Good morning everyone. I am not sure how helpful this post will be, but I found it interesting enough to mention (and nothing else exciting is going on in the miles and points blogosphere this week). As I was returning to San Francisco from Mountain View via CalTrain (from my Mountain View miles and points meetup), I needed to request a Lyft ride home. In San Francisco (and a few other cities), Lyft Line is the cheapest way to go. The Lyft Line concept is pretty simple. The Lyft app will connect you with other passengers heading to the same location or heading the same direction. By “carpooling/carsharing” with other Lyft riders, you get a much cheaper ride.
This brings me to the point of this post. All Lyft Line rides have a predetermined price listed in the app when you request a ride. After I typed in my pickup location (San Francisco CalTrain Station) and my home address, I saw that the price was locked in at $5.34. Since I was a few minutes away from the station, I didn’t want to request a Lyft Line right away (I didn’t want the driver and other passengers to wait for me). 1 minute later, at 3:40pm, the locked in price jumped up to $6.26. I decided to wait a little longer and see if the price would go up or go down (preferably down).
Luckily, 2 minutes later, at 3:42pm, the price went back down to $5.34 as I pulled into the CalTrain Station. As soon as I saw the lower price, I clicked the Request Line button, selected 1 passenger ($5.34, vs $6.34 for 2 passengers), and waited for the app to connect me with a Lyft Line driver. A few minutes later, I was in the Lyft Line with 2 other passengers and headed home. The first passenger was dropped off a few blocks before me and I assume the second passenger was dropped off a few blocks after I was dropped off. The entire Lyft Line ride probably took 1-2 minutes longer than if I had requested a tradition Lyft ride, but I probably saved $5+ by going with Lyft Line.
Since Lyft Line rides are so cheap, I usually tip the driver $1 for each ride. I believe the price changes that I noticed earlier were due to changes in the Prime Time rate (aka Surge Pricing). This leads me to believe that if you have the Lyft app open, select Lyft Line, you should be able to see the price change in real-time based on Prime Time rate changes.
If you are not a Lyft rider, please sign up with my referral link. You will get up to $50 in Lyft ride credit and I will get $10 in Lyft ride credit after you take your first ride. Thank you for your support.
If you have any questions about Lyft, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone.
Interesting. I took Lyft Line only once, in LA last year (I don’t think we have Lyft Line here in Detroit yet, although we do have Lyft in general), and it connected my friend and I with one other passenger … it wasn’t $5 cheaper though, I think only $2-3.
Lyft Line is great if you need a ride for yourself or with 1 companion, since the price for 2 people is only $1 more expensive than 1 person. Hopefully Lyft Line comes to the Detroit area soon.
You are ruining things by tipping the driver. The market works if drivers want to work for the amount Lyft pays them. This just creates a passive-aggressive atmosphere where because people like you tip, you will allow Lyft and Uber to pay drivers less, creating an expectation of tips. This will ruin the market. Please stop doing this.
Drivers know going in what they get paid. If it doesn’t work for them, then it doesn’t work for them. The market fixes itself.
I appreciate your opinion but I don’t think my 2 $1 tips per week are going to disrupt the Lyft driver-passenger marketplace. Happy riding :)
Grant – you’re smarter than that. Of course your individual actions will not disrupt a massive marketplace. The point is that everyone feels that they have no impact so their adverse actions do not in the end ruin a marketplace. That’s like a weird free rider problem. But you are smart enough to get the point I was making despite my ineloquent attempt at making it.
I agree, if everyone tipped every time they rode with Uber and Lyft that that action would disrupt the marketplace. :)
I’ve never found Line to be cheaper than Pool. Not only does Lyft always seem to cost more than Uber, but you don’t earn Starpoints. I recently checked an itinerary where Line was < $1.80 cheaper than traditional Lyft and Pool was nearly $15 cheaper. I know many Bay Area people seem to have special loyalty to Lyft despite the higher rates, but I don't see an added value. My only loyalty was to Sidecar, which was far superior to either (and as with so many things tech, the most-hyped solutions succeed and the better-crafted ones sadly don't).
I haven’t ridden with Uber in the US in a long time. I guess the Lyft app is top of iPhone for cheap rides, plus that is what all my friends prefer :)
I’d blur out the driver’s name and face. He may not like the whole world know that he is a lyft driver.
I wish there was an easy way to do that from the WordPress app, but I will do that as soon as I can.
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