Ride Share Tipping

[countthestars]

Do you tip when you use a ride share service like Uber or Lyft?

If you tip, please comment on whether you typically use a percentage or a flat amount (ex. $5 per ride).


ETA: Added some context in a comment below 

[underwaterrhymes]

Of course.

We tip at least $5 / 20% of the cost (whichever is more) for short rides, but obviously more for longer ones or outstanding service.

[lolalolalola]

Of course and I also tip taxi drivers.

I don’t have a standard amount. It varies but I’d say 10-15% is average. More for lower value rides.

ETA I tip a flat 20% when using my company credit card regardless of trip. That’s the max allowed.

[bcv513]

Always. 20% for average service, more for longer trips or great drivers

[definitelyO]

I marked always. and same $5 or 20% depending on the cost.
but I will make exceptions - we had one uber - bad driver, his seat was broken so it went all the way back to the rear, and had a smokey smell. So in those instances - no tip.

[lilypad1126]

I tip 99.9% of the time, and I tip 20% or $5 depending on the total. Almost always I'm in an uber/lyft for work and 20% is the max I can tip, so if $5 is more than 20% i cover it myself.

The only time I can recall not tipping was when the driver was overtly racist. I was with 2 coworkers at the time, and it was so horrible, we asked him to let us out and we walked the last almost mile back to our hotel. I didn't tip AND i reported it to Uber.

[fernweh]

I always tip with the exception of once on a 1 star ride. Generally I tip 20%

[countthestars]

Thanks for chiming in. I had a call with one of these two companies today about setting up a business account, which would allow us to use our corporate credit cards to pay for customer and employee rides.

I noted to him that the first time we used the program, it did not allow tipping and I wanted to remedy that so that the drivers could receive their tips. The employee claims that "less than 30% of ride share users leave tips". When I said that was horrible, he said "eh, this isn't a 20% tipping industry like restaurants and others".

I know that this board is obviously a very skewed sample, but I am annoyed at his reply and also do not believe the 30% claim he is making. And, I feel bad that I had a couple of $100+ rides before I knew about this and those drivers will not be able to receive tips for them

*Note, if you use this corporate account, you can set the tip amount to a percentage or dollar amount but it has to be consistent for all rides.

[mrsslocombe]

I said "usually" because there have been two times I didn't. Once was a driver who had the most virulent, homophobic talk radio blasting and I sent a comment to Lyft. Lyft send a generic response back.

The other time was a driver who was scrolling through his phone to choose YOUTUBE videos to play while he drove. I reported him and Lyft did respond to me, asked for details, and refunded my ride.

Generally, I tip 20%. If the driver was less safe (like swerving, yelling at other cars, etc) or the car is really smelly sometimes I will only do 15% and leave a comment.

[wildrice]

I would say "usually". I have stopped tipping for rides to the airport, of all things. I live 20-25 minutes from the airport and a ride these days is $35-40, which I think is plenty for that amount of time/miles. I know they have to share a portion of that with the app, but even if it were 50% I think what they will pocket is a fair wage.

For lower cost rides I always tip. Though to be honest those are pretty few and far between these days!

[shopgirl07]

Less than 30% leave tips?! I doubt that. My minimum tip is $5. I take a lot of rides that are in the $6-7 range so I give a lot of $5 tips. Otherwise I always leave at least 20% on rides, but usually closer to 25%.

[shopgirl07]

Nov 8, 2024 13:17:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I would say "usually". I have stopped tipping for rides to the airport, of all things. I live 20-25 minutes from the airport and a ride these days is $35-40, which I think is plenty for that amount of time/miles. I know they have to share a portion of that with the app, but even if it were 50% I think what they will pocket is a fair wage.

For lower cost rides I always tip. Though to be honest those are pretty few and far between these days!

Yikes.

[ksun]

Before Covid I did rideshare, and I've done a little Uber Eats as well. I can confirm that at least 50% of passengers did not tip, and more than that with Uber Eats.

As for what I do, I always tip at least 20% with the exception of if there's something off about the ride (rude driver, dirty car, bad driving etc). I prefer to not tip rather than leave a poor rating as that can impact their job.

[ksun]

Nov 8, 2024 13:17:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I would say "usually". I have stopped tipping for rides to the airport, of all things. I live 20-25 minutes from the airport and a ride these days is $35-40, which I think is plenty for that amount of time/miles. I know they have to share a portion of that with the app, but even if it were 50% I think what they will pocket is a fair wage.

