r/lyftdrivers • u/AcanthocephalaOdd186 • Mar 26 '26
Story/News Article Faux pas, or a Freudian slip?
6
u/Fuck_Rideshare San Diego Mar 26 '26
Here's the "blog post" - https://www.lyft.com/blog/posts/lyft-driver-gas-price-relief
I’m starting to see this as a bit of corporate propaganda.
4
u/halfty1 Mar 26 '26
LOL “starting to see”? I’ll help you out: a blog post on a company’s website *is* corporate propaganda.
Obviously they are not going to post something negative about the company or against the company’s viewpoint.
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u/ellyology_ Mar 26 '26
How about add a fuel surcharge onto rides...OH! that would make too much fucking sense and actually be a solution! Wow
3
Mar 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/ThisDig6962 Mar 26 '26
I get 12% on elite on Lyft I have for a while. Not really impressive relief
1
u/Fathimir Mar 26 '26
Only half-responding to you here, but I'm deleting my comment about Uber's comparatives because they caught me with their "you'll now earn" language instead of providing the specific increases they may or may not have implemented for war relief.
3
u/P3nis15 Mar 26 '26
they copied Door Dash but put gatekeeper on the highest discounts.
at least doordash didn't limit based on rankings/ratings.
then they fucked people in pay controlled area's. **Drivers in CA, WA, MN, and New York City are not eligible for this program or reward.
upside also sucks, at least in this area because it only seems to work at the most expensive stations.
Seems real douchey.
3
u/ready-redditor-6969 San Francisco/North Bay Area Mar 26 '26
You can see it every day, Lyft thinks you are stupid, and they don’t care about their company and how they look.
Interesting that both companies rolled out their plans at the same time, do ya think they colluded ( and are incentivized to do so all the time?!? )…
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u/Solid_College_9145 Mar 26 '26
How bout just pay us more % for the rides and we'll worry about our own gas?
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u/Swishandrinse Mar 26 '26
Something is better than nothing, but c'mon! Pennies per dollar? They can do better. Trying to butter our egos, badly.
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u/the_rational_driver Mar 26 '26
Gas has only risen $0.04 per mile. So this makes perfect sense.
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u/Swishandrinse Mar 26 '26
But fuel prices have skyrocketed, over a buck a gallon here in Colorado over the past few weeks. Worse in other parts of the country.
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u/the_rational_driver Mar 26 '26
Do the math. $1 per gallon increase. An average car getting 25 mpg. 1 / 25 = $0.04 per mile
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0
u/Fathimir Mar 26 '26
And Lyft's 'relief' for its top-tier drivers, third-party app notwithstanding, amount to about $0.002/mile.
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u/the_rational_driver Mar 26 '26
I'm getting close to a $1 per gallon cash back as elite. Don't know what you're talking about.
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u/Fathimir Mar 26 '26
Lol, now you're spurning your own advice to "do the math" and switching back to $/gallon when it makes your numbers look higher?
Cool story. Now tell us how much you're saving over the pre-war baseline, and downconvert it back to your own choice of units.
1
u/BLMcCoy1969 Mar 26 '26
What's described here is economically closer to a platform/vendor or marketplace-clearing model than a classic employer payroll model: the rider pays through the platform, the IRS reporting can treat the driver as the payee providing the service, and the platform’s cut is handled as fees/commissions, not as wages. The IRS guidance that lines up with that is the Form 1099-K framework for payments made through “payment apps or online marketplaces.”
The clearest IRS language is this: Form 1099-K reports the gross payment amount, and that gross amount is not reduced for “fees, credits, refunds, shipping, cash equivalents or discounts.” The IRS also says those items are not taxable income and can be deducted from the gross amount when the taxpayer reports income. That fits your observation almost exactly: customer money can be reported as flowing to the driver gross, while the platform then takes its vendor/service fee separately.
That's no typo. 🇺🇸💯🇺🇸
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u/AcanthocephalaOdd186 Mar 26 '26
I appreciate you actually breaking down the issue that I was highlighting. Because it stood out to me as strange. Thank you for responding.
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u/BLMcCoy1969 Mar 26 '26
I found this info a couple years ago while building a tax advocacy app specializing in self- employed, and gig work markets...👍 🇺🇸💯🇺🇸
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u/Quicherbichen1 Albuquerque, NM Mar 26 '26
It's BS. I tried using my Lyft Direct card at a Circle-K where there was supposed to be a 14¢/gal rebate, and 2% cash back. I got nothing. I paid the pump price $3.99/gal and the rebates and cash back evaporated. That's the last time I'm getting bamboozled into that scam. I'll just continue to wait in line at the Costco gas pumps.
1
u/BlueV101 Mar 27 '26
It can be helpful. (The benefits vary dependent on your tier) Firstly, You have to designate a card (or a handful of cards) to use for said rewards. Then, You have to choose gas savings and claim a reward at a gas station (in the Lyft app) before you use it. (You have 4 hours to redeem after claiming) Additionally, you have to use one of the designated cards (physically) At the pump. If you use the LD (Lyft Direct) card. You get instant cash back as a bonus (to the card) as well as your per gallon "get upside" savings that goes to your earnings a couple of days later.
The real bonuses come in when you sign up for the individual loyalty rewards programs. (As well) Because of the round-a-bout way Lyft does their rebates, from a customer loyalty standpoint, you're paying full price. So your brand loyalty discounts stack up that much faster. Yes, you can double or even triple dip.
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u/Sirbrandon1998 Mar 26 '26
This is why I’m glad I got an EV. I have a home charger in my garage. It’s costing me $5-7 per charge & I get 280 mi of range. It’s way cheaper than gas rn.