Uber pricing seems high right now

[Lilsia]

Has anybody else checked the Uber estimate pricing the last few days? It is crazy Uberxl from Contemporary to Dis Spring $80. MCO to Boardwalk $110. Has anybody down there experienced this? I just noticed the the prices are starting to fall a little. Its crazy that Uber black at 33 is cheaper than X at 45 Blt to the Springs.

Just wait till next year and no ME. Will be a good time to be a driver.

 

[DVC-Don]

Friday we took a Lyft from Orlando International to our home (about 35 miles). Normally it is about $40 + tip, but this time it was $90 + tip.

Edited to add: Uber quoted even more $.

 

[JimMIA]

Just wait till next year and no ME. Will be a good time to be a driver.

Not at their pay rates.

 

[GabrielMom]

I was pricing uber vs lyft since last night from cbr to mco. Uber was consistently about $170, got a lyft this morning for $45, uber still $170.

 

[JimMIA]

I was pricing uber vs lyft since last night from cbr to mco. Uber was consistently about $170, got a lyft this morning for $45, uber still $170.

Wow, that's nuts. I just checked it and got $43 for both Uber and Lyft XL. Good thing you price-checked!

 

[mickey+minnie91]

I booked a car service, MCO to Portofino, next month. Rates on Uber Lyft are often around $50. Include the value of the included grocery stop and the price is similar.

I'm not going to wait in MCO hoping the fare will go down. Plus app suggested a 15 minute wait a couple of times

what information can you give about the car service?

 

[JimMIA]

I finally got the UberX pay rate for Orlando. If the info is accurate, it's 55 cents per mile plus a small payment per minute. Orlando drivers say they drive a lot of miles to pickups and only average about $6 per ride. They say they only make about $5 per hour -- and that's BEFORE expenses. I can't imagine anyone driving for that.

I wasn't able to get any rates for XL, but Orlando used to be only about 155%-160% of X for XL. Miami is more than double the pay for XL.

 

[Callsdodisney]

We were in Fl last week (Orlando and Clearwater). Ubers were almost impossible, especially since we needed an XL with our party of 4. In Clearwater we routinely had to try for 15-20 mins to get matched, and then wait another 15-20 for the drivers to arrive. Orlando was a little better, but trips around Disney property were usually $45 before tip. We were shocked!

 

[JimMIA]

Got an update from a buddy who looked it up.

Keep in mind, these numbers are GROSS earnings. From this, the driver pays for their car, gas, oil changes, maintenance, insurance, etc, etc.

Here is what an Uber driver gets paid in Orlando...from their actual driver info:

X (1-3 riders)

• Per Mile: $0.5372 (for reference, that's LESS than the IRS says it costs to operate your car)
• Per Minute: $0.0884
• Minimum Trip Earnings: $3.02

XL (1-5 riders)

• Per Mile: $0.8712
• Per Minute: $0.144
• Minimum Trip Earnings: $4.46

I can't believe anybody would drive for those rates!

 

[KPeterso]

Happening in CA too. Normally, it is about $50-60 from my house to LAX in a UBER X and $65-70 for a comfort. I had a very early flight on 3/5 (about 7:30 AM at LAX which is a good 45 minutes away so started looking for a ride around 4:15 AM) and could not get a Comfort at all. And the UBER X was finally about 22 minutes away after 10 minutes of trying. It kept offering to upgrade the car option to XL or Black or Luxury options at 3-4x the price. For a party of 1, there was no need for any of that. I checked Lyft and was getting the same thing. Good thing, I was ready and trying for the ride about 3 hours before my flight and that it was super early so not much traffic and my pre check or I would have started stressing about my flight.

 

[Lewisc]

what information can you give about the car service?

Most of the car services offer a complimentary 20 minute grocery stop if you book R/T. FL Tours is a board sponsor. Tiffanytowncar gets good reviews. I booked with Tony Hind. The prices are all similar. Most do NOT include tip, a few do.

I've been checked every so often. Uber rates to Universal hotels have frequently been around $50 for Uber X. Not enough savings. What used to be called surge pricing, marketed as a way to motivate more drivers to go to work, is now dynamic pricing. Uber claims the higher prices attracts more drivers. Poster on DIS claim drivers don't share in the higher fares.

If the driver is getting little, or none, of the higher pricing then it's nothing more then price gouging, JMO

 

[teawar]

Update: On Saturday, May 8th, at 9:30 am the ME line was all the way back to the Starbucks, so I decided to try for a Lyft. We were hoping to get to Bay Lake tower to grab a prepark opening bus to Epcot. The price was $41 and we got to the hotel by 10:05.

 

[starry_solo]

Got an update from a buddy who looked it up.