For lower cost rides I always tip. Though to be honest those are pretty few and far between these days!

Wow.

The driver makes MAYBE $15 off that. It's not a fair wage.

[scm1011]

Nov 8, 2024 13:20:39 GMT -5 shopgirl07 said:

Nov 8, 2024 13:17:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I would say "usually". I have stopped tipping for rides to the airport, of all things. I live 20-25 minutes from the airport and a ride these days is $35-40, which I think is plenty for that amount of time/miles. I know they have to share a portion of that with the app, but even if it were 50% I think what they will pocket is a fair wage.

For lower cost rides I always tip. Though to be honest those are pretty few and far between these days!

Yikes.

I agree this is an odd take. Would you tip a regular taxi driver for a ride to the airport? 

I tip 99% of the time. Twice in DC last month I had horrendous uber drivers (one kept asking me to check his blind spot and tell him when to go and the other made a very snarky comment about how its rude that I called for a ride during rush hour - neither got tips). 

[wildrice]

Nov 8, 2024 13:29:08 GMT -5 ksun said:

Nov 8, 2024 13:17:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I would say "usually". I have stopped tipping for rides to the airport, of all things. I live 20-25 minutes from the airport and a ride these days is $35-40, which I think is plenty for that amount of time/miles. I know they have to share a portion of that with the app, but even if it were 50% I think what they will pocket is a fair wage.

For lower cost rides I always tip. Though to be honest those are pretty few and far between these days!

Wow.

The driver makes MAYBE $15 off that. It's not a fair wage.

For less than 30 minutes of work? If it's a ride to the airport they are presumably picking up someone else and will make at least another $15 in the other 30 minutes. I think $30 an hour is fine?

Also do the apps really take more than 50%? I thought that was a high estimate that it was probably more like 30-35%. 

ETA: Looks like Lyft, my primary rideshare app, guarantees that they make 70% of what the passenger pays. So on a $35 ride that's $24.50. I wish we were all paid more, but I don't even make that much money in 30 minutes in my job so I do feel that's fair compensation for the amount of time spent providing the service. www.lyft.com/driver/earnings

[ksun]

Are you including gas, wear and tear, etc? And yes, they definitely can take more than 50%. I don't know anymore what the lowest rate is they get paid, but when I did it it was $3.75/ride. If you're paying $7-10 for a ride, the driver is likely making the minimum.

[fernweh]

Nov 8, 2024 13:35:00 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Nov 8, 2024 13:29:08 GMT -5 ksun said:

Wow.

The driver makes MAYBE $15 off that. It's not a fair wage.

For less than 30 minutes of work? If it's a ride to the airport they are presumably picking up someone else and will make at least another $15 in the other 30 minutes. I think $30 an hour is fine?

Also do the apps really take more than 50%? I thought that was a high estimate that it was probably more like 30-35%. 

But they also have to pay for gas and maintenance so if they get $15 on that ride and have to pay for the gas how much are they really making?

[wildrice]

Nov 8, 2024 13:40:22 GMT -5 ksun said:

Are you including gas, wear and tear, etc? And yes, they definitely can take more than 50%. I don't know anymore what the lowest rate is they get paid, but when I did it it was $3.75/ride. If you're paying $7-10 for a ride, the driver is likely making the minimum.

Did you read my post? I am talking about high fare rides, not the low ones. I always tip on the low ones because I agree, otherwise they don't make enough money. I said that already.

[icedcoffee]

Yes--20% always, but to be fair when Uber started it was marketed as a tip included thing so I didn't realize until later than others that they actually do require a tip.

[ksun]

Nov 8, 2024 13:41:46 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Nov 8, 2024 13:40:22 GMT -5 ksun said:

Are you including gas, wear and tear, etc? And yes, they definitely can take more than 50%. I don't know anymore what the lowest rate is they get paid, but when I did it it was $3.75/ride. If you're paying $7-10 for a ride, the driver is likely making the minimum.

Did you read my post? I am talking about high fare rides, not the low ones. I always tip on the low ones because I agree, otherwise they don't make enough money. I said that already.

I read it clearly.

[mofongo]

Nov 8, 2024 13:41:46 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Nov 8, 2024 13:40:22 GMT -5 ksun said:

Are you including gas, wear and tear, etc? And yes, they definitely can take more than 50%. I don't know anymore what the lowest rate is they get paid, but when I did it it was $3.75/ride. If you're paying $7-10 for a ride, the driver is likely making the minimum.

Did you read my post? I am talking about high fare rides, not the low ones. I always tip on the low ones because I agree, otherwise they don't make enough money. I said that already.

