Oktoberfest Zinzinnati: your Uber and Lyft guide for riders

Twitter: @OktoberfestZinz Oktoberfest is this weekend in Cincinnati, aka Zinzinnati, and everyone will be headed Downtown for the festivities. This multi-day event will drive Uber and Lyft prices through the roof. The price multipliers, surge on Uber and Primetime on Lyft, will be in effect across the area for all evening Friday and for most of the day Saturday and Sunday. The Oktoberfest Zinzinnati website even warns that you should expect for rates to increase.

If you have read my guide to FC Cincinnati games you will be familiar with a few ways to save money getting to and from Downtown this weekend. Roads will be closed on 2nd and 3rd streets from Race to Elm and traffic can become a problem. Pickups and drop offs will be affected. Cancellations will occur. Riders will pay more. I and every other Uber and Lyft driver will make a lot of money. Is there anything you, as the rider, can do to save a few dollars and make your ride, and the driver's, a better experience? Of course, there is.

Getting there

The surge on Uber and Primetime on Lyft will be in effect across the city's suburbs for most of the afternoon as riders travel into Downtown. Saturday will be busiest day and expect to pay higher rates from at least noon until the early evening. One way to minimize costs is to travel in a group and use the split ride features to spread out the cost.

Be flexible on times. You can wait out high surges. If you can be flexible with times you can check the apps every half hour or so and wait for the price to go down. It might go up but it will always come back down. The price multiplier may never go away entirely but it will fluctuate throughout the day. Leaving 15-30 minutes later may save you $10 that can be spent on overpriced beer and brats.

Check both Uber and Lyft and take the cheapest ride. Surge on Uber and Primetime on Lyft are both based on supply and demand, but the supply and demand for each app is not equal. During any large events both price multipliers will be in effect but the rates will be different. In my experience, Uber usually costs more but is also more reliable. I drive for both apps and when Uber is paying more, I'm driving for Uber. This will be true for most drivers and riders will have to wait longer for Lyft rides or experience frequent cancellations. I do not feel bad cancelling rides, riders cancel on me all the time.

Getting home

All of my advice for getting to Oktoberfest Zinzinnati applies to getting home. You should still check both apps, be flexible with departure time, and travel in a group. One major difference is that all the riders will be in one place and not spread out around the city like in the afternoon. This means the price multipliers will be higher since all the demand in concentrated in one place.

Break off from the herd. Head uptown. All the requests will be coming from 2nd and 3rd streets and that's where riders will pay the most. If you walk up to 4th, 5th, or even 6th street and request a ride there the price multiplier will be lower on both apps.

Also, wait for your ride in a location where you and the driver can easily see each other and use the show your location feature to let the driver know exactly where your are located. Large groups of people all looking for their ride is a recipe for cancellations. We simply pull up to a safe location and wait, or, if there's no parking, circle the block slowly, and when the timer hits 5 minutes we cancel. You pay a fee. It your job to find us, call or text, communication is key to not getting cancelled on. Check out my guide to not get cancelled on here.

Have an exit strategy. Road closures and traffic are a big problem for drivers. We only get paid 15 cents per minute so it is our interest to keep the car moving. There's nothing worse than fighting through traffic on 3rd, looping around and picking up a rider on 2nd street that is headed west, back through traffic. When the price multipliers are in effect the per minute amount can grow exponentially. You might be paying 50 cents per minute, and then waiting 10 minutes in traffic will cost you $5. Do yourself and your driver a favor and position yourself accordingly.

Get a free ride

Are there still some people out there that have never used Uber? Lyft? If you or someone in your group has never used these apps get a free ride on me. Click here to get a free ride on Uber. And Click here to get a free ride on Lyft.

If you're looking to get away from the herd and are traveling around Downtown or OTR, jump on a Bird or a Lime. Click here to get a free ride on Bird and use code: GKQPBX, and here to get a free ride on Lime and use code: RZIHSO3. You'll have to enter the promo codes for each app.

Enjoy the weekend, drink beer, eat brats, and get to and from Oktoberfest Zinzinnati safe and for the best price.

Stay classy this weekend Zinzinnati.

-Bill

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://www.cincyrideshare.com/oktoberfest-zinzinnati-your-uber-and-lyft-guide-for-riders/

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