In 2020, the rideshare industry almost died because of the coronavirus. Both Lyft and Uber saw demand for their services plummeted. At the worst point, Uber reported an 80% drop in demand for rides. Lyft reported a 75% drop. A large number of rideshare drivers all had to look to delivery gigs to sustain an income. Some drivers still sucked it up and went out during the pandemic. Suffice to say, there aren’t a lot of new rideshare hacks and strategies in 2020.

Indeed, we are still dealing with Covid-19 in 2021 (slowly recovering, we all hope). And demands for rides are still not what they were before the pandemic. But, some rideshare hacks or tactics are tried and true. They will still be effective in maximizing your earnings with rideshare. Here are four rideshare hacks that have worked in the past. As we await the rideshare industry’s complete recovery, these hacks will continue to be legit in 2021.

4 Rideshare Hacks That Still Work In 2021

The Passenger App Map Hack

Drivers can use the Uber and Lyft passenger app to see where other drivers are in the city. This ‘map hack’ trick allows drivers to reposition themselves in areas with fewer drivers to compete with them for rides.

Drivers can still see other drivers through the passenger app, so this map hack is still effective.

Timing The Surge Trick

Most veteran drivers know the problems with surge pricing. In a saturated market, whenever you chase the surge, other drivers are also doing the same. And by the time you get to the hot spot, it’s gone. And now you’re in a location that is crowded with drivers to compete with you for rides. 

For this reason, the Timing The Surge trick emerged. The concept was, instead of chasing a surge, you anticipate it. Drivers who know of local events and patterns would predict where it would be, get there, and then turn off the driver app. When the expected time hit, a surge would appear, and then the driver would turn on their app and get a surge-priced ride. 

This strategy is still effective in 2021. It’s very effective because already the number of drivers out on the road is very low right now. 

One caveat is that you have to figure out where people will be during a given time and anticipate that surge. Then get to that location, go off-line, wait for it and then jump back on.

Disregarding Promotional Texts

Uber and Lyft often send out promotional texts telling drivers what upcoming events are in town and where they can expect lots of requests. 

The problem is, the text goes out to many drivers. Essentially, you have the same problem as the surge pricing: a crowd of drivers going to the exact location.

Generally, ignoring these promotional texts and leveraging the Passenger App Map Hack trick discussed above is a better way to go.

Incoming Plane Hack

No rideshare strategy is complete without talking about the airport. It is where some of the biggest paying rides are. And airports are a well to which rideshare drivers must draw from to sustain a decent income. 

Thanks to regulations that protect taxi businesses and passenger safety, airports have to highly organize to TNCs like Uber and Lyft.

Drivers must enter a designated waiting area and queue for rides. It can result in a lot of wasted time for short trips if you do not have insights into how many passengers are coming into the airport. 

If no planes are coming in and there are many drivers ahead of you, it’s best to exit the queue and go pick up riders outside the airport. 

Elite and seasoned rideshare drivers use the Gridwise app to get information for incoming flights and the number of passengers on planes. From there, they can compare the number of drivers in the queue (you can tell in the driver app). Then head to the airport if the number of incoming travelers is high and the number of drivers is low. 

It’d be a waste of time to go camp the airports if the number of travelers coming into the airport is not enough to ensure you’d get a trip. 

With COVID travel restrictions, using Gridwise in this way might be a wise move since there aren’t a lot of travelers compared to pre-COVID. 

Conclusion

We hope and expect the rideshare industry to return to normal soon. There’s a lot of progress with the vaccine administration across the country. For now, the lower demand for rides will still be a reality for rideshare drivers across the country. And already, we see a resurgence in demand for rideshare. Rideshare hacks above are still relevant in 2021.