If you are like me you are curious about how much Uber charges per mile.
It’s helpful to know when comparing prices and it also sheds light on how the pricing works in conjunction with other fees.
In this article I will break down everything you need to know about how much Uber charges per mile and also cover some of the other fees you will encounter, so that you will have a complete understanding of the Uber pricing system.
Table of Contents
How much does Uber charge per mile?
The cost per mile will change based on the type of fare that you purchase and other factors like location but generally you can expect to be charged between $1 to $2 per mile.
It’s important to note that there are many other fees that go into your total fare which I will cover below.
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Breakdown of Uber fees
The cost per mile is just one small fee when it comes to an Uber ride.
It helps to understand all of the different fees and charges that Uber will hit you with so that you will have a complete understanding of your Uber charges.
Here’s a list of the fees you can expect:
- Base fare
- Long pick up fee (If applicable)
- Minimum fare
- Cost per mile
- Cost per minute
- Fixed Booking fee
- Per-minute wait time
- Tip
Let’s go through each of these individually so you can see what to expect for each one.
I will use a sample booking that I made within the Tucson, Arizona area to illustrate the prices.
Related: Uber vs Turo in Honolulu, Hawaii (Which is Cheaper?)
Base Fare
The base fare is a flat fee charged at the beginning of every ride.
This is often a very small amount. For example, for a trip I pulled up in Tucson, Arizona it was only $1.30.
On other occasions, I have seen this fare below one dollar, so it is often pretty negligible.
Long pick up fee
If you have a long pick up schedule then you may be hit with per minute and per mile pick up fees.
For a sample booking I did, the per minute pick up fee was $.17 per minute and the per mile pick up fee was $.80 per mile.
(These may be the same rates as the rates during your trip while you are sitting in the car as a passenger.)
Minimum fare
The minimum fare is a mandatory minimum amount that you must pay for your trip.
It is only relevant if your fare total would be below the minimum amount.
This fee is set in order to encourage Uber drivers to pick up individuals on short rides because otherwise such short rides would not be profitable enough to incentivize them to pick up passengers.
For a 10 minute ride in Arizona, the minimum fare came out to $9.80 for an UberX ride.
Cost per mile
This is how much your trip is going to cost you per mile that you are riding as a passenger.
As stated above, this amount can change. For my Arizona trip, the cost per mile was $1.21.
If you have chosen a fare like UberXL, the cost per mile could be significantly higher.
For example, a simple price from Union Square to SFO in San Francisco shows a cost per mile at $2.47.
Note: If you are heading out on a very long ride that involves hours of riding then you may be charged a minimum fare of $50 per hour.
Cost per minute
In addition to getting charged per mile, you also get charged per minute. The charge per minute is generally very low and in my case it was at $.14.
This is something to keep your eye on when traveling with some Uber drivers because it could incentivize them to take a longer drive to get you somewhere.
Because the charge per minute is so low this is not a huge concern but there could be some shady actors out there who would try to take advantage of this.
Booking fee
The booking fee, which used to be called the “safe rides fee,” is a mandatory fee that you must pay for each trip that you take. It is presumably meant to help cover things like operating costs.
This fee changes depending on the type of fare that you book.
For a UberX ride, your booking fee will probably be a little over two dollars. For example, it might be $2.15 or $2.20.
For other type of rides, the fixed booking fee can actually be a decent amount higher. When I checked the fee for a Uber comfort, the fixed booking fee was $2.86.
For other services such as UberXL, the booking fee will probably be around $2.50.
In addition to the fixed booking fee, there will also be a per mile booking fee on some rides. This is usually a very small amount and I have seen it as low as five cents per mile.
Note: You may not see this booking fee if you are booking one of the more premium services such as UberBlack or UberSUV
Related: Uber Rider Rating: Everything you need to know
Per-minute wait time
If your driver has to wait for you to arrive at the vehicle for a certain amount of time, such as over two minutes then you will likely be charged a wait time.
This wait time is charged per minute and the amount can vary. I’ve seen it range from something like $.25 to $.60 per minute.
