Among the great unknowns of rideshare driving is not knowing where a ride will take you and how much you’ll get paid for going there – and it has to be the most annoying of all. If you just said, “I feel you,” there’s good news: Uber just announced a feature to fix it, called the upfront fare. As the name implies, it lets you see how much you’ll make and where the trip will take you before you accept it.
The Uber upfront fare feature is being rolled out in 24 markets initially, and may or may not become a universal feature for Uber drivers. Much will depend on how well it goes over with drivers, and of course, what it does for Uber’s profit margins. Uber has tried upfront pricing before, but there are new features that make it a little more interesting, and possibly more useful and lucrative, for drivers.
In this post, we’ll take a look at what the latest iteration of Uber’s upfront fare is all about and whether it will be a good thing for drivers, – or not. We’ll cover:
- What drivers want to know
- What the new Uber upfront fare gives drivers
- How Uber calculates upfront fares
- Improve your earnings: how to make Uber’s upfront fares work for you
What drivers want to know
The bottom line for gig driving is making the most money in the least amount of time. And yes, those pesky unknowns in rideshare driving can definitely affect that very thing. Knowing how much you’re likely to make is the biggest factor, but there’s more, including …
Short trips vs. long trips
Some drivers groove on short trips, while others like longer ones. Lots of short trips will probably take you to high-traffic areas and a steady stream of passengers. Long rides to the airport or out to the edges of a city’s suburbs can be lucrative too, and many drivers prefer to make their day’s pay with fewer, higher-fare trips. As we will see, this could change with Uber’s upfront fares.
Will the trip involve traffic delays?
Knowing whether a ride will take you through heavy traffic can always be useful because you’ll want to know if it will take forever to complete the trip. Specifically, you’ll want to avoid trips that take so long it keeps you away from getting additional business for an extended period of time.
Will the trip end in a high-volume area?
The destination point is another variable that plays into your rideshare routine. Your ideal trips will take you to a place where lots of people need Uber rides. In an area like this, you’re likely to spend much less time riding around with an empty back seat. On the other hand, if your fare leaves you in a sparsely populated area, you’re likely to ride around empty for quite a while until you either get really lucky or reach a locale where there are plenty of offices, schools, universities, event venues, restaurants, or bars.
How will the fare be calculated?
Drivers know this is the most important factor of all. If Uber’s fare calculation algorithm allows for factors such as pickup distance, ride duration, wait times, and mileage, then the driver can count on being treated fairly. However, there are some variables in the way trips are calculated that can leave drivers holding the bag. These include the way mileage and trip duration affect the total fare, and whether surge pricing is factored into the figuring.
What Uber’s new upfront fare gives drivers
If you’re familiar with the Uber Pro program, you may have earned the privilege of getting advance information about your potential rides before. Under that program, you had to have a minimum number of trips, a maximum acceptance rate, and a low cancellation rate. If you reached the magic numbers, you were told how far you’d have to go, how long it might take, and how much you were likely to earn. But … if you didn’t accept the trip, your acceptance rate would suffer and you’d lose the privilege if you said “no” too often.
Uber’s latest iteration of upfront fare is different. First, drivers do not have to reach a certain level in the Uber Pro program to see fares upfront. Also, if drivers decide to decline rides, it’s not counted against their acceptance rates. That’s right! Drivers are free to accept a ride or decline it, based on the information they get from the upfront fare feature.
Uber’s upfront fare supplies a good bit of useful data, including:
- How much you’ll make
- Where you’ll go
- Estimated base fares
- Estimated trip length and duration
- Pickup distance
- Surge pricing
In the calculation of fares, Uber will continue to account for those occurrences no one can predict, including long wait times and tips that are added after the trip. One hundred percent of all driver tips will continue to be credited to the driver’s earnings.
The upfront fare feature will show you the cross streets closest to the pickup and dropoff points, which allows you to see if you’re going to wind up in an area where you’re unlikely to get a return fare. Uber will also adjust for changes in address made by the customer, as well as unexpected traffic. And, if you find a way to get to the destination faster than expected, you’ll still be paid the full fare, as long as the pickup and dropoff addresses remain the same.
