Has anyone here driven for Uber/Lyft? Tell me about it.

[Denkou]

Hi MMO-C

So I currently live at home with my parents. I just graduated with my bachelor's degree but am currently sort of in-between jobs and cities. I'm currently unemployed and in the Bay Area but will be moving to SoCal in August with a buddy of mine, as that's when he'll start school down there as well as when I'll begin a new job down there. I'm looking for seasonal/temp work for the next two months or so but also want to enjoy my time off as a new graduate and also don't want to have to go through the hassle of an application process, which sometimes can take weeks or even months, and all of a sudden there's half of my time here.

I was thinking about driving for Uber or Lyft. The idea of working on my own schedule is what appeals to me the most. I drive a new-ish Honda Civic that is fairly good on gas, and I also don't mind driving; I actually find it a relaxing. Since I'm living at home, I don't have many expenses and I don't need to make a lot of money, but it'd be nice to at least be making some pocket change on the side in order to help me prepare for my move in a few months.

If anyone here has ever driven for either Uber or Lyft, I'd love to hear about your experiences doing so - what you liked, didn't like, how much money you made, if you would recommend doing it, horror stories, etc. Particularly, I'm also curious about the application process. How easy or difficult was the whole process (background checks, insurance info, etc.) and how long would it take me from the time I apply to be a drive until the time I'm actually on the road?

If anyone could chime in on these things I'd appreciate it. Thanks all!

[GodlyBob]

I drove Uber for a few months. It's not bad, but it's a lot harder to fit into a regular schedule than they advertise. While you technically can drive anywhere at any time, the beast money is during rush hour and late night on weekends. You go late on a friday/Saturday, you can clear $350 for about 6 hours of driving. You try the same thing on a Wednesday at 3:00 after class, it'll take 4 hours to hit $75.

San Francisco has near constant demand, but you'll only go for like 5 minutes a fair and make about the same in dollars. San Jose and south Bay in general will see less fares, but you'll drive much further and average closing to $20 a ride.

Hope that helps

[Kapadons]

Be a person of infinite patience. Be prepared with a large amount of drunk idiots and everything that entails. I did it for a very short amount of time and realized it wasn't for me.

[SL1200]

I wanted to, but i didn't pass the background check.

[PACOX]

I know two people who do it, mostly drunk people. Want tips? Keep chargers in your car, maybe get Spotify, a dashcam if you're worried. If a person speaks to you then speak back, if they don't then don't try to force them to make small talk.

[TheTaurenOrc]

Get someone to recommend you. They do promotional stuff where you get extra cash for meeting a target in the first month. It was up to $1000 a couple of months ago for my area.

[lockedout]

If anyone could chime in on these things I'd appreciate it. Thanks all!

Go to this website http://uberpeople.net/ read for your area and in general info.
Be prepared for drunk people to potentially throw up in your car, it happens often.
You need to work overnights to make the most money otherwise it really isn't worth it.
I would probably drive for Lyft if I had to choose.

[Kapadons]

I know two people who do it, mostly drunk people. Want tips? Keep chargers in your car, maybe get Spotify, a dashcam if you're worried. If a person speaks to you then speak back, if they don't then don't try to force them to make small talk.

We vacation in Miami fairly often and uber everywhere we go. The drivers we like the best offer a phone charger, stick of gum,bottle of water, hand you the iPod to pick you own tunes and offer to stop at a store if you need anything. Automatic 5stars for this guy.

[lockedout]

We vacation in Miami fairly often and uber everywhere we go. The drivers we like the best offer a phone charger, stick of gum,bottle of water, hand you the iPod to pick you own tunes and offer to stop at a store if you need anything. Automatic 5stars for this guy.

Do you tip?

[Deleted]

The biggest thing here is to keep your method hidden. There isn't a single professor who wants to research mmo-champion off-topic.

