So Uber Pass just came out with the most absurd deal – $20 for unlimited $2.99 UberPool rides, up to $15/each anywhere in the extended SF Bay Area (a lot of other cities too).
Unlike past deals, you can go *anywhere* in the SF Bay – the East Bay, the South Bay, etc.
The trick is they’ll charge overages past $15 for UberPool, but you can just break up rides into smaller chunks of exactly $15 each.
For instance, getting from Stanford to San Francisco, a normal affair that would cost well over $40 and take you about 40 miles, is now just $6.
Split the first ride to end up in San Mateo, and the second to end up in San Francisco. $2.99 each. Cheaper than the Caltrain.
Absolutely no idea how this can possibly be a good idea for Uber and net profitable. After just two rides like this, I’m pretty sure Uber is break even or at a loss. I’ve paid them $26, and have gotten a $40 ride (or $30 exactly on UberPool – break evenish on two rides, net loss on 3+).
And I have 28 full days of rides like this. Will probably be taking buttloads of $6 rides to Stanford and back.
What I would love to see now is a quick and dirty app to split up Uber fares one destination to another to minimize cost using UberPass – such that you can go from San Francisco to San Jose, for instance, for $9, split up into three perfectly maximized rides.
On top of that, you can have 2 people for no additional cost in your Ubers. So it’s $6 for two people to go from SF to Stanford, or $3 a person – or *way* cheaper than public transportation and way more convenient.
And on top of that, a secret trick is using UberPool is that they show you estimated wait time, which is the fastest time an Uber can get there usually, but then sometimes try to pair you with the most cost efficient ride they have in the system, which shows you a much longer wait time. You can just cancel any ride that has a longer wait time than the estimate they showed you for free, and request again, and they’ll pair you this time with the closest car, which in most cases won’t even have a rider. Major win! Shouldn’t have to wait at any stop for more than 5 minutes, typically 2-3 minutes.