Upfront fares: no math and no surprises

Imagine buying an airline ticket without knowing the full fare until the end of your trip. Or booking a hotel room online and being told that the real price would be 1.3X. Yes, that sounds odd—but it’s what happens with many Uber trips today.

We started piloting upfront, per trip fares—just like airlines and hotels—two years ago in the US, allowing us to calculate the actual fare in advance and show it to riders before they booked their ride.

Since then, Upfront Fares have been rolled out to dozens of cities around the world, giving riders control and certainty over the cost of a ride.

And we now want riders in Wellington and Christchurch to benefit from knowing the exact fare before they ride.

Upfront fares are calculated using the expected time and distance of the trip and local traffic, as well as how many riders and nearby drivers are using Uber at that moment. And when fares go up due to increased demand, instead of surge lightning bolts and pop-up screens, riders are given the actual fare before they request their ride.

A rider’s fare will be the price presented upon booking, or, if a rider’s journey changes (including if a rider changes the origin or destination, or in certain cases where you take a detour or make multiple stops), the fare will be based on the rates provided in the Uber app.

There’s no complicated math and no surprises: passengers can just sit back and enjoy the ride.