This post is about UBER Surge Pricing –
Uber is a great travel tool that allows you to get from point a to b in a city easily using an app. It allows for a much better experience than a taxi.
I have written about Uber on the blog before:
I used Uber on some of my travel in 2015:
Overall I find Uber to be excellent.
There is one thing that I really do not like about uber though… Surge pricing. This is when uber charges a premium for rides when there is most demand.
This generally happens around holidays and special events but it can happen at any time.
The app notes surge pricing before you select a ride so you know when they are going to. The problem is when surge pricing is active it can be 2x to 10x more expensive than normal. In some circumstances it is even more. In the case of New Years eve, here was a message displayed by the app:
When I request Uber I always look to check if the surge pricing is active. It is is, I will not use it. I think it is not right for them to charge so much more for the rides. I will check lyft and use that if it is available. Otherwise I will get a regular taxi.
Over New Years there were a lot of posts online about people spending hundreds of dollars on Uber to get home from the bar. Someone in Minneapolis paid about $360 for a ride.
Another blogger – One Mile At A Time wrote about another guy that spent nearly $500 for a 24 minute ride.
The bottom line, don’t use uber when surge pricing is enabled. Take some other method.
Did you get stuck with a huge uber bill?