Nothing haunts us more than wondering if we overpaid for an Uber, Lyft, or Via. If you have big for Halloween — whether it's a themed bar crawl with friends, a house party, or a quiet night in with scary movies at a friend's place — the last thing you want is to overspend on a ride.
We've put together a series of promotions and hacks that will help you make the most of your next ride, because Halloween is scary enough without adding astronomical rideshare prices into the mix on a cold night. With your rides figured out, now all you have to focus on is getting your favorite candy and creating that perfect costume.
Click through to read a few tips and tricks for making sure your Halloween rides are less trick and more treat.
Check For Promotions
Occasionally, rideshares services will offer holiday discounts or they will partner with a brand sponsor to create a custom promo code. You'll have to do a little digging, but here's one to get you started: Via is offering a promotion where you can add friends to your ride for $2 each. Also, for the day of Halloween, you can get up to $10 off your first two shared rides using the code "R29VIA" as long as you're a new Via user.
Walk A Couple Blocks
If you're willing to walk a couple blocks, you could save some serious cash. Uber's Express Pool option will pick you up and drop you off within a few blocks of your location. In exchange, your fare is up to 50% cheaper than Uber Pool, according to The Verge.
Surging? Wait a little while.
The worst part about trying to use a rideshare service on a holiday is surge pricing. Bad music is a close second, but surge pricing can turn an otherwise affordable ride into a much more expensive night than you bargained for.
You can avoid surge pricing a couple different ways. First, try setting the pick up destination to a couple blocks away. Surprisingly, sometimes a small change to a less bustling area will avoid the fare increase. If a change in pick up location doesn't work, try waiting even just a few minutes. A study conducted by Northeastern University found that surge pricing can last as little as five minutes.
Compare Prices
When in doubt, the best way to know you're getting the cheapest ride possible is to have all the information at your fingertips. If you don't already have multiple rideshare apps on your phone, you might want to consider it. With each company trying to out compete the others, it's hard to say which app offers the cheapest rides. Often, it is on a ride-by-ride basis which is where having the ability to price compare real time is the best way to know that you're getting the lowest price.
If you want to save time (and are riding in Manhattan), Via is offering price matching. If you book a Via and then see that another ride share service had a cheaper fare, you can screenshot the image and send it to Via by emailing the receipt or by clicking the "Fare Match" link at the top of the app screen. After review, Via will credit you the difference.
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