‘Looks Like We Both Winning:' Lyft Customer Gets Charged $80 for Ride. Then She Asks Her Driver This Question That Saves Her $40

Motor 1

6 hours ago

Taking a rideshare like Lyft or Uber is easy and convenient, but it can also be expensive for some rides.
A content creator says she has a simple trick to cut the costs of your next rideshare.
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TikToker Valuable V (
@vistheway
) posted a video about how she lowered the cost of a Lyft ride in a way that benefited both her and the driver.
The post went viral with 8.4 million views as of this writing.
It prompted a thoughtful discussion among viewers. Many shared how this tactic can save money and even land you a private driver.
How Did She Save $40 On a Lyft?
In her post, Valuable V says she saved $40 by asking the driver a simple question: 'How much is Lyft paying you for this ride?'
The ride was locked in at $80, she says. The driver informed her they were only getting paid $20, however.
'Cancel the ride and here is $40 cash,' she says she offered the Lyft driver.
They accepted, she says.
'All these charges for these rideshare people… Let me make a deal for you!' she captions the post.
Others claim they have done the same.
'I did this and found an everyday driver,' one commenter shared.
'This happened to me. They were giving the driver $50 and charged me almost $300. Canceled and gave him $150,' another rider said.
'I offered this one time and the rider hired me as his private driver. I work no other jobs and can afford my entire life,' a purportedly former rideshare driver said.
How Does Lyft Pricing Work?
Lyft operates using dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing bases products or services' prices on evolving market trends,
Harvard Business School
reports.
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As
Lyft Engineering
explains, 'Dynamic pricing aims for optimizing the entire rideshare network by looking at both riders and drivers to improve the throughput of rides. The algorithm starts counting and gathering input signals, and then trying to find a reasonable balance between demand and supply.'
On Lyft's
website
, the company explains that fares are determined by estimated time and distance to complete the ride and distance to the pickup.
The fare also depends on what's going on in your area, such as the number of ride requests, how many drivers are on the road, and how busy it is at the destination.
It basically means that a ride costs more when there's higher demand, such as during rush hour or after a large sporting event, or fewer drivers, like in the middle of the night. The former is referred to as surge pricing.
How Much Do Lyft Drivers Get Paid?
According to
Glassdoor
, the average pay for a Lyft driver ranges from $17-23 an hour.
Business Insider
reports the hourly rate can be as low as $9-12 and up to $23-28.
The wide variance between hourly rates is because pay is based on a variety of factors, such as tips, expenses, and how Lyft calculates the fare and fees.
The rideshare industry has faced criticism for purportedly underpaying drivers.
Last year, over a hundred people commented on a
Reddit thread
asking about Lyft drivers' pay.
'I recently had a driver who told me that out of a $120 fare he was only paid $20,' a redditor asked. 'Surely that must be a lie? I can't see Lyft charging the customer $120 and only paying the driver $20, so I've come here to ask if this could be true?'
A Redditor who says they drive for the company commented, 'I had a ride last week that paid $92 and I got $12. Lyft is straight thieves.'
'Not a lie. This Saturday they were charging about $100 for an airport ride and paying like $25' another purported driver added.
Lyft told
Motor1
, "Drivers are essential to our purpose. That's why we've released a series of new features aimed at increasing driver pay. This includes an earnings commitment that ensures drivers always make at least 70% of the weekly rider fares after external fees.'
This means that if a driver's earnings fall below that threshold in a given week, Lyft will pay them the difference, minus the external fees.
According to Lyft, these are all the external fees that can take away from the driver's pay:
Commercial auto insurance & other risk-related costs,
Airport fees,
Data processing fees,
Payment processing fees,
Sales tax,
Government fees, and
Ancillary insurance fees.
Lyft told
Motor1
that there's yet another fee that impacts driver pay but is largely outside its control: Car insurance.
"It's also important to remember that runaway insurance costs are taking up an increasing percentage of the total rider fares,' the company said. 'That's bad for both riders and drivers, and it's why we are working with state lawmakers across the country to pass common-sense insurance reform that will help get these costs under control."
People concerned about Lyft and other rideshare drivers' pay can always opt to take Valuable V's advice.
'This lowkey is something everybody should start doing,' one person commented.
Motor1
has contacted @vistheway via TikTok direct message. This story will be updated should she respond.
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