Holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve and special days that involve partying such as Halloween, Super Bowl etc. can be a boon to driver earnings (there’s a reason why we have a whole article on the most lucrative holidays for Uber drivers!).
The rewards are high but risks go up as well. Senior Contributor Sergio Avedian went out the past Halloween weekend and drove for about 15 hours. Did he get tricked or treated?
Also, congratulations to the RSG newsletter readers below who shared their Halloween photos with us! These photos were taken while out driving, and we invited drivers to share some of their best photos for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!
Congratulations to:
- Jennifer from Tampa
- Keith from Colorado
- Frank from New Jersey
- Wayne from Washington
Stay tuned below for a chance to BEAT SERGIO and win a gift card yourself!
To enter: Leave a comment below with a screenshot of your earnings. If you beat Sergio’s hourly earnings, we’ll send the first 5 winners an Amazon gift card. Hourly rate is calculated over the 3 day holiday weekend (Friday – Sunday) and all rides must be on Uber X or similar platform since Sergio’s were.
Uber Select, SUV rides, referral fees and all other platform rides in your total do not count!
I am not a huge fan of driving the drunk hours as well as major party events like Holloween and Super Bowl. Why? The risks of inebriated, belligerent passengers throwing up in your car goes up astronomically. But the rewards could be so lucrative that sometimes you have to go for it.
Right now in Los Angeles, drivers are making above average money from the crumbs they used to collect from the Uber/Lyft table before the pandemic. I’ve only been driving when Uber/Lyft SHOW ME THE MONEY in the form of quests, Consecutive Ride Bonus (CRBs) and surge.
The Halloween weekend, Lyft was dead to me, as CRBs like 3 for $15 are not going to convince me to even turn my engine on. But Uber wanted as many drivers as possible out there by doubling everything Lyft was offering, and with the constant flat rate surge throughout the day and night, I decided to drive.
Driving on Halloween 2021
As you can see above, the city was lit, non-stop ping after ping. At some point I wanted to take a break, but I couldn’t turn the app off fast enough.
Is it because the demand in Los Angeles is through the roof or is it because there is a driver shortage? Whatever it is, this is as good as it gets, and it was so easy to earn. If a driver can’t make some serious money now, it may be time to go do something else.
Here is what Uber offered me for this weekend:
- 30 for $130 Quest (Done)
- 3 for $30 CRBs most of the day and night (Done)
- Flat rate Surge (Out of 30 rides, 29 were on Surge)
- Usage of destination filter without limitations (Used all 6 in 3 days)
These numbers are phenomenal. I used to have $2500 weeks regularly about 5 years ago when the marketplace was not saturated with drivers and the good old surge multiplier was around.
Even then, I don’t think I averaged more per hour than now. I used to put in 40 hours plus for that $2500 a week.
Take a close look at my Online and Active hours. They are almost identical, why is that? It is because of when I drive and where I drive.
I know the surge patterns in my city better than anyone, so when I decide to go online, it is at the peak of the wave and I make sure I am taking advantage of the 3 for $30 CRB.
Let’s break down what I am getting before I even accept a ride:
- $4.33 on the Quest
- $10 on the consecutive ride bonus (CRB)
- Add to that the flat rate surge
We are talking about $20 a ride – extra. Trust me, there were some rides this weekend that I will share in a future article where I made $30-$35 dollars for a two mile trip, inclusive of all the bonuses.
Takeaways for Drivers
I took a calculated risk – I did not work the drunk hours, even though I probably would have made more than $60 per hour.
In 2021, Halloween fell on a Sunday, so Los Angeles had a chance to party for three days in a row. I only drove when people were just getting ready to go out before they had a lot of alcohol in their system.
All 30 rides were smooth, with the exception of a couple tough drop offs and pickups, but outside of those minor problems, I enjoyed the hours I was out there. Everyone was cordial and were wearing their masks before they even got in my car.
I also had a chance to do research for a future article by conversing with about 20 out of the 30 riders and passing out fancy RSG business cards.
If you SHOW ME THE MONEY, Uber/Lyft, my car is yours. Will I make this type of money week after week? NO!
However, for the past six weeks or so that I have been driving, I have not averaged less than $50 an hour on Uber. I used all my 6 destination filters, which allowed me to split the Red Sea I call it instead of going home.
The strategy worked like a charm, with ride after ride on high surge, since in Los Angeles we have unlimited demand with riders going in all directions.
How did you do if you drove on Halloween weekend in your city? Did you come close to $60 per hour? I hope you all killed it because as we all know these good times may not last too much longer.
Did you beat Sergio’s hourly earnings? Let us know below for your chance to win!
To enter: Leave a comment below with a screenshot of your earnings. If you beat Sergio’s hourly earnings, we’ll send the first 5 winners an Amazon gift card. Hourly rate is calculated over the 3 day holiday weekend (Friday – Sunday).and all rides must be on the Uber X or similar platform since Sergio’s were.
Uber Select, SUV rides, referral fees and all other platform rides in your total do not count!
-Sergio @ RSG
