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New Year’s Eve is upon us, and we’re getting many questions about how to factor Uber into your evening. It’s going to be a busy night and as such, Ubers will be more expensive, so here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

Surge pricing

Surge pricing is in effect for New Year’s Eve. The price will increase in order to maximise the number of cars on the road during peak times – and automatically decrease when there are enough cars on the road. We do this to make sure Uber is always a reliable ride, even during New Year’s! For more on surge pricing, please see the Q&A below.

No surprises

So that there are no surprises, we’ve worked hard to provide clear price notifications when surge pricing is in effect.

  1. You will be able to estimate the fare prior to requesting a ride (iPhone only).
  2. All riders will need to accept the fare multiplier before finalising a booking.
  3. When multiples get really high, we have our own sobriety test.

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NYE pricing is not for the faint of heart. The average surge multiple will be about 2x normal prices, during the worst times (12:30 AM until 2:45 AM), but prices during extreme spikes could cost you £100 MINIMUM before time and mileage charges! These are luxury cars after all, so be careful with those Uber ride requests: Uber rides will be reliable on New Year’s Eve, but they’ll also be more expensive than usual.

The best times to Uber

The most expensive times to take an Uber are 8:30pm – 9:45pm and 12:30am – 2:45am. The best times to take an Uber on NYE are before 7pm, 10pm – 12:10am and 3am onward.

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Be safe out there and have a Happy New Year!
Travis
Uber Co-founder, CEO

UPDATE: UberNYE live chat and Q&A on Monday at 10:30am PST – Submit your questions here and join live at Uber.com/NYE

Here’s a brief surge pricing Q&A below…

Surge pricing Q&A

Q: What is the purpose of surge pricing?
Uber wants to make sure that we can ALWAYS connect you with a RELIABLE RIDE – even on New Year’s. Surge pricing gets a far greater number of cars and drivers on the road, substantially increasing the number of rides during that high demand period.

Q: How does surge pricing work?
When there are not enough cars on the road to provide rides for everyone that wants one, the price automatically increases. When there are enough cars on the road given demand, then the price comes back down. Over the last year, we’ve seen the huge impact surge pricing has on getting more cars on the road, and getting cars and drivers to stay out longer.

Q: Why does surge pricing make for Uber reliability?
When there is a shortage in supply, the price automatically increases, creating an incentive for drivers to get on the road. The price continues to increase until there are enough cars to meet current demand. Assuming we raise price quickly enough to maintain healthy supply, there will always be an Uber ride available.

Q: Taxis typically don’t charge more during a surge in demand. Why does Uber?

On the busiest nights, it can be almost impossible to get a taxi. That is because there are a fixed number of taxis in most cities, and there is fixed pricing on those taxis. There won’t be any more taxis that come out on New Year’s than on a typical weekday evening. That is why folks get stranded on those big nights. When the price can increase to address a shortage of cars, more cars and drivers come out to provide rides. Granted, the ride will be more expensive, but it will be reliable. Taxis are still out there, and you can try your luck with one; they’re just a lot harder to get reliably on busy nights.

Q: How do Uber riders know the price?

  • When surge pricing is in effect, every user is notified of the price change, and each user must confirm it in order to request a ride.
  • Use the fare estimator on the confirmation screen to get an estimate of your ride before you request.