It’s a no-brainer for any driver that events, concerts, and other special celebrations are the busiest time to earn extra money. Whether it’s the Republican National Convention or a Beyonce concert, such events attract a lot of people, and most of them prefer to take an Uber or Lyft than dealing with the problems like parking and traffic. However, the ‘busiest time’ does not always mean the most profitable time. So, how much can you make by driving during special events? How hard can it be? Here’s how to drive during events that can help earn extra money.
1. Getting familiar with the calendar
In this case, it’s about staying updated about the concerts, special events and things of that nature, around the city. A special event, concert or similar festival will pull in a certain amount of drivers due to increased demand (and likely Surge Pricing). This also means that the surrounding areas might have fewer drivers than usual, thus increasing the need for Uber and Lyft drivers.
2. These are ‘also’ events
We already mentioned that events are a great way to make extra money when driving. During such events, surge pricing and hourly guarantees are a regular phenomenon.
There are people that actually take off from their day-job just to drive for the events. Recognizing all sorts of events is necessary. So, what kind of events should you keep eyes on? Depending on the city, events may include professional or college sports, conventions, trade shows, festivals, marathons, music festivals, concerts, parades, and political rallies.
3. Check notifications
Uber and Lyft help their drivers make the most of such events by sending out emails to discuss potential events coming up in the city that week. This way it becomes easier for drivers to stay updated.
4. The "bigger events"
Some events are longer than others. For instance, a concert can be a one-night event while a music festival may be a weekend long or it can be a multiple weekend event. Larger events also attract people from other cities or country. Such people generally don’t come in for a single day. Instead, they make a longer trip out of it.
5. The surge pricing effect
Bigger concerts and festivals cause surge pricing on Uber and Prime Time on Lyft. The time of day or the area does not matter in reality; however, a surge is bound to happen. If there are enough people in attendance, there will never be enough drivers on the road to satisfy demand.
Some drivers even come in from out of town to drive for these large events. Some of them, from nearby cities, will rent a hotel room and come to town for the weekend to try to maximize their earnings. Plus, there are car rentals that actually rent cars to Uber or Lyft drivers on a daily or weekly basis.
So, these are the types of events that should never be missed to drive.
6. Location
At the start of big events, try to position at least 10-15 minutes away (driving distance) from the venue. Though there will be lots of requests coming in within that distance, every time a driver drop a rider off, he/she have to spend time waiting for another request, driving to that rider and then waiting for that passenger to get into the car.
There’s no payment for all of that downtime, so long rides are obviously preferable.
7. Split your zone
Some drivers don’t want to drive through the crazy, large event with tons of people hanging around, while some are excited to drive the insane crowd. Hence, divide the area in where to drive before the event and where to drive after the event.
Before the event: If the event is a short one, try to look for riders that are already in town, including locals and tourists, the ones that need to get to the event. For longer events, drivers can easily get riders from the area with the highest number of hotels, as people would come and go to the event and around the city throughout the day.
After the event: For shorter events, drivers may be trapped with all the pedestrian traffic, right before the event ends. Hence, try to be in an area where getting a request from the event would be easy, but can still let you avoid much of the traffic.
8. Getting your rider from the crazy crowd
Events and concerts can be booming with people. People will be trying to book Uber or Lyft. And likewise, drivers would be trying desperately to find their passengers. Some of them even try to get on the ride pretending to be the rider.
Hence, it’s always best to give the rider two or three references using which they can find the ride easily, like big illuminated signs, emergency flashers, positioning near patrol car, or anything that is easily visible from the far distance. This way, the rider can reach easily. And if still not able to get the rider, cancel the ride and book the next one, as there would be probably hundreds of riders trying to request Uber or Lyft.
9. Take advantage of the surge map
During large events, Uber normally have either hourly guarantees or a bonus for every trip taken during a certain period of time, which can be between 2.25-2.75x, and maybe 25% PT in Lyft. Uber and certain Lyft cities do provide the surge/Prime Time map for drivers on their phones. Take advantage of it. Try to position the ride on the outskirts of the surge area from the get-go (best if don’t mess around with finding people at the actual event). That way, getting normal passengers who probably don’t even know there’s a concert going on, would become easier.
If there are too many drivers around and cannot get a request, don’t worry! There would be plenty more events happening all year. So don’t lose hope, just go home, chill out and drive another time. Hope you find these tips helpful for driving during special events.