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Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

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Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#41

Post by 67726e »

chrisper wrote: post #16

I do not really like Uber. The company does shady stuff quite often but also their drivers seem to be bad. They do not care at all about traffic laws. Illegal u-turns, stop wherever they want, etc. I can't surely be the only one who experienced this?

> They do not care at all about traffic laws. Illegal u-turns, stop wherever they want, etc.

That's probably a quarter of the people I run into on my commute to and from work. People just don't give a shit about breaking traffic laws themselves. Of course they'll be sure to honk at and scream at the other people who do.

At least in the case of Uber, in my city, cops are a bit aggressive about making sure they don't do things like stop on a busy corner or do other stupid, anti-social maneuvers. I once had an Uber driver stop on a busy corner and block turning traffic. As I got into the Uber a cop ran up and literally ripped the door out of my hand as I was shutting it to scream at the driver he had 10 seconds to move or get a $1,000 ticket. Going out on the main strip during a Friday night, it isn't uncommon to see an officer deal with at least one driver.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#42

Post by technofiend »

zaidf wrote: post #8

The copy on this page is super unclear. I just realized(after signing up) that the subscription is to get the special $2/ride pricing, not the actual ride. Put another way: after you have the $30/month subscription, you can get UberPools for $2/ride.

I would pay that in a heartbeat because daily commute costs via Metro is $2.50 (ignoring any pre-tax discounts I get). So for a four week month it costs $50 to take public transportation twice daily. For $110 I get a shared ride door to door? Sign me up. Except of course neither this or UberPool is offered in Houston so I guess we can all just suck it. Oh well. It would be nice.

Population density is actually increasing in Houston's inner city. It would be an interesting experiment for Uber to at least try pooling inside our 610 loop area.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#43

Post by Vraxx »

laksjd wrote: post #30
forgetsusername wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> for just under $18, and nobody else pooled with me. How could this be fair to the drivers? So I asked the driver how much he was getting for the trip. I believe he said something like $50 Quite the business model. I wonder if they really believe they're earning goodwill at the rate of an Andrew Jackson per ride?

If they can kill the competition they can then crank the prices back up and profit of this for years and years. It feels slightly 'evil' but it does make business sense, especially if they know they can outlast their competitors.

I'm not so sure I agree. If you crank up the prices, a lot of users who are users because of those prices will just stop being users. You don't exactly have a good way to lock users into it, so this strategy doesn't seem as effective. I imagine that the most locked in user will be one that sold their car to solely ride uber, and they can just go get a car if the the cost analysis tips more in favor of the car. "Worst" case for this user is they need to buy a vehicle, slighly better but still bad case, they pay more, but less than owning a vehicle but still reaped years of low low prices.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#44

Post by baddox »

orblivion wrote: post #34
Nashhhh wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key difference being that in the case of Uber, those VCs and investors gave their money voluntarily.

One can still run out of voluntarily obtained money.

Obviously that's true, but it's not really relevant to the intended meaning of Thatcher's (obviously oversimplified) quote.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#46

Post by xenadu02 »

zaidf wrote: post #8

The copy on this page is super unclear. I just realized(after signing up) that the subscription is to get the special $2/ride pricing, not the actual ride. Put another way: after you have the $30/month subscription, you can get UberPools for $2/ride.

The ride also has to begin and end in the given area (north of Cesar Chavez street). And if the ride is over $25 you pay the difference. That means SOMA to sunset at 1.7 surge won't be the flat rate at all.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#47

Post by niftich »

Vraxx wrote: post #43
laksjd wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they can kill the competition they can then crank the prices back up and profit of this for years and years. It feels slightly 'evil' but it does make business sense, especially if they know they can outlast their competitors.

I'm not so sure I agree. If you crank up the prices, a lot of users who are users because of those prices will just stop being users. You don't exactly have a good way to lock users into it, so this strategy doesn't seem as effective. I imagine that the most locked in user will be one that sold their car to solely ride uber, and they can just go get a car if the the cost analysis tips more in favor of the car. "Worst…

As you say, there is no effective way for them to lock users in, but they don't need to. They can outspend and outlast Lyft to make them run out of cash and/or devalued to the point where they can acquire them and shut them down.

At that point, any (future) new entrant to the market will face a steeper uphill battle than Lyft did. In the process, they may lose some customers to real cars or public transit, but they'll remain the only player in this space.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#48

Post by richman777 »

jeffjose wrote: post #31
zaidf wrote: post #8

The copy on this page is super unclear. I just realized(after signing up) that the subscription is to get the special $2/ride pricing, not the actual ride. Put another way: after you have the $30/month subscription, you can get UberPools for $2/ride.

I thought that was clear. What were you confusing that with? I'm trying to understand what you initially thought it was.

Agree, not really sure what the alternative would be?

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#49

Post by sickrumbear »

jeffjose wrote: post #31
zaidf wrote: post #8

The copy on this page is super unclear. I just realized(after signing up) that the subscription is to get the special $2/ride pricing, not the actual ride. Put another way: after you have the $30/month subscription, you can get UberPools for $2/ride.

I thought that was clear. What were you confusing that with? I'm trying to understand what you initially thought it was.

not op, but i assumed the 'upfront' would fund the rides as well, vs. just 'unlocking' them. i read it as more of an initial prepayment.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#50

Post by alaskamiller »

Back in September of 2009 JetBlue offered an all you can jet pass because September is traditionally the worst slump of the year. Summer's over, people start schools and jobs, travel drops overall.

This is the same trick to get you out there more. It's also inevitably the end game for Uber. Deliver value for less than your monthly car payment.

Someone is crunching the numbers right now figuring out exactly how much LTV they can extract from you in exchange for paying $500 a month every month to Uber.

Then when Uber wins that game by the end of next year many other CPG and big box retailers will follow suit, riding along the subscription box model.

By 2020 it will be normal for you to receive income from the government just so you can hand it over to lifestyle providers of all stripes every month to live how you personalized it to be.

Latest fashion every month from WalMart! Semi-prepped meals every day from Safeway! 30 day supply of customized toothpaste from Target! Just insert token.

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