pretty uptight. 😆 🤣 

You have to look at from hos perspective. 30 years doing the same thing. He's tired of it, the sound of that adding machine is nails on a chalk board, probably. (Yeah I know we use computers now) 

I spent close to 30 years doing tje se thing. I loved what I did for a long time. Then, I didn't. Days off were spent dreading the next day. At work the only thing I looked forward to was leaving. As soon as I left, the dread of going back the next day started. I was a miserable bastid. 

Your situation was different from what I remember. 

I made more money in some quarterly bonuses than probably my best year doing rideshare, certainly any 2 bonuses I did. Uber wasn't ever meant to replace the income was I was making. It was and still is a way to plug some holes and make some disposable income. If I had to rely on the income, it would be stressful, I'd be bitter, and probably would have been long gone. 

You're right in that driving around accepting every request @ 60c/mile putting more dead miles on than paid, is a losing venture. It's just not sustainable, with gas at 5.00/ gal it would be hard to break even. There are still ways make money doing this and there's a learning curve. Lyft and especially Uber have and still are always changing the pay structure and bonuses/incentives. You know this. By taking advantage of the incentives, exploiting the surge and bonuses there's money to be made. I can make 300 bucks or more on a Sat evening in less hours than a standard work day, a hundred to three hundred more with the regulars I've collected, and another hundred- three cherry picking a some rides throughout the week, I'm happy. 
It's not hard work. I enjoy most of the conversations with pax, some pax are boring and very few are bad. Could I make more going back to work? Definitely. Am I going to? Hell no. 

I'm not losing money. I'm not making pennies. I'm not going to make millions, but it's definitely cash positive for me. That's all op is looking for, something different where he put a few bucks in the vacation fund or whatever.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Spot on BR. And seem to be getting the hang of it. Make that $137 with $42 in gas in a little over 4 hours. Typed that last message on the side of the road and had a $6.5 bonus zone waiting waiting around me after that turned out to be 5 minute pickup and a 7 minute ride for $10.75. Now I'm done. For a Monday late morning to mid afternoon, I am totally fine with today's results.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

And ya know, not that anybody's going to care, but since BR re-described it so well, to expand for the couple comments about part time or temping as an accountant or otherwise staying a "professional" in some context, that's not really how things work in that business. I would NEVER get to work four or five hours a day when I felt like it through some kind of temp agency, or even just one day at a time.

This isn't filling in for a receptionist (not that there's anything wrong with that). When it comes to higher priced professional jobs, an agency might originally stick you in there for a day, but usually it's more like a week of 8+ hour days. Then one thing happens 50%+ of the time, which is that the requirements creep and if you're any good they want you to stay longer for that project. And if you say no, the agency will never put you anywhere again. The second thing that happens maybe 20% of the time is they say "Hey, we like this one and he knows his stuff. Let him stay indefinitely." "Let me," like that's what I was after.

If you're an accountant and an agency lets you take a couple meager jobs here and there when you want, it's because you're just a payroll clerk.

No matter how qualified you are for whatever, it might look and sound good to other people, but it doesn't let you make your own rules. There are very few options that let you do anything when you want instead of when they want. And I like being out and about on something easy and more fun to do. I can totally see that if you HAD to do this to pay the rent, it would be an incredibly frustrating job full of unfairness. I might tell that person not to bother too. But that's not where I am. If I can square this $20 an hour after gas thing 3 days out of 4 once I've got my groove down, that's exactly what I was after that I didn't get when I first posted.


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## jetlifeual (Aug 28, 2015)

I remembered I tried to do Lyft in Tampa around March of 2020. Right as the pandemic began to creep. It was not good at all. The ride requests were sparse, the trips were meh, and overall I was losing money in the long run. It didn't help that I had a cammed 4-door sedan. Perfect for sparking up a good convo with the bros, but terrible on gas. I was really only doing it to kill the free time I had after work or on weekends. I'm in Orlando now and I might give it a whirl to see how it is as I have a much more fuel-efficient vehicle and larger overall. But I don't have high expectations.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Ya well after my experiences today getting stiffed on a couple fees and getting no satisfaction from customer service, I will suggest along with BR that you try it with Uber instead of Lyft. I'm just waiting for my background check to clear in the next day or two and I think I'm done with Lyft.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> , I will suggest along with BR that you try it with Uber instead of Lyft.