For all of the things we tip for that probably don’t require a tip, this isn’t one. Someone is picking you up in their personal vehicle, and dropping you off at your destination. 

[wildrice]

Ok fine. I'll tip next time. I really don't have any problem with doing so if they are truly not making as much money off of the rides as I was led to believe - I think everyone should be paid a living wage. Paying an extra 20% on seemingly everything these days to offset corporate greed gets tiring so I have started doing a calculus on which jobs really NEED a tip to be paid a living wage and which jobs already pay a living wage and therefore tips are more optional. I thought jacked up prices for airport rides fell under the latter.

[fiddles]

Nov 8, 2024 13:17:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I would say "usually". I have stopped tipping for rides to the airport, of all things. I live 20-25 minutes from the airport and a ride these days is $35-40, which I think is plenty for that amount of time/miles. I know they have to share a portion of that with the app, but even if it were 50% I think what they will pocket is a fair wage.

For lower cost rides I always tip. Though to be honest those are pretty few and far between these days!

One reason airport rides are so expensive is because of additional fees that are tacked on by the airport themselves to uber/lyft and other ride shares.  So while it may cost you $35-$40, that doesn't mean the driver is getting a fair wage necessarily.  

ETA They are also having to deal with airport traffic, which is not a fun thing

[glw]

Nov 8, 2024 14:26:02 GMT -5 fiddles said:

Nov 8, 2024 13:17:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I would say "usually". I have stopped tipping for rides to the airport, of all things. I live 20-25 minutes from the airport and a ride these days is $35-40, which I think is plenty for that amount of time/miles. I know they have to share a portion of that with the app, but even if it were 50% I think what they will pocket is a fair wage.

For lower cost rides I always tip. Though to be honest those are pretty few and far between these days!

One reason airport rides are so expensive is because of additional fees that are tacked on by the airport themselves to uber/lyft and other ride shares.  So while it may cost you $35-$40, that doesn't mean the driver is getting a fair wage necessarily.  

ETA They are also having to deal with airport traffic, which is not a fun thing

Why wouldn't the stated cost of the ride include that, though?

I use Uber/Lyft like twice a year, and I thought the whole point was that it was not like a taxi service, and I had no idea that you were "supposed to" tip the way we do at a sit-down restaurant (but we don't tip at a fast-food place, or a drive-thru, or or or). I absolutely hate that there are these unwritten rules about tipping. Just tell me what I owe!

[ellipses84]

I tip, probably around 20% but I usually select one of the whole dollar amounts it lists. I take a lot of short / cheap rides.

[gerberdaisy]

I almost always do 20%. Partially because that what work covers for a tip and 9/10 times I'm traveling for work. However, sometimes Lyft gives set dollars as an option instead of a percent, so I just pick one that seems appropriate. Not an exact science.

[sent]

The confusion exists because when Uber started, one of their advertisement points was that your stated fee included the tip. But over the years they added the tip option and started paying their drivers less. I don’t know if they’re still paid as 1099 contractors which means they take home even less than what everyone thinks they were being paid. In some states there were lawsuits that they were acting more as W2 employees and not 1099 contractors. I agree with wildrice that I hate the way these corporations operate. I especially hate that they “disrupted” their way into existence and legitimacy and now so many Americans love ordering rides from their phones. However, not tipping doesn’t send a message to the corporate bros and only negatively affects the person who gave you the ride. I try my best to not use these ride share services ever but I know I’m in the minority of sticking it to the bros and it doesn’t make a difference. I broke down and had to download the app this summer when we missed a bus and got stuck in a tiny town at night in Europe with the kids. I had managed to avoid using them for 7 years prior to that. Then my brother gave me a very generous gift card specifically for Uber so I grudgingly used it on my last few airport trips with the kids and didn’t feel bad generously tipping out of it. I took 3 airport rides recently. For 2 of the rides, I did a custom even dollar amount of at least 20% and for the third one I just hit the 20%. I later wanted to increase the 20% amount but couldn’t tell how jt was going to tack on the increase so I left it alone. My brother uses these apps often and tips in cash.

[mokes]

I tip almost always. Most often around 10% for long rides (usually a flat dollar amount for short rides). I read some Reddit threads from drivers who said most people don't tip, so I believe the 30% number.

I feel like answers to these types of questions tend to be skewed here because the second someone says they tip less, people jump all over them.

[gt7301b]

I tip 20% on longer rides and a flat $4-$5 on shorter rides.