How much is your next Uber ride?

When it comes to getting from A to B easily and conveniently, Uber is an affordable way to get around South Africa. Whether you’re day-tripping around town in Johannesburg or riding down to the beach in Durban, we’re always on hand to help. But when you’re planning an outing, you might be wondering what exactly Uber fares in South Africa are – don’t worry, it’s easy to get a price estimate for an Uber ride.

No matter where you’re requesting a ride to or from, you’ll always receive an upfront price estimate for your Uber ride. Once you’ve selected your starting point and destination when requesting a ride, the app will display a price estimate to let you know how much the ride will cost. This also goes for booking a ride in advance in case you want to plan out your travel costs before your trip.

The Uber fare estimator is also a way to easily check the price of a trip ahead of time. If you’re planning an outing with friends, just put in a starting point and destination to get an Uber fare estimate for a ride, so you can compare travel prices and routes before you head out.

The fare estimator however will only give you a price estimate that can be subject to change. After the base rate and booking fee, there are a number of things that can affect our prices at a given time:

We use a dynamic pricing system to change Uber rates based on local factors. If you’re a seasoned Uber user, you might have seen the price surge warning before – this essentially means that there are too many riders requesting rides at once for the numbers of available drivers, increasing the price.

This can happen for a variety of reasons and whilst there may be a higher price momentarily, dynamic pricing means that drivers will get on the road swiftly to service the increase in rider demand. Make sure to check the upfront price estimate to see if there is currently a price surge in effect.

How much an Uber ride costs is also determined by the type of ride you choose. There are a number of different ride options in South Africa each with their own prices, whether that’s UberXL in Cape Town or UberBlack in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Check your ride options and their upfront prices when you go to request a ride in the Uber app: if affordability is your main concern, UberX is your best bet, or you can take UberGO in Port Elizabeth for an even more cost-effective ride.

And let’s not forget one of the best things about riding with Uber – riding with friends! If you travel together, it’s, of course, more fun, but it lowers the cost, as you can share the fare among all passengers easily via the Uber app. At any point before or during your ride, simply select “Fare Split” and then enter the names or mobile phone numbers of your friends. When they accept the invite, the fare will be automatically split between your account at the end of the ride.

Tip: Make the most of riding with friends by requesting a VAN in Johannesburg or UberXL in Cape Town – you can share the fare even further with seats for up to 6 passengers. You have ot use a credit card as a payment method to split the fare.

Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and beyond – no matter which city you travel in, remember these points and you’ll know what to expect when it comes Uber rates in South Africa.