Wondering what a Lyft streak bonus or Uber consecutive trip boost is? Senior RSG contributors Paula Gibbins and Christian Perea breaks down what Lyft Streak Bonuses and Uber Consecutive Trip Boosts are, how they work, and how they could affect drivers.
Bonuses are a coveted asset to drivers for both Lyft and Uber. What are the bonuses you can expect? How do they work? Let’s go through the possible bonus opportunities, what you as a driver need to do to earn them, and how you can make them work the best for you.
Fair warning, not all bonus types are offered to every driver and the opportunities vary by region, demand, and let’s face it, random factors no one really knows.
What types of bonuses are offered and why?
First and foremost, bonuses are often offered in order to incentivize drivers to either get on the road, stay on the road or remain loyal to one platform over other options available. The reasoning tends to determine what kind of bonus is presented.
Lyft offers an earnings guarantee when you first sign up. In order to earn the guarantee, you’ll need to give so many rides during your first so many days. For example, 100 rides in your first 30 days. If your earnings are less than the guarantee, they will pay you the difference if you do in fact complete the allotted number of rides in the time frame given.
As I was writing this article, a bonus offer came to my inbox. One I have never seen before. It’s for referring drivers, but not just any drivers. It’s for referring former drivers to come back to the platform.
The offer looks the same as any other driver referral bonus, whether the person signing up is doing it for the first time or if they did use to drive for Lyft.
In my area (Minneapolis/St. Paul), the current bonus being offered is a $300 reward. I’ll get $300 if someone signs up in my market, completes 140 rides in their first 30 days. They will get a $1,500 guarantee. So, if they earn less than $1,500 in those 140 rides in the first 30 days, Lyft will pay them the difference as a bonus.
In order to make the best of these types of guarantees, the driver is better off accepting as many low-paying rides as possible. It may seem counterintuitive, but the less you earn, the more you’ll receive as a bonus. If you only average $4 per trip, you’ll get more than $6 in bonuses per trip paid by Lyft in the end.
One bonus that doesn’t rely on you being a new driver is what they call streak bonuses. These are typically a lower dollar amount, but they add up over time. Typically a streak is for 3 rides in a row.
This means the driver has to accept and complete three rides in a row.
For example, 3 rides in a row between 5 am and 6 am. Some drivers get confused at this. They think you have to complete all three rides no later than 6 am, but that is not the case.
You need to start your first ride of the three no later than 6 am for this streak bonus.
Here’s an example of streak bonuses being offered. If you’re able to utilize most of them, your bonuses can add up quickly on top of the earnings from each of the rides themselves.
Some drivers are able to really utilize these streak bonuses and earn even more. If you start right at the beginning of a streak bonus and finish all three rides before the end, plus start another new streak of 3 before the time period is done, you’ll earn it again if you complete those other 3 rides. Therefore, you’ll earn double the streak bonuses offered for that hour time period.
Again, a reminder to you is that these streaks will only work if you accept every ride request to complete your streak. If anything interrupts the streak like going offline, you’re back to square one without the additional earnings.
This would also mean, you’d have to stay on the Lyft platform alone. You wouldn’t be able to go back and forth between Lyft and Uber. As soon as you go offline from Lyft, you’ve ended your streak.
Tips for getting through a streak or bonus
Go to the bathroom before starting one. You don’t want to lose out on your streak bonus because you had to go offline to use the restroom in the middle of it.
Be mindful of what liquids you intake before and during the streaks. Coffee is a diuretic which may mean you’ll be needing the bathroom faster than if you were to choose water. Just be mindful of what your body needs and act accordingly.
As I mentioned earlier, with the guaranteed earnings bonuses, utilize the shorter/cheaper fares. You’ll earn your number needed faster while making sure you’ll get a “bonus” at the end if you haven’t reached the guaranteed earnings amount by then.
If you happen to get short rides while on a streak, you’ll hopefully be able to earn more bonuses by having multiple streaks. But remember, you can’t pick and choose like you would other times if you’re trying for a streak bonus.
Lyft Ride Streak Bonus FAQ
How does the streak bonus work with Lyft?
If Lyft selects you to receive a streak bonus, they will notify you in the driver app and via text message to let you know that the streak is on. You can also see the offer in your driver app under promotions. The promotion will tell you how much money you will get if you complete a certain number of rides in a row. For example, Lyft might reward you with a $12 bonus for completing 3 trips without logging off, canceling, using destination mode, or denying a request.
What rides qualify for streak bonuses on Lyft?
Lyft will begin counting your rides toward a streak bonus from either the time you accept a ride or the time you begin a ride. This works the same for drop-off times. This means you won’t have to logout ten minutes before the bottom of the hour in order to avoid getting a request at 6:58 am. for a promotion that starts at 7 am. There are no geographical restrictions on where you need to get your rides.
