Waymo Premier

This caught my eye:

> I'm not obligated to talk to someone that I don't want to talk to

I’m wondering what we lose as a society if people never have to be in even a mildly uncomfortable situation. There’s a book called The Comfort Crisis about this topic.

EDIT: The full quote is “I get privacy, time back, a safe ride, and I'm not obligated to talk to someone that I don't want to talk to.”

In her quote she chose to separate safety and having a conversation with a stranger as two separate issues.

> Waymo Premier costs $29.99 per month and will be initially offered to select riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

> Waymo Premier is a new invite-only membership program built for those who rely on us most. For a monthly fee, members gain access to a suite of exclusive benefits designed to make their journey more seamless and rewarding:

Priority Pickups: Skip the line with prioritized matching

Ride Savings: Earn 10% Waymo Cash back on every trip, and even more during busy times.

Early Access: Be among the first to experience Waymo in new cities, as we expand.

Flexible Cancellations: Peace of mind with up to five free cancellations per month.

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ok so just amazon prime for waymo. its alright but i feel like they had the chance to go REALLY high end with like a $300/month plan that people will still pay for because supply is so limited. instead they went mass consumer with a name like "Premier". eh.

(sorry waymo person reading this i know what its like to name a thing and regret it)

I'm SO tired of subscription services that only offer the opportunity to buy more stuff.

  - Doordash wants you to subscribe
  - AMC movies want you to subscribe
  - Now Waymo wants you to subscribe

You can't buy anything now without being hassled for a subscription. I don't see any value here except for when they degrade the service for non-subscribers to make the priority pickups seem worth it.

AMC doesn't fit here, once you subscribe to a list there's basically no additional cost. And the lower tiers skip fees etc

>Be among the first to experience Waymo in new cities, as we expand

How is this useful in any way? by definition it's a subscription for people already using the service in the (few) supported cities. If I use it in Denver, why would I care to have early access in Washington?