Lyft does occasionally come in handy. Has a 60 mile ride yesterday on uber. 2 Lyft destination filter rides and I was back 3 miles from home. 120 paid miles 8 dead miles. Seldom works out that well but if I didn't use both apps, I'd have had a lot more dead miles. 
I made ~$180 left at home at 930 was home just after midnight. 

Had a private ride, pick up was at FLL, 90 minutes away. Really good

I declined probably a bunch of uber offers until I got a good one. 60 miles, $75 plus it looked like i could take advantage of the toll glitch. 


My private ride canceled. He'll still pay me, I'll try to refuse but I know he'll pay me. 

But just using uber & lyft to fit my needs, 180 in under 3 hours.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> Lyft does occasionally come in handy.


I am definitely not getting rides like that. LOL.

Sure, Lyft's on the phone and I went through the background check and whatever. I'm not going to delete it, but it's not going to be the app sitting facing me on the dash all the time after yesterday.

I won't bore you with my whole day, but the icing on the cake was I had a no show and as you know the app makes you call them before you can mark them as a no show. So I hit the call button and I get "This is Lyft. We don't recognize this phone number. Make sure you're using the phone associated with your Lyft account." and it doesn't let the call go through. I try a few more times. Same. By this time, I have driven 15 minutes to the destination, waited the 5 minutes, given the customer another 5 minutes waiting by text because it was an auto dealership and I thought maybe she was busy still signing the car in for repairs or something, another 5 minutes arguing with the app. Then I get a text from the rider that her trip was cancelled so she's not coming out, but she won't cancel the ride for me. So, I'm stuck cancelling it just to get the ride off the app.

I text customer service and they say yes, we see the chat and agree that's a no show. We'll unmark it as cancelled by you, and we're going to give you $5 for your valuable time! You're doing a great job thank you! $5? I'm 45 minutes into this ride sitting on the side of the road with the AC on fixing a situation your app caused, $5 doesn't even pay for the gas at this point, there was a $3.50 bonus tagged on that ride I lost, I've still got to wait for the next ride to be assigned now, and you're giving me the bare minimum no show fee when it goes up to $15? Basically $5 for an hour I've lost? She says yes and it'll be credited to my account within 5 business days. LOL!

I wouldn't mind so much except they lost $9 of a ride bonus the day before, and after I was locked into a $3.75 bonus zone today it just suddenly disappeared from my screen 20 seconds before they assigned me a ride. I don't mean the zone disappeared. I mean the locked bonus that was clearly displayed on the screen. Just when it started to look reasonable if you were willing to do the math on the bonuses on the fly, they pulled the rug out. It's too much. I'll use them for backup.

I never have gotten that ride filter to do anything for me. When I used it coming back from Orlando, it kept sending me back the other way 5+ miles for pickups. The other three times I've tried it sat for however many minutes it does its thing and then chucked me offline saying it couldn't find any rides on my way. How it can guess it's not going to find a ride along a one hour route in 10 minutes, or whatever it is, is beyond me, but that's all I've gotten from it.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

It's funny that it's not funny, but if I were a more paranoid person I would think that because I made $41 in bonuses the day before (that should have been $50), they were trying to get it back.


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## Nrp (Nov 21, 2017)

Vagabond1 said:


> Thank you for all the feedback. Today my four hour test shift turned into an eight hour actual shift, and I wasn't happy about it. This relates to advice above on long rides and some other input, so I'll fill you in. Keep in mind, please, I'm not whining. Really. I swear. I take most things for what they are. But maybe with full disclosure you guys know something I don't.
> 
> So I hit my bonus zone this morning at 6:30 and I do four rides in three hours. I'm at about $45 and thinking after gas this is not fantastic, but if the last hour ticks up and I get a couple more generous tippers, maybe it won't be horrible. Then ride five pings. "This ride is longer than 45 minutes." So I think, well, I can put in an extra hour today, two if necessary. Let's find out what the money balance is on a long ride.
> 
> ...


I drove for both Uber and Lyft in Tampa for three years (stopped two years ago). Your experience parallels mine and I got to the point where cost of gas, which was much less at the time and the wear and tear of my vehicle just made it infeasible to continue. New Year’s Eve and Gasparilla were the only times I made serious coin and to many nights were a break even for me.


