Uber introduces Surge Drop to iPhone users

Uber is a great service and can be vital in a big city, even if the public transportation is good. I frequently use it to shave time off my travel between clients, and occasionally when I’ve been out having a good time all night and want a quick trip home so I can get to bed and try to function the next morning. Naturally, these kinds of services get really busy on holidays and during special events, and Uber takes advantage of the high demand with “surge” pricing. That means that during those busy times, Uber will raise the rate of a ride and later drop them back down again. This can end up being a real hit to the wallet, as I found out one New Years, if you aren’t aware that the surge pricing is in effect, or if you take a car because you have no idea when the surge pricing ends. With the latest update, Uber has taken care off that with a new feature they announced on their blog called “Surge Drop“.

The feature uses push notifications to let you know when prices have dropped down to normal.

The feature, which will be gradually rolled out over the next week or so, lets you know if surge pricing at your location ends within 30 minutes. If you plan ahead, you can request the app to notify you when the price drops back down in your area while you have that last drink and say your goodbyes, and possibly saving you a chunk of change.

Naturally, you have to have the latest version of the app and be in an area where Uber has service. The feature is supposed to roll out globally, so no worries if you are outside the US. I’m curious to see how well it works, and whether or not the wait times for lower rates is reasonable. If you have any experiences with it, let us know in the comments.