I'm confused about something. What is upfront pricing? And how had it changed from what they've done in the past? And why use Rideguru in the first place? When I'm curious about a fare charge I get on the app, put in the origination and then the destination and it will give me a rate. Right from the source. I'd never assume some third party app to be right anyway. Just wonder why others don't do that
"Upfront pricing" is a new pricing model used by both Uber and Lyft. Uber uses it pretty much universally; Lyft varies.
The original pricing model was very straightforward -- a base price, a company booking fee, a set price per mile, a set price per minute, plus any tolls, fees, etc involved with the ride. And drivers were paid a percentage of the fare paid by the rider -- typically 80% of the fare for drivers who had been around several years, 75% for newer drivers.
The old time and mileage charges are still the basis of driver pay, and they have not changed. Drivers still make the same amount, but it is now a much smaller portion of the fare paid by the rider.
Upfront pricing is based on the vast amount of data the companies collect, including minute-by-minute data on demand, what riders have paid in the past, and tons of other data. Upfront pricing is also demographically priced to some degree -- rides from low-income pickup points have lower fares than rides of equal time and distance from affluent pickup points. So the pricing is very flexible, and you may receive one price from DS to MK one day and a different price the next day.
Upfront pricing is a method of making pricing more reflective of supply and demand, and it is also a way of slowly raising pricing in a particular market to a sustainable level so the companies can survive. So the companies can look at a $23 fare from MCO-Dolphin, compare it to $65-$70 taxi fare, and say, "Wait a minute -- we're charging ONE-THIRD. That's nuts!"
Although upfront pricing is a little higher than the old method, there is one big benefit for customers. Unless you change your destination after pickup, the price you are quoted is the price you will pay -- no matter what. If there is a bad accident, major traffic jam, significant detour, etc -- no big deal. You pay the same. That also relieves some riders concerns about being "long-hauled" -- the age-old taxi trick of taking a much longer route to inflate the fare.
A negative of upfront pricing is that it makes it much more difficult for independent sites like RideGuru to accurately estimate prices. They do the best they can -- and I usually find them pretty accurate -- but this example Greg posted was an exception.
Experienced riders know how to get an accurate estimate of both availability and price through the riders apps, but sites like RideGuru are a big help to folks who don't know that drill.
The best advice I can give to consumers is to have both apps on your phone, and price check your rides. Sometimes you will find the prices the same, but other times the prudent consumer may save a few bucks.
He told us in the future it must be the overflow lot, then proceeded to take his license information. Poor guy had only been here 4 months from Venezuela. I was so rattled by the attitude of security that I spoke to a resort manager in case there was a formal report logged.