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## Beninmankato (Apr 26, 2017)

You do have to wait the initial five minutes but you do not have to make a connection with the rider to receive the fee. Just dial and when it starts to ring hang up and cancel to receive your cancellation fee. Keep the app on and only take rides with attached bonus that fit your other criteria. You can reject as many rides as you wish but they do like to send emails telling you how awful it is for the community to do not take rides. Good luck!


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Beninmankato said:


> You do have to wait the initial five minutes but you do not have to make a connection with the rider to receive the fee. Just dial and when it starts to ring hang up and cancel to receive your cancellation fee. Keep the app on and only take rides with attached bonus that fit your other criteria. You can reject as many rides as you wish but they do like to send emails telling you how awful it is for the community to do not take rides. Good luck!



It didn't start to ring. Like I said, as soon as I hit the call button it said "This is Lyft. We don't recognize this phone number. Make sure you're using the phone associated with your Lyft account." That's it. Then it went back to the rider pickup screen where my only alternative was to cancel myself like it hadn't made a call at all, and said I had to call the passenger to mark her as a no show.


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## Sam488 (9 mo ago)

Vagabond1 said:


> The guy is going to freakin' Orlando. 2 hours in traffic and another hour and a half back. He's already had





Vagabond1 said:


> Ya I'm reading more about this now and apparently while it says the rider is responsible for all tolls, it also specifically tells them not to pay the driver for the tolls in cash because they're included in the ride price. These are the only tolls in FL that are automatically included in the ride price when you drive through:
> 
> Broad Causeway (Eastbound)
> Card Sound Bridge
> ...


Do ubereats, doordash and grubhub. 
They give u exact mileage of trip, the store address and house and the upfront dollar amount+ upfront tip u will make. They also give u more time to chose whether to accept or decline.
Find a rich neighborhood where they tip well and hang out.
Over a week or 2 u will figure out the area, the stores and traffic, and u will be in a good position to judge if delivery is right for u.
U don't sound like u want unexpected rides to who knows where, and crazy mileage and gas bills... do food delivery!


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## EM1 (Apr 28, 2019)

Vagabond1 said:


> I'm an accountant, though I'm technically retired and just advise a handful of old clients through the year and then do about 50 small business tax returns in March. I'm just looking for something to fill some time the rest of the year and stretch dipping into the retirement account. Like the opening post said, if it's going to be pennies then I'm not going to do it. That's why we're all here talking about it. But, I'm not the only driver in here. You seem to be addressing all of us and there are obviously people here who are comfortable with what they're making doing this.
> 
> I'm not even sure why you think I owe this explanation to justify your comments and assumptions. I mean if you walked into a room full of stock market experts and asked how to leverage a call option six months out, would you listen to the guy who happens to be lurking in the corner and jumped up to say "Don't listen to these experts who make their living doing this! I've never done it, but I know better! This is a waste of time!"
> 
> C'mon man. Let it go.


My advice is stop driving rideshare. Even if you figure out a halfway profitable system, which is tough, you also have a lot of risk. If youre in an accident & your rider is injured, youll be on your own and be sued. False allegations of flirting or inappropriate conduct from female riders. Belligerent, drunk, drug crazed riders. Robbery. Death. Just to name a few. The only reason I have Uber anymore is if Im driving a longer distance from OC to San Diego or up to L.A. I can set for long drive ride requests towards my destination, but I rarely even do that now as the risk/liability not worth it IMHO.


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Just an update. My Uber background check finally went through, which I was looking forward to thinking that at least they should have twice as many customers in this area as Lyft and I might not be stuck with so much idle time. Burning gas waiting or coming back from long rides with nothing in between was killing me. Holy crap. What a different world Uber is from Lyft in this area. I love the static bonus zones and bonus times, which have worked out really well for me in planning my time and keeping me from all-gas-money ride results. And Brandon, where I could sit for an hour waiting for a Lyft request, is hopping with short trips for friendly tippers almost every day. I've had one or two days where I spent a lot more in gas than I'd hoped, but mostly no and even then I was still positive. I'm averaging about $100 after gas with bonuses and tips on five hour shifts with an 80% acceptance rate. Obviously much better than my Lyft experience. So ... I guess that's that.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Nice. A lot busier huh? 

You do get the fare info on the request over there, right?


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

Boca Ratman said:


> Nice. A lot busier huh?
> 
> You do get the fare info on the request over there, right?


