Earn on your own schedule

Surge: make more money when it’s busy

March 13, 2019 / US

You’re ready to go online to make deliveries. How do you maximize your time?
We want to help remove some of the guesswork because we know your time is valuable. So, we’re introducing Surge, which shows you where you can earn extra for completing deliveries in busy areas during busy times. For example, if there’s a lunch or dinner rush, or if lots of people are ordering in due to the weather, you can check the Driver app for Surge zones to help you take advantage of high volume areas so you can get the most out of delivering with Uber Eats.
Let’s get into the finer details:

The surge heatmap

Surge happens in real time, so you can check the map in the Driver app even before you’re on the road to see if there are any active surge areas. Surge areas are represented by a color and a corresponding dollar amount. The busier the area, the darker the color. A darker color can mean more potential surge earnings for you. However, if you don’t see surge areas it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not busy. It may just mean that there are a good amount of couriers online to help keep up with deliveries.

You get the higher surge amount

To help ensure that you don’t miss out on earnings opportunities, the higher Surge amount between your current location and the restaurant’s will be applied to your fare. For example, if you accept a trip while in a $6.50 Surge zone but the restaurant is in a $3.50 Surge zone, you’ll get the higher of the two amounts.

Check your surge earnings

When you do a surge delivery, a flat amount will be added to your regular fare in addition to any active boost or quest promotions. You can check your surge earnings a couple of ways. First, the surge amount will be indicated on the accept screen in your app. Second, when you complete a surge delivery, you can also check the surge amount in the fare breakdown of your trip details.

We’re just getting surge out into the world, so if you don’t have it in your location yet, you’ll be notified when it becomes available. If you have additional questions, please feel free to check out our growing list of surge FAQ.
Surge is just one way to earn more money in addition to your base fare. Read below to get more information about other Uber Eats promotions so you can better plan how to get more out of your time delivering. Thank you for all that you do. And good luck out there!
Promotion and incentives recap

	Boost: Announced weekly, boost is an earnings multiplier for base fares during peak hours in a specific area. For instance, if you would normally earn $6 for a delivery and there’s a 1.2x boost, you would get $7.20 for that delivery. Check the Trip Planner for Boost promotions.
	Quest: Quest promotions let you earn extra money for reaching certain trip goals in a set amount of time. Here’s an example: Make 10 deliveries between 7pm and midnight on Friday, get an extra $20. Check the Trip Planner for quest promotions.
	Surge: Surge is a real-time opportunity to earn extra money for a delivery when it’s busy. You can still earn quest and boost on top of money earned from a delivery with surge. Check the map in the Driver app to see if there are surge areas.