There are a lot of taxi alternatives in this day and age to get you from point A to point B, but which is the right one for you? With so many options when it comes to catching a cab, you’ll probably want to choose the company that is worth the hail and money. This is where many people turn to one of the most popular providers right now, which would be Lyft.
Lyft is very similar to Uber and probably their biggest competitor. They keep it competitive with hiring experienced drivers and offering discounts in various forms. Also, if you’ve never used the services of Lyft or Uber, you should know they’re usually a lot cheaper than local taxi services.
So here is how to save more on your Lyft rides with as little effort as possible.
Get your first ride free.
That’s right, if you’ve never used their services before and are new to Lyft, you can get your first ride free or receive ride credit, depending on what promotions they’re running at the time that you’re signing up. Remember that Lift works via app, so you’ll need to download that and start using to get a lot of other benefits.
Refer friends to receive free rides.
When you refer someone to Lyft and they use the company’s services, you’ll be rewarded with ride credit and your friends too benefit as they will receive discounts on their next rides.
Share a ride.
Lyft lets you share a taxi and this taxi option is called Lyft Line. How it works is you match with someone with the same destination as you or going in the same direction and you share the cost as well as the ride with that person.
Look up discounts on social media.
For promotions that apply to everyone and not just new Lyft riders, you’ll want to go to social media and check for discounts there. There should be occasional promotions for dollars off rides, sometimes in partnership with other brands or during certain events.
Gift card discounts.
When you purchase a Lyft gift card to send to someone, you may be rewarded with ride credit, which is essentially free ride. You can also purchase discounted gift cards from online marketplaces and enjoy Lyft rides cheaper yourself.
Avoid rides during Surge time.
Requesting a ride when it’s Surge time will increase the bill by one too many dollars, more specifically by two to three times more than the regular rate. This is because Lyft doesn’t have an exact pricing scheme for surges, and because they’re tweaking the rates all the time, you may want to avoid surge pricing by setting a location further away of Surge Time and wait to see if you get a lower price.
Surges are very busy times, for example on concert days and games when everyone is looking to get a ride.
Consider All-Access plans.
Not everyone using Lyft may have access to these plans, but check to see if you do because it’s a great way to get cheaper rides. Basically, when you join All-Access plans, you pay a certain amount upfront for a certain number of rides, which results in cheaper prices and also, you get free rides within a certain limit.