At some point of time it seems to be a better idea for Uber to charge high from the customers and convert them into incentives for the drivers at some critical or dangerous situations, it happens during the flood or any natural disasters or in the situations when there is high demand. There is a great opposition from many people in this act.
In most of the organizations an algorithm decides the demand and supply and how the price should change according to that. One of the customer said that, they should believe in humans, not in the computers. The computers should not decide the prices for the catastrophic changes. While the other end of people argues that, they encourage the drivers to have a trip to the dangerous places; this surge pricing can benefit the drivers.
The company could give incentives to the drivers, without charging the hefty amount of the customers. For the past few years the raid-hailing taxi services, Uber and Lyft have attracted the customers by offering raids at low cost when compared to the traditional taxis. With this business strategy and they had a check point for the traditional taxi drivers. They made their services more easy and cheap.
It is also the safest way to travel from one place to another. Only the regular Uber and Lyft users will know the other side of this raid-hailing service, that is, surge pricing.
Surge pricing is not the everyday factor, it happens at the places where the drivers are in high demand, during peak hours, at the time of natural disasters and at the situations where the demand exceeds the supply.
According to the economics, if more people are trying to get that ride, it will become even more costly.
A little surge pricing with 1.5% is not going to have any impact on one’s life. Once the customer has paid $80 for the trip of three miles, but it normally costs $10- $15 for the same distance, but Uber was surging hefty amount. Paying three times than the normal amount is not feasible for many people. Here are the nine ways to get rid of the surge pricing.
If you know in advance that you are going to take a ride in peak hours, then book it earlier
Both Uber and Lyft have the facilities of booking rides in advance in any cities. Sometimes they can schedule the prices for you, if you book in advance; the price may be higher or lower than the today’s rate. If your city has the pre booking facility and you know earlier that you are going to travel at the time of surge pricing, you can book your trip in advance, so that you can save some amount of money.
Have alternatives
If Uber has surge pricing at the time of high demand, then switch to other raid-hailing services which provide rides at the reasonable rates. Uber is popular worldwide so it costs higher amount when the demand is high. Lyft is less popular than Uber; so it will have reasonable fares. Prefer Lyft at the time of surge pricing. It will offer rides at the reasonable price.
Take another type of car
Uber offers much kind of services like, SUVs, black cars, luxury vehicles and the vehicles that can access the wheel chairs. The services differ according to the type of the vehicle used.
If UberX is surging three times than the normal fares, then check for UberSelect which might have the lower surge rate and offers you the nicer car, so that you may have the experience to travel in the nice car at normal cost.
You can also take the traditional taxi as the alternative for Uber, when the surge pricing comes into play. But the cabs are more preferred than the traditional taxi.
If it is easy to catch a car in your city at the time of surge pricing, you prefer for other choices, so that it will be reliable for you and you can save your money, so that you may not pay the surge costs.
Try carpooling
Carpooling is the best way to avoid the surge pricing. You will have the experience to travel with the strangers, and it is the best way to know the actual cost of the ride. Even in the surge pricing you can share the cost of the ride. Both the Uber and the Lyft have the carpooling services.
People who go to the same destination will be charged the same price, the fares depend upon the destination. If more than one customer prefers the same route, it will be more comfortable for the driver. This carpooling service will be comfortable for both the driver as well as the customer, so one can make use of this carpooling service at the time of surge pricing.
Walk few steps
Surge pricing differs from place to place. Find out whether the city or town near to your place has the same surge pricing like your place, if there is no surge pricing there, then you walk few steps there and have a ride at the normal cost.
Try out apps like surge protector
Surge protector app was released at the end of 2014. It uses the API of Uber to find out the places which do not have surge pricing. It became active in May the following year of the release. It helps people to find out the nearby places which do not have surge pricing.
The app was welcomed by many users, especially by the people who use Uber regularly.
If the surge protector cannot find the places without the surge prices near your locality, then it will show you the places with the lowest surge prices near to your locality.
Keep waiting
Sometimes the surge pricing may not last for a long time. For example, if there is a concert in any city, the surge pricing will last for only one hour till people go for the concert. At that time, people had to wait for some time till the pricing becomes normal. In some situations people need not wait for a long time, the pricing will become in the short period.
Refer your friend and get a free ride
If your friend has not downloaded the Uber or Lyft app, refer them to make use of your personalized offer code, so that both can enjoy a ride at free of cost, and can avoid travelling in surge pricing, moreover they need not pay anything. This is one of the best ways to get rid of surge pricing.
Download the Uber/Lyft driver apps
Download the Uber/Lyft driver apps, and register yourself to be a driver, so that it will notify you regarding the surge pricing in different places, so that you may know about the pricing in the nearby places, and choose the ride with the low surge pricing.
Why surge pricing exists in Uber?
Bill Gurley, Uber investor said that, Uber is basically a marketplace, where the company’s supply is managed by the group of contractors and the transportation providers not by the company.
He said that, there are two reasons for the surge supply; one is to increase the supply and the other is to reduce the demand. So the contractors are responsible for the surge pricing.
Author Bio:
Anand Rajendran is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zuket. He is a writer and coffee lover. He has is a graduate in Computer Science and Post Graduate in Entrepreneurship and leadership from Ulyanovsk State University, Russia. He is a passionate blogger & SEO Specialist. Zuket is a Software Development company which has launched Taxily Script which is a Uber Clone Script with Android and iOS apps.
