I looked into this for my DS a few weeks ago and wasn't sure myself. Here's an article that I used as a guide that kinda explains Uber tipping... for now. We did not tip.

No tipping part of the concept.

Apparently not in California! Interesting article, especially the part where a passenger's ratings can be influenced by whether or not they tipped their drivers.

I used Uber a few times on a trip recently. I tipped cash, 20 to almost 50% of the fare every time. The biggest tip was to the airport from my house which is usually $20-25 by taxi, but was only $11 by uber, so I gave the uber driver $5. The uber drivers were pleasant and nice, and they arrived quickly to pick me up.

When DD's and I used uber and also the hotel limo, we always tipped~I can't imagine not tipping. We were probably overly generous, but the hours we used them were usually 11 pm or later, not that time should affect the tip. We also thought the rates in Savannah were fairly low, so we wanted to make up for that with a larger tip. We're just *over tippers* since the girls have experienced being on that 'end', when they waitressed while in school.

I always tip in cash when using Uber, but many people don't.

Part of the concept is being cashless, and seamless. Uber - pointedly - does not offer a spot to tip.

Tipping is very interesting philosophically. On one hand, generous tips seem, well, generous. OTOH, many will argue that it is unfair to leave so many workers subject to the whims and prejudices of the public to be fairly paid, and that the vast majority of work should be fully paid and not rely on tips. Tips should be extraordinary. But in the meantime ...

I have only taken Uber myself once. It was a summer friday night, we came into Grand Central, and we were waiting 30 minutes already for a cab. I paid surge pricing for sure... IIRC $80 to get from Grand Central to Soho! I was in a hurry and glad to just get a car (and a very nice one) but felt no need to tip! My understanding is that their pricing algorithms do not place any upper bound on surge pricing.

If one did choose to tip, what would be the proper amount for an Uber ride?

It seems to be that the normal range for a tip is 15-20%, more for something extraordinary, and, IMHO subject to a floor of say, $3-5 bucks?? IDK

Interesting points in the article about how tipping (or lack thereof) could affect the driver's rating of the customer.

Yeah, they need to fix that. Honest ratings are imprt to the "sharing economy"

I alway give a cash tip of around 20%. Most of my trips are in Philly and my fares are relatively inexpensive. Luckily I've never experienced Mtn's surge pricing - I wonder if that's just a NYC treat. My kids Uber frequently and they tip with cash too. All of the cars have been nice, clean and fairly new and the drivers have all been cordial. When we're all together and heading out to dinner we request 2 Suburbans (or 1 Suburban and a large sedan) and have never had trouble getting them.

Surge pricing is very interesting. This is a very good article on it from HBR. Replete with supply/demand curves from Microeconomics 101!

Uber and Surge Pricing

The other issue with tipping is who is really responsible for the product, and are they ALL getting compensated? I know nothing about Uber services. How much does the driver get for the service before we consider the "need" for a tip? In the case of waitresses, they make more money than most professionals on a good day, mean while the cooks and bus people make minimum wage--and I am talking about the local coffee shop. I used to get to hear the thank yous from the waitresses, because I cooked the meal to perfection THEY got larger tips. They did their job, I did mine. Why do they get "extra". It is just plain dumb. If the Uber driver is being paid a "fair" wage why the NEED for a tip? They agreed to the amount they would be compensated for the service they provided. End of transaction.

I asked my kids, who are in their late twenties, live in San Francisco and LA, and use Über and Lyft a lot about this. Their response was that they don't tip Über drivers at all. They thought that the idea of giving a cash tip was kind of crazy, since it's supposed to be a cashless experience. They give their drivers good ratings if they earned them, and that's it.

On the subject of restaurant workers - I waitressed in my twenties, and the cooks were NOT minimum wage workers. In some restaurants that I worked in the waitstaff were expected to "tip out" the busboys, bartenders and cooks. It always miffed me to have to tip the cooks, because they earned a higher wage and got raises.

It wouldn't seem these drivers are even breaking even after consideration for auto expenses.

I've never used Uber, but dh uses it all the time. He travels frequently for business and prefers using Uber to cabs. He never tips. I was under the impression, that like Terries mentioned above, that the whole idea with Uber is that it's supposed to be a cashless experience. I thought part of that was for the safety of the driver.

On a different note, did anyone see that an Uber-like company is starting up that is just for women? Female drivers and passengers only. I have to admit, that as a female, the idea of using Uber if I were alone, has prevented me from ever trying it, not that I usually have much occasion to need it. But I would definitely use a female driver. I'll have to see if I can find the name of the company. Some guy started it with his wife.

Edited to add - here is the article I read about it: Chariots for Women

Have a friend here in So California who drove for Uber a few months last year. She probably recieved a tip 20% of the time. Then again we are in a college town and most of her customers were students. She really enjoyed meeting all the different riders but quit when she realized that she was making about $6 an hour, plus all the wear and tear on her van.

Uber supposedly pays $15-16 an hour. At the $.575 expense rate for running a car, 30 miles of travel in an hour comes to $17.25.

ETA: New rate will be .54 so $16.20 for 2016.