[WestSubDriver]

Anyone have much experience with Set a Destination in the Uber Partner app? Playing around with it for the first time tonight. Went online and put in a destination. Got a pickup request. Looked like any old request except it has the flashing orange circle instead of blue. Naively thought it might give some info regarding their intended trip other than pickup location. I accepted and looked in Waybill. Yep, no destination. Cancelled. I'm not the type to call up the Pax and grill them on where they're going.

I guess this is no different than normal functionality other than finding someone going in your "direction". Might get lucky and they're traveling most of your intended trip or app might just divert you along the way to drive somebody a couple of miles.

Btw, here is the wonderful "tutorial" that Support sends you about this function.

https://image.et.uber.com/lib/fe92127371650c7976/m/1/driver+destinations.gif

 

[MyRideTrac]

I have used it on three occasions. 2x nothing rang in. One time, I was headed in a direction and I got a pax going in the same direction. Yes, got lucky and made a couple of extra bucks along the way...

 

[IERide]

I guess we don't all have this option..

 

[WestSubDriver]

I have used it on three occasions. 2x nothing rang in. One time, I was headed in a direction and I got a pax going in the same direction. Yes, got lucky and made a couple of extra bucks along the way...

Thanks for the intel.

 

[UberFred]

I've used it 3 times and did not get any pings.

 

[yojimboguy]

I guess we don't all have this option..

Seems to be the case with me too. That "tutorial" shows the battery shaped icon to press next to the "go offline" text. I don't see that battery icon until after I've been pinged and accepted a ride. I've looked around elsewhere for how to choose my direction, because I'd heard about it before and it seemed useful, but I haven't found anything. Really would have been nice after I drove someone 70 miles from Madison to Milwaukee and was looking for a passenger who was going back westward.

 

[Vitticeps]

I've been using it for the last week or two. It appears to work reasonably well with the caveat that you'll miss out on pings that don't match up with your set destination so you may wait longer for pings.

I try to do as many airport trips as I can so now that this option is available, I set the destination to DFW airport and go online. Sometimes I get pings for passengers going directly to the airport but usually I get pings for people going in that direction (I live about 20 miles from the airport).

You can only use it twice a day. However, if the first trip in the direction of your destination only takes you part way there, when you drop them off it will continue to look for trips that go in the direction of your destination. It will keep doing this until you reach your destination or you turn it off.

If you turn it off before you accept any pings, you can still use it 2 times that day. If you turn it off or go offline after you accept a ping while a destination is set, then that will count as one use for the day even if it only took you a fraction of the way there or you cancelled the trip.

In my limited experience, if I set a destination that is popular (airport, entertainment districts, etc) I usually get pings in that direction relatively quickly. If I set my destination to my home, I usually have a long wait to get a ping.

So, my strategy lately has been: set destination to airport, take trips till I get there, wait for an airport pickup trip, drop off that fare, set destination back to airport. It's worked well for me the last couple of weeks.

 

[Fireguy50]

I didn't have the option today, it would have helped a 65 mile empty return. Did this feature get removed in the last update? I know they've limited or removed the last ride of the day option to force stacked rides!
Where are these features at when a driver needs them?

 

[Uber48208]

Fireguy50 The last ride and destination still show up here in Detroit. It's a market-by-market set of features. Destination doesn't work for me when I'm in Ann Arbor... Cross Michigan and Willow Run Airport, close app out and turn it back on and destination is there again.

 

[Fireguy50]

Fireguy50 The last ride and destination still show up here in Detroit. It's a market-by-market set of features. Destination doesn't work for me when I'm in Ann Arbor... Cross Michigan and Willow Run Airport, close app out and turn it back on and destination is there again.

Thanks, I was pissed. I accepted it could be a dead end trip, but was hoping to at least try an get the guaranteed money for the ride home. As I'm dropping off, I'm getting 3 or 4 pings of 3.2X surge rates in Grand Rapids. But I'm sure they are locals and I let them time out. I kept looking for the destination selection to head back east, but no. I'll be sending Uber another email once I get paid. Can't send a payment complaint until after getting paid. I Already complained about the trip, no response.

 

[Fireguy50]

So I don't have the clipboard icon anymore, to stop accepting requests or set a final destination?

It used to be at the top left, anybody know how to get to those functions?

 

[WBdriving]

It's really hit or miss with it showing up in your app. Every once in a while I see it available but most times it's not. I think part of it is dependent on your location, like I work in western Mass but I'm more likely to see it the closer to Boston I am.

 

[Uber48208]

Fireguy50 It's POSSIBLE they removed it from Lansing for time being - it's a market-to-market thing. Can you ask fellow Lansing drivers if it's missing for them too? Again, I don't get it when I'm in Ann Arbor - the minute I crossed back into "Detroit" market yesterday, it was there for me again.. maybe it's only in close to home market? I know you're technically GR, right? Just asking/speculating - not criticizing...

 

[Fireguy50]

Fireguy50 It's POSSIBLE they removed it from Lansing for time being - it's a market-to-market thing. Can you ask fellow Lansing drivers if it's missing for them too? Again, I don't get it when I'm in Ann Arbor - the minute I crossed back into "Detroit" market yesterday, it was there for me again.. maybe it's only in close to home market? I know you're technically GR, right? Just asking/speculating - not criticizing...

No I'm technically Lansing. I didn't want to be stuck in GR until 3:30am and still have tocdrive home. Would like the feature to drive a person back to my area as the app was designed. I don't know why Uber corporate turns off features on people, like the no new requests for bathroom breaks.

 

[MyRedUber]

I use the Driver Destination feature quite often. Every time I'm finished driving for Uber I use it to head home, and I quite often get a ride going the same way. I've had up to three rides on the way home at the end of the day. I also use it at other times when I'm going somewhere for myself.

The feature works quite well, except I have noticed:
1) while the passenger's destination will be generally towards your destination, the pickup may be anywhere in the usual pickup radius, in any direction from your current location,
2) the app may occasionally send you a trip for which the passenger has not entered a destination. So far these have all been towards my destination; maybe the Uber system presumes the passenger is going to their home? I've reported this potential problem to Uber but it's not been fixed that I know of.

But I still use it without problem. I'd recommend it.

with the caveat that you'll miss out on pings that don't match up with your set destination

That's the whole point of the feature. You don't want fares that will take you further away from your destination, meaning home or your workplace, etc...
The purpose of the feature is not to take you towards Uber work at the airport; it's to take you to your lunch break or home at the end of your shift. It's limited to twice a day so that drivers don't misuse the feature to ignore drives they don't want during their shift.
Drivers who game the system are the reason it's limited, and the reason we could lose this very useful feature.

 

[Uber48208]

The purpose of the feature is not to take you towards Uber work at the airport; it's to take you to your lunch break or home at the end of your shift.

Or you can be lucky like me and have the airport square in the middle of your commute home after work

 

[dbsanders]

I'm a part-timer with a full-time day job. Today I set my destination for work, and I picked up someone going to the same place, which was a bit...awkward.

 

[UberAnt39]

I've used it often and found it surprisingly useful. It can't fix the unfixable like get you rides from South Bay to SF after 11pm, but if you use some common sense, like if they take you down there at 9 don't just go taking trips in the area because you're there, set the destination straight away and get back whilst paxs are still traveling. And stay away from the SFO after 10, that's when they're most likely to send you 30 miles out of your way. On the other hand, I've tried Lyft's a few times and it's been useless. It also gives up after about 10 minutes with a sorreee..., all that's missing is a