[Denkou]

I drove Uber for a few months. It's not bad, but it's a lot harder to fit into a regular schedule than they advertise. While you technically can drive anywhere at any time, the beast money is during rush hour and late night on weekends. You go late on a friday/Saturday, you can clear $350 for about 6 hours of driving. You try the same thing on a Wednesday at 3:00 after class, it'll take 4 hours to hit $75.

San Francisco has near constant demand, but you'll only go for like 5 minutes a fair and make about the same in dollars. San Jose and south Bay in general will see less fares, but you'll drive much further and average closing to $20 a ride.

Hope that helps

I live in San Jose, so that bit of info helped me. I guess surge pricing will help me out twofold; not only will I make more money from Uber, but because I'll be out driving on Friday/Saturday nights I therefore won't be out drinking with friends

I know two people who do it, mostly drunk people. Want tips? Keep chargers in your car, maybe get Spotify, a dashcam if you're worried. If a person speaks to you then speak back, if they don't then don't try to force them to make small talk.

Do you know if rear-facing dashcams (i.e. facing myself and the passenger) are within Uber/Lyft's policies? I'd imagine some people might get weirded out if they hop into an Uber and see a dashcam facing them, but I do think it's a good idea just in case the person is a nutjob or something.

Go to this website http://uberpeople.net/ read for your area and in general info.
Be prepared for drunk people to potentially throw up in your car, it happens often.
You need to work overnights to make the most money otherwise it really isn't worth it.
I would probably drive for Lyft if I had to choose.

Thanks for the site! I had no idea it existed. I asked a buddy of mine who drove for Lyft two years ago and said that Lyft reimbursed him $300 when a passenger threw up in his car, all he had to do was take pictures of the vomit and send it to them. I'm not sure if they still do that or not, or whether or not Uber has similar driver protections.

I always have a phone charger and mints in my car at all times. Guess I should start carrying water bottles and plastic bags just in case I run into drunk people.

[Sky High]

<<current driver. If your car meets the requirements on the year (I think the cut off is 2008 for lyft 2006 for uber) then I'd totally suggest it for a college student living in So Cal. The application process is straight forward, fill out the app online for the respective platform and wait for everything to clear, the. You'll get instructions on where to get your car inspected and the final paperwork finished. Overall it took 2 weeks for me to get on the road with uber. If you have all of the documents sent in you can start driving right after you get inspected.

From personal stand point it's been the best job I've had so far in life. I worked as a retail worker previously so not a whole lot to work up from there all things considered. You just drive around all day meeting people, chatting or just driving them all over the place. Plus if you treat it as a job and meet all of the bonuses they have each week you can make some serious coin. Just this last week I made 300$ in less than 18 hours of working.

In regards to the companies I like Lyft as a company more, it's about as popular in LA county as Uber and they encourage you to work more with the bonus you get for working certain hours and days. Plus they allow customers to tip through the app. Uber has neither of those, and they take the tip fee for themselves. Buuut it's popular in both LA and Orange County, so it's hard to not ignore those pitfalls when its the more lucrative platform.

I will say it's hard to juggle working and school on this job. If you can set work hours for when it's busy and doesn't interfere with your other stuff, but again, if you have the car and can make it past the background checks I'd go for it.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

I drive a hatch, and they unfortunately don't take 2 door cars. Sucks.

[Balgazarr]

Hi MMO-C

So I currently live at home with my parents. I just graduated with my bachelor's degree but am currently sort of in-between jobs and cities. I'm currently unemployed and in the Bay Area but will be moving to SoCal in August with a buddy of mine, as that's when he'll start school down there as well as when I'll begin a new job down there. I'm looking for seasonal/temp work for the next two months or so but also want to enjoy my time off as a new graduate and also don't want to have to go through the hassle of an application process, which sometimes can take weeks or even months, and all of a sudden there's half of my time here.

I was thinking about driving for Uber or Lyft. The idea of working on my own schedule is what appeals to me the most. I drive a new-ish Honda Civic that is fairly good on gas, and I also don't mind driving; I actually find it a relaxing. Since I'm living at home, I don't have many expenses and I don't need to make a lot of money, but it'd be nice to at least be making some pocket change on the side in order to help me prepare for my move in a few months.

