Will Uber Wait For You? (All You Need To Know)

Most people who use ride-hailing services do it because the model is designed to give them more flexibility when moving around.

Furthermore, riders can get rides whenever and to/from wherever they want, but not unless Uber won’t wait for them. Continue reading to find out if Uber will wait for you, and more!

Will Uber Wait For You In [currentyear]?

Uber will wait for you, but there are limits on how long you can get depending on which ride option you select in [currentyear]. For standard ride types, the driver will wait 2 minutes before you’re on a per-minute waiting fee and up to 5 minutes before canceling. However, in Uber Hourly, the driver will wait for much longer.

Keep reading to learn everything you should know about Uber waiting for you, including how long you could take, how to increase this time, and more!

How Long Is Uber’s Waiting Time?

Uber’s waiting time is 2 minutes on standard ride options like UberX and 5 minutes on premium options like Black and Premier.

However, wait times are reduced to 2 minutes for all ride types if you’re in an airport.

Does Uber Charge To Wait For You?

Uber charges for waiting for you, and the fees kick in when you exceed the thresholds mentioned above unless it’s an UberPool or WAV/Assist trip.

Furthermore, you also don’t pay wait time fees at certain areas, such as airports, but the tradeoff is that the threshold to cancel the ride is higher.

Therefore, you’ll be charged a per-minute fee at rates that vary depending on your location, the time, and how busy it is.

Recently, Uber had to pay out a $2.2 million settlement when it was sued by the Department of Justice for discriminating against disabled passengers by charging them wait time fees.

In response, the company also agreed to waive these charges for disabled riders, and any that do end up paying could request a refund.

Can Uber Wait For You And Take You Back?

Uber can wait for you, and the best way to do this would be to make provisions for it when setting up the ride.

Furthermore, on a regular ride, premium or otherwise, where you can have up to 3 stops, you could set the last destination as the same place where you start to make it a round trip.

Also, in between the pickup and drop-off locations, add the other stop(s) you want to make but ensure that you don’t take more than 3 minutes at each otherwise you might get charged extra.

However, if you can’t run your errand fast enough for this to work, e.g. because you want the driver to wait while you shop, you should try using Uber Hourly.

How Does Uber Hourly Work?

Uber Hourly works by allowing you to book a car along with the driver by the hour, with the ability to add multiple stops that you can edit throughout the ride.

Furthermore, as long as the timer hasn’t run out, you can ask the driver to take you wherever you want as long as you take care of additional costs such as parking fees.

This makes Uber Hourly arguably the best way to get the driver to wait for you while you do more time-consuming tasks such as meetings and shopping.

Then, when you’re done with your errands you can get the driver to take you back to where they picked you up, turning it into a round trip.

Unfortunately, Uber Hourly also has a wait time fee that kicks in if you don’t make it to the pickup location within 5 minutes of the driver getting there, so keep this in mind.

Additionally, its threshold is higher than standard ride types because it mainly uses cars and drivers from premium options such as Black, Comfort, and Premier.

What Happens If Uber Doesn’t Pick You Up?

If Uber doesn’t pick you up, the driver will cancel the ride, and you’ll be charged a no-show cancellation fee as a result.

When this happens you won’t have to pay the wait-time fees, but this amount will often be higher and will go towards compensating the driver for their time.

To know more, you can also read our posts on where Uber is banned, whether Uber does long distance, and whether Uber is per person.

Conclusion

Uber will wait for you for at least 2 minutes in standard ride options and 5 in premium ones before you get charged a per-minute fee. Furthermore, if you take even longer, the driver will cancel the ride and you’ll pay a no-show fee.

However, you can get your Uber to wait for you by adding multiple stops when requesting the trip but this is only for quick errands. Therefore, to get the driver to wait longer you’ll need to book an Hourly trip so you can have them on a timer with the ability to add multiple stops.