How to beat surge pricing at airports

No one enjoys paying more than they have to.

During high-traffic hours, ride share services like Uber and Lyft often deploy something called surge pricing. During sure pricing, riders can be charged up to as much as two times the fare of a typical ride. So, what can be done to avoid surge pricing?

According to a blog posted on Uber’s website by an Uber Employee, a tactic to overcome surge pricing is to simply wait. In as little as five minutes, the price of a ride can drastically change for better or worse. Personally, if you can spare the extra 5 - 10 minutes, I think this is the best method to over come the surge.

There are some instances that waiting will almost never help. Specifically at airports, there will almost always be a constant demand for ride share services. Every time a plane lands, you can expect ride share services to detect the high-burst of traffic and “turn on” surge pricing. You might be able to get away at smaller or less-flown airports. To make things worse, certain airports like LAX tack on an additional “airport fee” for ride share services.

Luckily, there is a method to avoid paying for both surge pricing and airport ride share fees. The trick is to take advantage of the car rental companies like Hertz, Avis, etc. Often, these car rental companies are annexed somewhere away from the airport. If that’s the case, they will always offer a free shuttle service to take you to where their lot is located. Locate and take the shuttle, and call your ride share from there. It doesn’t matter which car rental service you choose to go to; the point is to get away from the crowded area. There’s also the chance that the shuttle will take you closer to your destination.