[sillysaurus3]

For what it's worth, here are the prices of my last few uber rides:

  $4
  $4
  $2
  $2
  $2.50
  $1.75
  $2
  $2
  $3.75

These prices are so low that it would be more expensive to take public transit, let alone a taxi. The trips were pretty far, too.

It's obvious that this can't last, but it's pretty great for the moment.

EDIT: A few clarifications: These were in Chicago, and I haven't omitted any rides from this sample. Those really are the last 9 UberPool rides.

The reason it's so cheap is because Uber keeps carpet bombing my phone with 50% and 75% off promo deals. I don't know why. The two types of deals are "Your next 5 rides are 50% off" and "All rides between 4pm and 7pm are 75% off."

[noobermin]

Here are my last few uber rides

  $18.94
  $13.87
  $ 7.68
  $13.99
  $11.22
  $40.05
  $12.71

Some were far, some not, obviously. They are spread over a few months, obviously, given the price of a typical uber, I am not prone to using it often. It does still beat a taxi, though.

Just balancing out what seems to be a biased sample.

[akhilcacharya]

I think I can beat you here.

14.60

15.52

17.23

0.00

49.52

36.62

The last two were from SFO to Palo Alto. In all honesty $50 for a 50 minute drive isn't that bad, but I didn't pay for it either.

[wamatt]

You might want to check out Lyft. Been using their 'Line Ride' product as it's currently 50% off (at least in Bay Area).

If their growth team wants to throw VC money our way to keep me on board, why not? Recently commuting from Palo Alto to Mountain View pretty regularly and paying around $7/$8. PS Not affiliated, just a happy user.

[nihonde]

Not to mention that competition between Uber and Lyft will benefit all passengers.

[DrScump]

When you have just two companies competing in a space, that's not true competition; that's a cartel.

[jacalata]

"cartel (n): an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition."

Having two competitors doesn't necessarily create a cartel. Are you trying to argue that Uber and Lyft are working together to maintain prices at a higher level?

[imtringued]

The word you are looking for is oligopoly

[akhilcacharya]

I didn't want to be stuck with the tab at the end of my trip, so I just followed the company guidelines for reimbursement - they had an expense account for the other 2 rides I took from HQ to hotel.

[nedwin]

I've had a couple of zeros or very cheap fares in last couple of days as well. What was this zero in your case?

[nommm-nommm]

Not the GP but Uber has its Android Pay promo going right now, that was my last freebie.

[akhilcacharya]

I gave a referral code to my parents and used up the bonus.

[microcolonel]

I can tell you that downtown rides are about this cheap on Uber here in Toronto.

Scale is a big factor as well, maybe you're in a place with fewer drivers, or posher folks?

[noobermin]

Can you clarify? You mean cheap as sillysaurus3's prices or mine?

We are a "smaller city", large population but a little sparse.

[HappyTypist]

You're part of an extremely limited test group aimed at calculating the price elasticity of Uber.

[vadym909]

They are just trying to get you hooked and habituated because once you get accustomed to it- they know you will be a life (or at least a very long term) customer.

[spike021]

Plus the $5 base fee, right?

So that's not nearly cheaper than taking public transit.

For example if I get an uber ride between my apartment and the train station, it's close to $2-3, but that's on top of the $5 base fee. So I could either pay $7-8, or I could pay $2 for the bus.

[johnloeber]

No, there's no $5 base fee for UberPool (at least not in Chicago).

[sillysaurus3]

Just double-checked the banking records. There's no base fee.

[CaptSpify]

Where do you live that theres a base fee?

I've never heard of that

[Nullabillity]

In Stockholm there's a 40kr (~$5) base fee for UberX: https://www.uber.com/cities/stockholm

For UberBLACK that's 50kr (~$6), and UberLUX starts out at 100kr (~$12).

[flashman]

> The reason it's so cheap is because Uber keeps carpet bombing my phone with 50% and 75% off promo deals.

Does this affect how much the driver receives? E.g. do they receive a share of the full fee, or the discounted one?

[nudgeee]

Their payout is based on the full fare.

[lifeformed]

What city?

[blhack]

I saw prices like this in Mumbai.