Tip
The last charge that you need to think about is the tip. Tipping is optional but it is recommended to provide a little tip, typically at least 10% is good although some people like to tip more.
Related: Should You Tip Uber Eats Drivers?
Surge charges
If you are trying to get a ride during a very busy time, you will likely get hit with surge charges.
This amount is calculated by taking your total fare and then multiplying it by a set surge price multiplier. The multiplier will depend on the demand at the time but it could be something like two times or three times the amount of your fare.
The price is hiked in order to encourage other drivers to come into the area to meet up with the demand of passengers.
The highest surge charges that I have came across are usually directly after a large event ends. For example, if you are leaving a stadium after a football or baseball game, those surge prices can drastically increase.
Other instances that I’ve seen involve bad weather such as a bad rain storm that comes in quickly and leaves a lot of people without the ability to walk to their destination.
Cancellation fees
There are a variety of cancellation fees that you should be aware of.
The first is a rider no-show fee. Basically, if you never show up for the driver you can be hit with a $5 fee.
If you choose to cancel the ride then you may be hit with a standard cancellation fee of $5.
There may also be additional fees based on the per mile or per minute rates.
So whatever the per minute and per mile rates are for the trip or for the pick up, you may be responsible for covering those up to the point of canceling.
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How to figure out the cost per mile
If you are trying to figure out how much your trip will cost per mile, it is extremely to easy to do this with the Uber app.
Simply enter in your destination details and then select the type of Uber ride that you will be using (UberX, UberXL, etc.)
Click on the type of Uber fare you are interested and you should see an information circle next to the words “Affordable, every day rides.”
Go ahead and click on that and you will see the complete breakdown of your fare.
This is an estimate of your fare so it could differ slightly at the time that you complete the ride based on things like tolls or surcharges.
It may also change based on the length, duration, or route if your trip ends up changing.
However it is a good estimate and you can check the per mile charge is pretty easily.
As mentioned above, you will see a minimum fare per mile and also a fixed booking fee per mile.
Typically, the fixed booking fee per mile will be substantially less than the minimum fare per mile.
For example, in the UberX example that I took from Arizona the charge per mile was one dollar for the minimum fare and the charge per mile for the booking fee was five cents.
Related: What is Uber VIP?
Final word
The cost per mile on an Uber ride will change based on things like the type of fare you have booked and also your location. This amount can often be between 1 to 2 dollars.
It’s important to remember that the cost per mile is just one charge among a handful of other fees that go into pricing an Uber ride.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
I was trying to get a ballpark price from Shepherdsville Ky to the Talbot Tavern in Bardstown Ky tomorrow Nov 5th for 4 people leaving at 7:30 and to be picked up at midnight. With all added fees please. I have never used Uber. I really want to try it. Thank you
You will have to use uberXL for 4 people. Open your app, put in the pickup and drop off location, you will have to schedule your midnight ride and it will be more expensive than the ride at 7:30. Put in your Uber request one hour before they need to be there. If you want to be picked up at 7:30p, put in your request at 6:30p,or alternatively, you can schedule your ride for a specific pickup time but they charge extra for this. When you request your ride at 6:30p it will be a different price than if you go on your app right now and get a quote. The price they give you at 6:30p will be your exact charge, as long as you are ready to get in their car within 2 minutes of their arriving at your house. The only thing that will change the price is if you are late to the car and if you leave a tip. By the way, drivers prefer cash tips rather than leaving a tip in the app.
Need a ride today to go from Springfield hills assisted living facility to pick up a tv and return to the facility. It’s 1.2 miles each way.
What is the base fee? Is it changed every ride?
approx of a 60 mile uberx one way? what happens to driver that he /she is 60 miles from home base?is there some empty return fee? w. g
Drivers are only paid when there is a passenger in the car. The driver is paid for the 60 miles and the time it takes to drive 60 miles and that’s it. They are not paid to drive from where they were when they received the offer from Uber to get to the place where the rider is located, and if they drive out of the town they live in, they are not paid to get back to the town they live in.
Uber charges a flat rate for each mile traveled.