Has anyone used lyft?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nope. I hear they allow tips through the application though.

Did 2 hours and 15min today of driving. $61. $27.11 per hour.


Sent from Crimea, Russia

This morning started out rather slow but then picked up. Total time online says 2 hours and 40 minutes but the first 30min were spent driving from Lynnwood to Redmond. 10min waiting for a pick up. So I'd say I was legitimately "working" 2 hours and 10min or 2.167 hours. I netted $64.55 after Uber's fees.

64.55/2.167 = $29.79 per hour. Even if we wanted to be stingy and consider the extra 30min (which was needed to commute down to Redmond for my real job either way) $64.55/ 2 hours and 40min (2.67) = $24.18

Not a bad morning.

Thanks for the updates. It seems that you've been making a pretty consistent $25+/hour, which isn't too bad even though you need to pay for gas and auto expenses out of that.

I was in Spokane for work last week and had a few pops at a local bar, and ended up calling a Uber for a lift instead of waiting for our ride to come get us. The guy had a cooler full of water/juice in the trunk, when I asked where is the beer he smiled and said all I have is these, and handed me a vodka shooter. He made my 20 minute half tanked ride back to my hotel pretty damn entertaining.

Yep that's about right. Plus I've been tracking my miles. Uncle Sam lets me credit $0.54 per mile. At that rate, that will cover my gas and maintenance expenses EASILY since I change my own oil and wash the car myself.

$25/HR isn't enough to sustain my lifestyle if that was my main source of income, but for some it is.

For me, $25 an hour is better than $0 doing jack shit after my regular 8-10hours at work


Sent from Crimea, Russia

Ah, I forgot about the mileage tax deduction. Yes, that will more than cover your expenses!

Today was interesting. Slow. Got one hit as I was almost to the office. Required a bit of drive but was a standard trip, about $8.20 net.

On my way back to the office, I get another hit, a ways away. On my way there the guy says he had ordered a car service that miss scheduled him and he is running late to the airport. I said I'd do the best I can.

Got him to the airport in record time. It was a $39.21 fare from uber but the guy was so happy he gave me a $50 cash tip.

This mornings total is $97.41 (including tip) across nearly 2 hours even = $48.70 per hour.
If I had not gotten a tip, it would be $47.41/2 or $23.70 and required a "dead" (still counted mileage) drive to the office.

Unskilled people are bitching about minimum wage when they can easily make more than it doing a job that requires very little skill.

As long as they have a car that has all the fenders and doors painted the same color, real glass in the side windows instead of poly sheet and duct tape where the real window got broken out. I also believe that Uber requires the car smell fairly good inside, not like a potpourri of old McDonald Burgers, Fish and Chips, Rank Sweat Socks, and "Beer Farts",

In other words just the kind of car that some of those who bitch the most are driving.

They are a tiny bit more strict than that, but still not difficult.

Worst case, Uber offers you the opportunity to rent a car from them for $0 down. $250 safety deposit and somewhere between $150-200 weekly cost. Essentially a days wage if you're doing this full time.

Oh and they cover all the maintenance.


Sent from Crimea, Russia

Does Uber also have a 'rental program' for AMBITION. A good number of those bitching about lack of jobs, etc, etc, lack the ambition to put down the game controller and get off the couch.

Yeah, I know. I'm being sarcastic but I've heard people gripe for decades about low pay, no jobs, etc, etc. It's amazing what "ambition" can do to fix that problem.

Aside from a couple of good mornings, this week has been pretty rough.

Monday, I made the good $65 in the morning but the afternoon was complete shit. Super slow. I hit $108 across appx 4.5 hours total between morning and afternoon and went home. Wasn't enjoying my time doing it. Washed the car instead. $108.45 / 4.5 = $24.10

Tuesday, was good I suppose. The morning + $50 tip is all. Went home after regular work. In all $97.41

Wednesday, meh. A ton of short rides. I started just after 5PM and called it quits around 8:40PM. 13 trips, 11 were under $10, 1 was around $11 and 1 at $23. Ended the day with $77.90 divided by appx. 3.5 = $25.97 per hour. Not horrible I guess. It was just annoying having constant short distance trips.

Thursday, I turned the app during my commute to the office. I got a ping in downtown Redmond that took me literally 3 buildings away from my office. Quick $4.01 and only added maybe 3min to my commute. Figure it more than paid for my gas to commute to work lol. We'll see how this afternoon treats me.

As it sits, I'm at $237.77 in app. I need to get to $375 by the end of tonight in order for me to hit my "goal". It should seem doable on a good day. Worst case, I'll log in on Saturday and crank out a couple hours to hit my weekly in-app goal. I don't count cash tips toward it so the $50 I got on Tuesday went into my "I'll spend this on something random and stupid" box.

My buddy who is doing this full time currently says it's been a rough week for him as well. We think there is 2 reasons why.
1. There is a guaranteed surge bonus from 7AM-10AM and 4PM-7PM for drivers in Downtown Seattle ranging from 1.2-1.3x. I've been checking the Uber passenger app and there is a SHIT ton of drivers out everywhere. My guess is this "incentive" has put more drivers on the road for longer periods of time. As result, there is less "natural" surge happening, I haven't seen a 2-3x all week where as last week it was daily at certain times.

2. Last week of Summer before school starts for many so perhaps people are taking vacation or going out of town.

Good to know the slow spot isn't just your experience alone. Any idea how far the Seattle market spreads out? I wonder if there is much market in say Tacoma or Olympia also.

Absolutely no clue about Tacoma and Olympia.

Seattle is the best spot. You get a mix of longer and short trips. Can range from <1mile, Pioneer Square to Fremont or downtown to airport.
Redmond around 5pm near Microsoft ain't so bad most days either.
Downtown Bellevue is hit and miss. Last night I was getting constant pings but they were short <2 mile trips.

I'm not sure why Sergey's updates fascinate me so much, but they do.