Uber Offers Drivers $525 for 45 Trips as Holiday Demand Builds

Uber is offering some drivers $525 for completing 45 trips within a few days, according to screenshots viewed by Business Insider, as the ride-hailing giant races to put more cars on the road ahead of the holiday season.

The bonuses mark something of a throwback. Many drivers haven't seen offers this rich in years, and Uber's playbook is direct: pay extra cash to anyone who completes a set number of rides within a limited window.

Business Insider viewed several screenshots of the offers. One promised a driver $525 for 45 trips within a few days. Other offers paired lower bonuses with fewer required rides, working out to an extra $10 to $12 per trip.

What do the bonuses mean for driver earnings?

For drivers who sometimes earn just a few dollars a ride, an extra $10 to $12 per trip could make a substantial difference to their overall earnings, Sergio Avedian, an Uber driver and senior contributor to driver-advocacy platform The Rideshare Guy, told Business Insider.

Avedian read the incentives as a supply signal. He said the bonuses could indicate that Uber needs more drivers available for Halloween and the holiday travel season.

"This may tell the story that they need supply," Avedian said. "They're saying that we need to get everybody out there."

The referral payouts run higher still. Uber has offered some drivers referral payments of up to $1,225 to recruit new drivers or bring inactive ones — people who haven't driven for a few years — back to the app, according to the screenshots viewed by Business Insider.

An Uber spokesperson did not tell Business Insider the details of why the company was offering the payments.

Is this the first time Uber has paid these bonuses?

No. Uber has used targeted incentives before, typically when drivers were in short supply.

In 2021, Uber faced a driver shortage when ride demand rebounded after the pandemic pushed many drivers off the road.

"When we were coming out of the pandemic, they were short tons of drivers," said Avedian, who was driving for Uber at the time. "It was crazy bonuses out there."

Uber spent heavily to bring drivers back. In April 2021, it announced a $250 million "driver stimulus" aimed at bringing existing drivers back and recruiting new ones. Uber said the money would fund "boosted incentives and guarantees."

The guarantees were concrete. The company cited offers guaranteeing drivers $1,100 for completing 115 trips in Austin and $1,775 for completing 200 trips in Phoenix.

The spending worked. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on an earnings call in 2021 that Uber increased the number of active drivers on its app by 65% from January to November 2021. Uber later scaled back those incentives and stopped providing extra pay.

The current offers suggest the company is again pushing to expand its driver fleet, this time with Halloween and holiday travel demand in view. The open question is whether Uber repeats its 2021 pattern: pay up fast, restore supply, then pull the bonuses once the season ends.