My last post was about driving for Uber. I’ve been a driver for over a year, and the majority of my 1,300 rides have been through Uber. I believe I have driven about 150 rides through LYFT.
WHY? Is Lyft not as good? This post will chat a little with you about driving for lyft in comparison to Uber, and if you are interested in signing up, i will provide a link at the end for you.
When I first started driving, I would turn on both apps, put both stickers on my window, and whichever gave me a request first, I would drive for that company.
Over time, I realized that Uber was a lot busier than Lyft. The demand is a lot higher in Los Angeles because Uber tends to be a little cheaper; so, there’s more passengers needing rides.
However, there are a lot of benefits to driving Lyft over Uber.
Based on my experience, the main benefit of driving Lyft, will come from those of you who want to drive full-time. Or, have an extremely flexible schedule.
1) Lyft takes the same percentage as Uber, (I believe the current % is 25%) however, if you drive a certain amount of hours, they will take less from you.
For example:
WEEKLY:
Drive 30 hours- lyft only takes 10%
Drive 50 hours- lyft won’t take anything
Someone like me, is trying to make my money as quick as possible. I rarely work more than 20 hours any given week. So those incentives don’t work for me personally. Six hours a day and 4 days a week is usually my schedule and I make about $100 a day. This works for me, because I have other jobs to supplement my money. (If this seems low to you, read my last blog and it will make more sense)
2) Lyft also allows in app tipping. Unfortunately, most people do not carry around cash, and also don’t think about tipping.
(Unfortunately, the myth about “tip being included” is NOT TRUE! If your ride cost you $5 we are barely making $3. The tip is not included)
With Uber, I very rarely get tipped. With Lyft, as soon as the ride is over, the app asks passengers if they would like to tip the driver, which reminds them it’s a possibility to tip and they can do so through their existing account.
Some people find it awkward scrounging in their purse or wallet before getting out of the car.
Driving for Uber, I’ve had people pull out wads of money and realize they don’t have anything less than a $20 bill and end up apologizing, leaving, and not tipping me at all. This tends to make people including myself, feel more uncomfortable than if Uber would just allow in app tipping.
Therefore, Lyft is currently 10 times better than Uber in regards to tips. Sometimes, I get tipped well enough, to where the service fee from Lyft gets balanced out by my tips! That means I keep all my money!
(Side info: Friday’s have a high probability for tips because people just got paid! So Friday’s are great days to work!)
3) Hourly guarantees: Both Uber and Lyft have ongoing promotions so that drivers will want to use their service.
Uber: certain areas in Los Angeles have surge guarantees.
Example: drive in Hollywood 6-8 am on Monday and receive 1.8x surge! (If you do the math, and Uber is taking 25% from you, you are getting about 1.5x surge which is still pretty cool)
Cons: so many drivers have signed up for Uber, and so many drivers want the benefit of those surges, that it becomes difficult to get rides in those areas. I have found myself on the side of the road waiting anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes waiting for a request.
– Believe it or not I’m sitting in my car right now writing this blog waiting for my next request (driving for Uber)
Lyft: hourly guarantees.
– You have to keep your app on for at least 50 minutes out of each hour and take at least 1 to 2 passengers per hour. Even if the ride equals five dollars, these guarantees promise you anywhere from $16 an hour to $25 an hour.
Cons: (1) You have to opt in. If you don’t “opt in” on your account, you can’t receive the promotion.
(2) the “guaranteed hours” must be “prime time” which a lot of the time means you need to work 7-9am AND 4-7pm- hence my comment about having a flexible schedule.
Also, Lyft has the same issue as Uber. Not only are there a lot of drivers out on the road trying to get guarantees, but Lyft is not as popular as Uber in Los Angeles so there’s less passengers needing rides.
I know a lot of drivers that say they love driving for Lyft more. But as far as my knowledge, they work full-time 30+ hours a week.
My suggestion? Sign up for both apps and see what works for you. Sometimes, the city you live in has more of a demand for Lyft drivers or vice versa. And who wants to drive 30 miles away just to waste gas to try to get guaranteed promotions and possibly not even make any money? I know I don’t.
Lyft and Uber are equally beneficial but I think it’s unique to each driver and each city.
Even tipping can be dependent on the city are in. Believe it or not I get tipped more in San Fernando and low income cities than I do in Beverly Hills and other “rich” areas. I’m not sure about other cities across America, or even other countries so you’ll just have to try it to find out.
It doesn’t cost anything to sign up for either company, just a little bit of your time.
The cool thing, is once you are signed up to be a driver, you can also make money by referring other drivers and other passengers. I probably made around $50or $60 one month just getting passengers to sign up for Lyft while driving for Uber!
As a driver for Uber or Lyft, we have to remember that it is a business. The more you spread the word, and the more you work hard, the more benefits you will get.
The last thing I want to touch on is CUSTOMER SERVICE. LYFT almost always takes care of problems within 24 -48 hours at the most. I have had issues with Uber where the response time is even longer of a wait.
Unfortunately, Uber’s customer service is overseas and if you complain more than once you will have two different people dealing with your problem. I once didn’t receive my guarantee. I sent in a complaint. Representative #1 messaged me back after I already complained a second time. (I hadn’t heard back and was impatient) Representative number one continued to tell me that my problem is fixed. Since I complained a second time, a completely different representative, representative number two, responded with saying that I did not get that guarantee and I will not be getting it. The funny thing is, representative number one already made sure I got my guarantee. So the problem lies in the fact that there’s really no communication between the people you deal with. No way to ask for a manager. All of the communication is also dealt with through an email. You are never talking to anyone on the phone.
As bad as all of that sounds, I find myself still driving for Uber more than Lyft. But I do continue to work for both companies. I hope that I’ve helped even a little bit in finding your answers as to whether or not to sign up.I’m sure there are a lot more things to touch on, but I don’t want to keep this blog too long. If there are any specific questions, please feel free to ask. If there’s anything I have not touched on, please leave a comment and I would love to help any way I can!
Ready to sign up for lyft? Click here
Ready to sign up for uber? Click here
Love you even though I don’t know you,
Ginger GSnaps
GSnaps Blog 