Oh ya. Hence the 80% acceptance rate. It wouldn't even be that high except I do the three consecutive ride bonuses and figure sometimes it's worth eating one to get the $19 bonus. Today was three $9.50 ones. One ride was $55 ... to Orlando. That was not worth the $9.50 so I junked the consecutive ride streak and started over instead of accepting that. Fool me once and all that.

Anyway, this is today. I think there's a tip not on the report or something because the total and cash out was $197. About $60 in gas. 2:00 - 8:00 PM, though to be fair I ended up down in St Pete again and after collecting another three consecutive ride bonus down there waiting for Tampa traffic to die down I had to drive myself 45 minutes home for free. So really almost 7 hours total.











That's the second time I've been down in St Pete where I found everything is 10 - 25 minutes from request to drop off. So you can actually get three rides an hour in down there with very little time between them.

Next consideration is getting a 40+ mpg hybrid and making today's gas cost $30 instead of $60.


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## DTLuxBlack (8 mo ago)

Hope your not doing Lux Black, I've been doing it in Tampa for 5 years, and it was always decent, but now it sucks, Lyft has allowed the market to oversaturate with Lux Black/Lux Black Xl, its actually really laughable. I don't know where these guys get the money for these 70k suvs, I don't think they do, they are dropping 1300 payments and living out of them working everyday. Thank God I've built my business, bc lyft has ruined premium in tampa, all my passengers complain about these guys it's sad.



Vagabond1 said:


> Oh thanks for the app/map tip. I didn't notice that. Actually I came down here to visit my parents for the holidays in 2019, then between COVID and their aging and a few health scares I just never left. They're about a half hour from my place down here and every morning there's a $13-$18 bonus not far from them. Every morning and some afternoons. Long time too, like an hour or two, not ten minutes. I'm going to try different areas and scenarios, but one is going to be camping out in that area at 7:00 AM. I'm also thinking about ditching the truck since I'm not traveling and towing anymore and getting something that would qualify for Lux Black.
> 
> Ya porn's never saturated as long as you're young and beautiful, or quite acrobatic. But ya know my back just isn't what it used to be.


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## Justmakingmoney (Feb 3, 2018)

Vagabond1 said:


> I'm wondering if there are any Lyft drivers specifically in the Tampa area who might help me decide if I've made a horrible mistake signing up for this. I have driving experience, but just started with Lyft yesterday and my first four hour shift was not at all what I expected, in pretty much every way.
> 
> So, a four hour shift in a relatively busy area with a number of bonus zones. I got five riders, one with a bonus.
> 
> ...


Do you have anybody you can connect with at the military base or the airport? Because I have a Navy pilot friend who was in the middle of moving from Tampa to Jacksonville and he did lift and Uber every single day for well over a month he worked quietly in the backseat she drove it was a win-win. I told him to make sure to at least five star her and if you could write off the tip do it but definitely the airport but don't be afraid to cancel stats don't matter anymore, and try to make some connections otherwise you'll have more money and wear and tear on your car.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Vagabond1 said:


> Thank you for your feedback. Just to be clear, you're saying Lyft _charges_ 1.39 a mile and .15 a minute or _they pay you_ 1.39 a mile and .15 a minute? Because I thought The Villages was in the Tampa Bay rate area. If it's not and you guys make that much I might not mind a leisurely drive up there for a day once in a while. I'd only need half the fares and burn half the gas to get the same gross.


Sorry....don't think I responded to this post yet. Lyft *PAYS the driver* $1.39 mi/.15 min in the OCALA area....and NO, it would definitely NOT be worth your while to come to the area to do rides....you'd be sitting here twiddling your thumbs most of the day. LOL


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## Vagabond1 (9 mo ago)

LEAFdriver said:


> Sorry....don't think I responded to this post yet. Lyft *PAYS the driver* $1.39 mi/.15 min in the OCALA area....and NO, it would definitely NOT be worth your while to come to the area to do rides....you'd be sitting here twiddling your thumbs most of the day. LOL


Hahaha. Yes, thanks for coming back! I got it worked out myself though once I found some rate card info online. The best solution for me was to go over to Uber. I'm twice as busy and even with the recently reduced cut on "Upfront Pricing" and it hurting my bonuses a little, I'm still making way more than I made with Lyft.

I now have a Lyft Lux and Lux Black eligible vehicle, so I'm set up to give them another shot just for those few rides I might get. I suppose at $1.23 - $1.80 per mile and $.2175 - $.375 per minute for those I won't be so ticked if they try to send me to Orlando with no warning.


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