What if you don’t finish your last ride in a streak before the hour is over?
You will still get credit for your Lyft streak as long as the first ride started within the promotional time-frame. If a streak ends at 10 am and you begin your first ride streak at 9:55 am, you will still earn the streak bonus as long as you give two rides afterward.
Where can I find my streak bonus in the Lyft app?
Your streak bonus will show up on the last ride in any given streak. So, if there are 4 rides in a streak, you will see the money credited to the 4th ride you gave. You can also cash out your streak bonus money through Express Pay as soon as you complete your streak.
How To Know I Got Paid For Lyft Ride Streak Bonus
What you see on your 3rd ride in the earnings screen after completing a 3-ride streak.
You will know if you received your Lyft ride streak bonus by checking the 3rd ride within a “set” of three rides. The payout will be similar to the image above. You can cash it out using Express Pay immediately. It is not subject to commission fees.
What if my passenger cancels or doesn’t show up?
You won’t get dinged and your streak will continue. Make sure to wait the 5 minutes required to “no show” a passenger and collect your cancelation fee. If you don’t wait for the required 5 minutes before selecting “no show”, you might lose your streak.
What causes me to break a streak?
Logging off, using Destination Mode, canceling on a passenger, or denying/missing a request. All of these will cause you to lose your streak during a Lyft ride streak bonus.
Overall, This Will Reduce Surge and PrimeTime
Back in September, I wrote about how these companies are trying to get rid of Surge and Primetime. Uber or Lyft don’t have much of an interest to charge their passengers a lot of money for these rides, and they are clearly using Boost, Quest, Switching Rides Mid-Trip, and clever matching to make sure rides are cheap and fast.
Related: Where Has All The Surge Gone?
If you drive in a market that consistently has Surge or Primetime during commute hours, I would expect these promotions to delay the initial onset of dynamic pricing during the first 45 minutes to hour since a lot of drivers will be trying to start their “streak”. This means that drivers will get assigned to rides much faster since fewer drivers are fishing for the best ride.
This means that any Surge or Dynamic pricing will likely come quickly, be intense, and leave quickly as streakers complete their rides and immediately accept the next ride so they can max out their streaking. You will have to choose between the high risk/high reward of surge hunting or the relative predictability of the bonuses associated with completing a streak.
Final Thoughts on Lyft Ride Streaks and Uber Consecutive Trips
Personally, I’ll take any bonus that comes my way that I think I can reasonably attain. So sure, I’ll do some streaking for extra money.
However, I’ve seen an increase in drivers lately who have been on the road for long hours, often for 6 or 7 days a week, trying to always hit Uber’s Quest or Lyft’s Power Driver Bonuses. Some drivers even manage to hit BOTH. I’m concerned that this will become another way of getting drivers to grind out as many trips as possible at the expense of our sanity.
One of the reasons I was so compelled to write about this program is because I’ve seen a lot of the other bonuses being reduced slowly over the last six months (especially Uber Quest). A bonus program like this might be meant to replace Quest and Boost if it proves to be more effective at reducing surge and wait times for passengers.
We’ve already figured out that Uber and Lyft are going to filter some of the extra money they’re taking from Upfront Pricing and increased “service fees” in an effort incentivize drivers to modify their behavior. Hopefully the end result of these promotions will allow us to earn more while working fewer hours to meet our goals.
What do you think about Lyft Ride Streaks and Uber’s Consecutive Trip Incentive? Let me know in the comments section below!
Uber Consecutive Trips FAQ
Uber is still testing Consecutive Ride Boost in several markets so the program will likely change as they dial-in their test data with drivers. Here is what we know so far though:
How Do Consecutive Trips Work For Uber?
Uber Consecutive Trips work by rewarding drivers with extra money for completing a series of trips (usually 3) in a row. Drivers must complete the required number of rides without logging out of the Uber Driver app, cancelling, or denying a ride. You have to take the rides that Uber gives you.
In the example below, you would earn an extra $11 dollars for completing 3 trips in a row between the hours of 7 AM and 9 AM.
What Rides Qualify As Consecutive Trips On Uber?
Trips must occur within a preset geographic area determined by Uber. Only the first trip has to occur within the area though. So if a trip takes you outside of Uber’s zone, you can give the next 2 in a row anywhere.
Where can I find my Consecutive Trips Boost in the Uber Driver App?
You can find it under the promotions tab and within the home screen.
How Does UberPOOL Work With Consecutive Rides?
Every passenger request will count as one ride in your streak. A triple UberPOOL means you had 3 consecutive rides.
-Christian & Paula @ RSG