In these cases, it seems that the upfront fare can only increase your earnings. Upfront fare and destination applies to UberX, UberXL, Uber Comfort, Uber Black, Uber WAV, Uber Assist, Uber Español, Uber Diamond, Uber Pet, and UberX Car Seat. Hourly trips are not included, and because the upfront fare includes consideration of long pickup distances, no extra-long pickup fee will be added to the upfront fare.
Tips, tolls, and other surcharges are not included in the fare shown, but they will be paid to you after the trip is complete. This part of the arrangement between drivers and Uber will not change with upfront fares. That means drivers will have to continue to scrutinize their earnings, ensuring tips and tolls are added on at the end of each pay period.
How Uber calculates the upfront fare
Uber’s upfront fare feature is an effort to adjust the company’s algorithm to fit drivers’ needs … and help its bottom line. When it comes to your next ride, Uber wants to make those trips that go through heavy traffic or toward areas that are “dead” more worthwhile to you. This helps ensure that more drivers are available to customers while keeping drivers satisfied with their earnings.
Most of the changes represent Uber’s efforts toward “rate rebalancing.” The goal of this adjustment is to make the average driver’s day more profitable by mixing short and long rides. Uber will be raising fares on short trips while making somewhat less on long trips. The company figures that most trips are short, so if drivers make more on shorter trips they’ll take more of them. This will also help Uber serve more customers.
The per-mile rate will be lowered with the upfront fare, while the per-minute rate will be increased. Trip totals won’t be based just on fixed time and distance anymore. For example, real-time demand at the destination will be factored into the fare.
One effect of upfront pricing is the separation of a driver’s earnings from the price the passenger pays. This can work to the driver’s benefit in most cases, but there will be some need for you to adapt your driving strategy accordingly.
Improve your earnings: How to make Uber’s upfront fares work for you
To be sure, the Uber upfront fare gives you the ability to pick and choose trips based on how much you are likely to earn. Many drivers are already used to this, either from Uber Pro or similar features that are commonly found on food delivery apps. Having the ability to “know before you go” makes the rideshare driver’s job easier, and that, in turn, makes it less difficult for Uber to retain its drivers.
If you like to run short trips, Uber’s upfront fare will help you earn more. The enhanced algorithm takes into account factors that previously made short rides a pain in the posterior. With higher fares for short trips, drivers will be able to see more consistency in their earnings. That long haul to the airport might not be so appealing with the changes in how mileage and time are figured into fares.
This could mean that long-haul drives will no longer be so profitable. You read that right: longer trips won’t make as much money as shorter ones with Uber’s new algorithm. That could definitely present a good reason to change your driving strategy if you’re a long-haul kind of person.
So, where do you find those short trips? It seems the way to make more money hinges on being aware of the best times of day and locations to get those short trips. You can try a trial and error approach – or, you can rely on Gridwise.
With Gridwise, you get data from real drivers in your location that tips you off on the best places and times to get rideshare business. This blog post offers insight that illustrates the benefits of the Gridwise Where to Drive feature.
In case you’re wondering if the Uber upfront fare is really making you more money, you can track your earnings with Gridwise, too. Simply sync your apps to Gridwise, and your earnings and mileage will be seamlessly recorded every time you log in. A few taps yield info-filled and easy-to-read graphs like these:
Keep a close eye on your Uber earnings or compare them with other apps you might be using. Then, to further maximize your earnings, use these other great Gridwise features:
- Airport traffic: arrivals, departures, and rideshare queue
- Weather alerts
- Event information: start and let-out times
- Traffic alerts
- Deals, discounts, and special offers for drivers
- Insight, tips, and tricks for drivers from our blog
With Uber’s upfront fares, there’s a new “unknown” to deal with. Why not make sure you have Gridwise there to help you get a grip on what’s happening with your earnings?