If anyone here has ever driven for either Uber or Lyft, I'd love to hear about your experiences doing so - what you liked, didn't like, how much money you made, if you would recommend doing it, horror stories, etc. Particularly, I'm also curious about the application process. How easy or difficult was the whole process (background checks, insurance info, etc.) and how long would it take me from the time I apply to be a drive until the time I'm actually on the road?

If anyone could chime in on these things I'd appreciate it. Thanks all!

I did it for a few months, made decent money when I drove. Weekends are best money. I'm not driving with them but here is a link for the bonus for signing up.
https://get.uber.com/drive/?invite_code=g2ywchmzue

[Denkou]

<<current driver. If your car meets the requirements on the year (I think the cut off is 2008 for lyft 2006 for uber) then I'd totally suggest it for a college student living in So Cal. The application process is straight forward, fill out the app online for the respective platform and wait for everything to clear, the. You'll get instructions on where to get your car inspected and the final paperwork finished. Overall it took 2 weeks for me to get on the road with uber. If you have all of the documents sent in you can start driving right after you get inspected.

From personal stand point it's been the best job I've had so far in life. I worked as a retail worker previously so not a whole lot to work up from there all things considered. You just drive around all day meeting people, chatting or just driving them all over the place. Plus if you treat it as a job and meet all of the bonuses they have each week you can make some serious coin. Just this last week I made 300$ in less than 18 hours of working.

In regards to the companies I like Lyft as a company more, it's about as popular in LA county as Uber and they encourage you to work more with the bonus you get for working certain hours and days. Plus they allow customers to tip through the app. Uber has neither of those, and they take the tip fee for themselves. Buuut it's popular in both LA and Orange County, so it's hard to not ignore those pitfalls when its the more lucrative platform.

I will say it's hard to juggle working and school on this job. If you can set work hours for when it's busy and doesn't interfere with your other stuff, but again, if you have the car and can make it past the background checks I'd go for it.

My car is a 2009 model year, so I'm good on both. I'd be driving in the Bay Area, btw, not when I move down to SoCal - although I may keep doing it in SoCal depending on how my financial situation plays out. But I just want to do it for the summer while I'm still living at home and unemployed, just to have a bit of extra cash when I finally do move.

Have you driven with both Lyft and Uber? That's what it sounds like in your post. Did they both take about 2 weeks for the entire process to go through?

[announced]

i didnt personally drive for Uber but my friend Max did, and he picked up a well dressed man named Vincent, who asked Max to be his only fare for the evening. Things didnt turn out so well.

[Sky High]

My car is a 2009 model year, so I'm good on both. I'd be driving in the Bay Area, btw, not when I move down to SoCal - although I may keep doing it in SoCal depending on how my financial situation plays out. But I just want to do it for the summer while I'm still living at home and unemployed, just to have a bit of extra cash when I finally do move.

Have you driven with both Lyft and Uber? That's what it sounds like in your post. Did they both take about 2 weeks for the entire process to go through?

ah, ok

yes I do. eh yeah honestly I think the back ground check and just approving things like the insurance papers and other legal stuff take up the most time to finish up. the apps themselves take like... 5 mins to fill out.

[Stacyrect]

Never driven for uber, but as a customer I liked the service much more then a regular taxi company. Unfortunately the driver I got was the same both times and they were not only terrible drivers but slobs as well.

[opeth150]

i didnt personally drive for Uber but my friend Max did, and he picked up a well dressed man named Vincent, who asked Max to be his only fare for the evening. Things didnt turn out so well.

\

Ya but Vincent really liked Max. It's a shame it didn't work out between them.

[Dug]

I drive a hatch, and they unfortunately don't take 2 door cars. Sucks.

Really? I always thought that was the point of their different categories and prices on cars where more spacious cars cost more and so on. Don't see why they couldn't have an option for a single person.