There’s not a secret anymore that Uber is one of the most popular ride sharing apps and a lot of people are using it, instead of opting for a regular cab. Still, they had a pretty big surprise this New Year’s morning, after checking how much their December 31st evening rides cost.
The fact was confirmed by a lot of riders who instantly starting complaining on social media on New Year’s Day, some of them claiming that they ended up paying even more than $200 for an otherwise cheap ride, according to Time.
It happened before
Still, this doesn’t comes as a surprise, as it’s not the first time when Uber fares go ridiculously high during the holidays, especially on New Year’s Eve, one of the busiest nights of the year.
Surge pricing, one of Uber‘s most controversial features, makes rates go up from six to eight times normal prices, due to the demand for drivers being greater that the number of the vehicles on the road. It also encourages more drivers to get on the roads when the demand is high.
Uber notifies customers about the increased price before taking a ride and, before New Year, they have have even made an announcement, warning everybody that they will pay more than usual during the holiday. Also, a blog post with tips on avoiding huge fares was also released by the company, users being notified through a puss notification in the app, that night, as usual.
Surge pricing is not something new for users
“Surge Pricing shouldn’t be a surprise,” the company said in the blog post. “Let’s toast to you running a Fare Estimate in the app before you ride.”
Uber claims that the majority of the New Year’s Eve rides weren’t affected by surge pricing, with 84% of all U.S. trips, between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m. being priced less than triple normal fares. 60% of the rides during the same interval weren’t the subject of surge pricing.