Keep in mind, these numbers are GROSS earnings. From this, the driver pays for their car, gas, oil changes, maintenance, insurance, etc, etc.

Here is what an Uber driver gets paid in Orlando...from their actual driver info:

X (1-3 riders)

• Per Mile: $0.5372 (for reference, that's LESS than the IRS says it costs to operate your car)
• Per Minute: $0.0884
• Minimum Trip Earnings: $3.02

XL (1-5 riders)

• Per Mile: $0.8712
• Per Minute: $0.144
• Minimum Trip Earnings: $4.46

I can't believe anybody would drive for those rates!

wow! They need to get 50% of the ride cost, this is crazy! This is also why I don’t tip in the app and provide a cash tip.

 

[mickeynut1]

Tiffanytowncar gets good reviews.

We love Tiffany! We've used them many times over the years and booked them for our upcoming trip to Universal in a couple weeks. Roundtrip MCO-HRH/HRH-MCO is $150+gratuity. I'm not an Uber/Lyft user as I like knowing a driver will be waiting for me upon arrival at the airport, as well as having a scheduled arrival at our resort for our return trip to the airport.

 

[Vacation44]

Update: On Saturday, May 8th, at 9:30 am the ME line was all the way back to the Starbucks, so I decided to try for a Lyft. We were hoping to get to Bay Lake tower to grab a prepark opening bus to Epcot. The price was $41 and we got to the hotel by 10:05.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Now I am 100% positive I made the right call for our group to hire Tiffany's as we will be also arriving on a Saturday around the same time.

 

[g3pak]

What is an appropriate tip for a driver for a car service? Going to hand the driver cash

 

[JimMIA]

wow! They need to get 50% of the ride cost, this is crazy!

When I started in 2016, I got 75% of the fare and some more senior drivers got 80%. But that's when Uber's prices were low and they were losing billions.

They changed all that in late 2017 or 2018, and started paying by mile and distance. At first it was okay, because the fares were still low and the pay was about the same. They also paid drivers a decent part of any surges they charged riders, and they had some other good promotions for drivers. But gradually they lowered the pay rates, eliminated good promotions, and changed surge pay to flat amounts -- mostly small amounts, like $2.50 when the rider was paying $10 more.

Those changes are why many drivers (including Joel and I) quit even before covid. They had to work longer and longer hours, put excessive miles on their car, and another pay cut was always just around the corner. December 31, 2019 was my last driving day and I was home by 10 PM!

Lyft, as they always do, copied everything Uber did.

This is also why I don’t tip in the app and provide a cash tip.

Uber gives the driver all of the tip, but if you want the driver to know immediately that you appreciated their service, a cash tip is better. It also guarantees a better rating (yes, riders are rated too...every ride).

With Lyft, cash tips are especially important because of the way Lyft does many promotions. With Lyft, many of their promotions are "guarantees" that a driver will earn a certain dollar amount if they work a particular area during certain hours. IF they fall short, Lyft makes up the difference.

However...there is a catch. Lyft counts tips as "earnings" for the purpose of the promotion -- so if you tip in the app, you are actually tipping Lyft instead of the driver. If he/she falls short of the "guarantee" your in-app tip means Lyft pays less, not the driver makes more.

 

[JimMIA]

What is an appropriate tip? Going to hand the driver cash

That's purely a personal decision.

Personally, I tip $5 for an X ride and $10 for XL -- always in cash. I tip more if a driver did something special, like make a stop on the way, help with luggage, etc. I also give every driver 5 stars unless they do something really messed up.

I think I only once gave no tip, and that was to a driver with a 24-inch crack in his front windshield who did nothing but complain about everything in his life the entire trip. I still gave him 5 stars because he was supporting his family and had a rating that was right on the borderline for getting deactivated. I didn't want to be the ONE rating that tipped the scale.

 

[Best Aunt]

Most of the car services offer a complimentary 20 minute grocery stop if you book R/T. FL Tours is a board sponsor. Tiffanytowncar gets good reviews. I booked with Tony Hind. The prices are all similar. Most do NOT include tip, a few do.

In the past, I have booked Tiffany Towncar one way (from MCO to hotel) numerous times and have always gotten a 30-minute grocery stop included in the price. I have never needed to book round trip to get the grocery stop included.

I have not travelled during the Pandemic so I don't know if this has changed.

 

[spiders]

I would imagine all of it is only going to get more expensive. I saw Delta was offering flights to Alaska for 12,000 miles roundtrip -- 12,000! They were even available on the dates I currently have a Denver trip booked that was 29,000 miles. I was thinking about switching but then I went to try to get a car. Avis was sold out. Hertz wants $2,300 for 5 days. Pass, hard pass. But if I were to go then I'd guess I'd be paying the $2,300 or completely at Uber's mercy.