Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#51

Post by alaskamiller » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:09 PM UTC

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.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#52

Post by whack » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:15 PM UTC

atopal wrote: post #15

mmanfrin wrote: post #7

I used Pool last night in the city. Took me from the Fidi to Inner Richmond. $2.37. It was almost cheaper than Muni. I can't imagine the drivers are making much at all .

I was chatting with my Uber driver last week and he said he preferred Uber, because they guarantee $1500 a week provided you accept a certain amount of rides. This is in SF.

That comes out to a guaranteed $73k/year, even if you take 3 weeks of vacation. For a family where both parents are driving uber, that comes out to a family income of almost $150k/year. Considering the only skill you need is the ability to drive a car, that's insane.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#53

Post by rggb-bayer » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:15 PM UTC

mmanfrin wrote: post #7

I used Pool last night in the city. Took me from the Fidi to Inner Richmond. $2.37. It was almost cheaper than Muni. I can't imagine the drivers are making much at all .

$2.37?! Wow. I use uber pool almost everyday and I never get deals like that!

Eg:- http://m.imgur.com/a/5CtfQ

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#54

Post by hkmurakami » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:17 PM UTC

Nashhhh wrote: post #27

Analemma_ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Margaret Thatcher once said "The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money", which makes it ironic and humorous that Uber, the poster child of Valley Objectivism, has basically the same problem with their "price dumping funded by VCs" model.

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

Presumably (hopefully) the socialist government for this hypothetical nation would have been voluntarily put in place by the voting public.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#55

Post by jbrambleDC » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:18 PM UTC

tachyonbeam wrote: post #9

mmanfrin wrote: post #7

I used Pool last night in the city. Took me from the Fidi to Inner Richmond. $2.37. It was almost cheaper than Muni. I can't imagine the drivers are making much at all .

I had the same reaction when I rode UberPool from the south bay into SF (a 45 minute ride) 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. Fortunately, he wasn't getting shortchanged. Later, someone pointed out to me that Lyft and Uber are aggressively competing right now. It se…

so i suspect they are trying to kill of Lyft, then replace drivers with autonomous driving and keep the prices relatively constant by having loyal customers join in on a subscription model like pool pass and use it as your daily commute. I am actually already taking Pool, with pool pass every day in DC for $1.00 per ride, $30 up front fee. Only way this is sustainable is to eventually replace drivers. Also to really have high customer volume and keep occupancy high they have to keep prices relatively close to a metro fare.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#56

Post by hkmurakami » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:19 PM UTC

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…

Those users who were only in it for the cheap fares would have left anyways in a world where Lyft survives but fares increase to profitable levels.

If Uber succeeds in killing Lyft, they can dictate pricing more effectively and harvest a surplus from the remaining consumers.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#57

Post by acchow » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:20 PM UTC

rggb-bayer wrote: post #53

mmanfrin wrote: post #7

I used Pool last night in the city. Took me from the Fidi to Inner Richmond. $2.37. It was almost cheaper than Muni. I can't imagine the drivers are making much at all .

$2.37?! Wow. I use uber pool almost everyday and I never get deals like that! Eg:- http://m.imgur.com/a/5CtfQ

Because you use it everyday they haven't targeted you for a promotion.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#58

Post by hkmurakami » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC

whack wrote: post #52

atopal wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was chatting with my Uber driver last week and he said he preferred Uber, because they guarantee $1500 a week provided you accept a certain amount of rides. This is in SF.

That comes out to a guaranteed $73k/year, even if you take 3 weeks of vacation. For a family where both parents are driving uber, that comes out to a family income of almost $150k/year. Considering the only skill you need is the ability to drive a car, that's insane.

The catch is that the guarantee promotion won't last forever. We all put our fates in others' hands to some degree as employees, but this definitely turns it up a notch to be a relatively unskilled worker depending on artificial temporary subsidies to set up your life.

An analogous example is Japanese salarymen working many dozens of hours of overtime per month, becoming dependent on those extra hours and extra pay, structuring their life based on this inflated amount. When the financial crisis hit and firms tightened up, reducing or outright barring overtime work, these families suffered.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#59

Post by Qworg » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC

SilasX wrote: post #3

bpodgursky wrote: post #2

> Flat fares are designed to cover full fares for almost every trip, with a $20 limit for uberPOOL and $25 limit for uberX. You’ll be responsible for paying portions of the fare that exceed those maximums on each trip. The pricing felt convoluted even before I saw this part. I can't see this being worth the effort, if you can't even guarantee the $7 prices.

Yeah, this seems like a step backwards from their promise of transparent prices ("what we do on UberPool, but for everything"). What the heck is the point of flat pricing if you have to pay for overages anyway?

It'll create an opportunity for someone to build a "exactly how far does each free trip get me?" app.

Re: Uber launches flat fares in San Francisco through subscription

#60

Post by op00to » Wed, Aug 24, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC

huac wrote: post #12

mmanfrin wrote: post #7

I used Pool last night in the city. Took me from the Fidi to Inner Richmond. $2.37. It was almost cheaper than Muni. I can't imagine the drivers are making much at all .

The base cost for Uber Pool (and Lyft Line) is $4.75. You got some discount that gives half off Pool rides. Anecdotally, I used Lyft/walked to work for a week and got a similar week of half off Pool rides in SF.

Wow, PT Cruiser? You poor, poor uber rider.