When you can summon a vehicle with a tap on your phone, it’s easy to lose sight of how much cash is flowing out of your account.
Having a single recurring charge each month could help habitual ride-hailers manage spending. Lyft has been piloting options to offer exactly that.
The ride-hailing firm is running experiments where passengers enroll to pay a fixed monthly fee for a set number of discounted rides. I spoke with Mo McKenzie, a Lyft representative, who explained how the company is gearing up for a possible future in which we subscribe to transportation instead of owning it.
The company began testing variants of a Lyft Pass subscription earlier this year. In May, outlets such as The Verge and TechCrunch covered a version of Lyft’s All-Access Plan that charged $200 a month to receive $15 off each of the first 30 rides.
McKenzie said Lyft is now trialing a plan where riders pay $299 per month to get $15 off each of their first 30 rides. If your trip costs $15 or less, you owe nothing extra to reach your destination. For rides above $15, you only pay the remainder. After you exceed 30 rides in a month, standard fares apply in full.
As someone who only occasionally uses ride-hailing services, I was initially surprised at the idea of committing that much to Lyft each month. But after running the numbers, it seems like a solid value for frequent riders — though it’s not as generous as the earlier $200 test price.
Paying $299 for 30 rides works out to roughly $9.97 per ride, assuming each stay under the $15 cap. You’d be trimming just over $5 from rides that would normally cost $15.
You’d need to take at least 20 rides per month for the $299 All-Access Plan to break even. If you’re an average Lyft rider who doesn’t spend big each month on trips, paying per ride is likely the cheaper option than subscribing.
But riders who take 30 trips a month could pocket $151 by opting into this subscription plan. That’s a meaningful saving for heavy users, such as people who rely on Lyft for daily commutes.
At the moment, Lyft’s All-Access Plan remains in pilot mode and is available by invitation only. McKenzie said the company has been rolling out invitations to selected users in batches. Lyft customers should see invites arrive via email or within the app.
McKenzie declined to give a timeline for when the offering will be open to all users but said the company hopes to make this and similar plans accessible to every Lyft passenger.
Lyft has also been trying other ride pass promos where riders receive discounts on a fixed number of trips, such as $5 off 10 rides. Competing service Uber has been piloting its own take on ride passes as well. For readers curious about similar subscription options from other providers, check out what is uber pass.
Nina Carter is a senior reporter at Savinly.
