Skip to main content

Ryde Deep Dive - will my strategy last?

GMT+8

 

Previously in my last ride-hailing article, I explained how I could get up to 40-50% discount on rides with this strategy. However, isn’t this too good to be true?

How can such a good deal exist without one talking about it?

Well, we’ve come to the “Impossible Trinity” of:

  • Low price
  • Good service/product
  • Availability

With Ryde, we get a good price, and good service but is it readily available?

Well, I’ve tried recommending this strategy to my friends and their feedback so far is that they can’t get drivers.

Though there are many possible reasons for this, I’ll focus on how to get requests accepted.

After which, I’ll explain more about my strategy and what are the possible scenarios that will “end” it.

 

Ways to get requests accepted.

The main point to note is unlike grab where requests are assigned, ryde drivers pick instead. If there are no drivers in my area or the price is too low, they will not pick it up.

To increase the job duration, we can schedule the request in advance. This has two main benefits where you can choose an off-peak period to lock in your fare and also allow your request to reach more drivers.
The other perk of scheduling is that, when both parties are early, the ride can commence 10 min ahead of booking.

Alternatively, be prepared to wait, there are rare instances where I couldn’t schedule the request and had to re-post a few rounds before I got the driver.
In other instances, the driver was about 10 min away. It was still worth it as my discounted fare was around $9 while the prevailing fare was around $16 - $20.

Normally, refreshing the request or switching to rydeX will do the trick when it's a pricing issue. This is not a big issue as there are savings from vouchers.

 

What is rydeFlash? Why is rydeFlash so much cheaper?

 

So rydePool and rydeFlash are variations of grabhitch and grabshare. So it is available to non-private hire drivers but they can only do a limited number of trips each day.

In the case of rydePool the request itself is subjected to sharing with other passengers but it’s not been implemented since covid hit and hasn’t been relaxed since Singapore reopened.

The other interesting thing is that the driver could have a family member or friend in the front seat.

In the case of rydeFlash, the ride is not subjected to sharing with other passengers. However, it still has an aspect of carpooling as the driver could also have a family member or friend in the front seat.

I've compared notes with the rydePool explanation and there is a difference. 

Hence, the fares in rydePool are cheaper than rydeFlash. 

That said private hire and taxi drivers can take these jobs too, but they normally would not due to the lower fares. 


In summary, rydePool is cheap due to sharing with other riders and that might go away in the future. 
rydeFlash on the other hand is a pricer option for taking a trip based on the number of pax but is not subjected to sharing with other riders. 


What about vouchers? Why are the discounts so steep?

I had a hard time getting my head around this too. Was it a capital call cos ryde has cashflow issues like banyan tree?

However, after seeing the promotions coming back, I’m more convinced that this is part of ryde’s strategy which is the tier-ing of consumers based on a leap of faith.

The Leaper – By pre-paying, ryde is happy to give a steep discount as it ensures the base demand of their platform. This is akin to early bird discounts that SIA normally offers.

The Hopper  – ryde+ is available for you to only pay on the go with cashback on each trip and a 15% discount. This is still a good deal as once you complete 5 trips, the membership is free.

The Passer-by – you’ll just pay a cheaper far than other platforms at that time.

**Side note **


In the 3.3 sales, ryde was doing a series of flash sales. 
A $70 voucher with a discount of $18.1 +$6 + $2 ($26.10) gives a final price of $43.90.
This brings about a total savings of 37.28%.

Also, more savings are possible with other products/voucher combinations.  

All in all

I think this strategy will last with only rydePool being "nerfed" when ride-sharing is re-introduced. rydeFlash trips will stay the same. 

Also if you're new to Ryde, click the referral link here.
Sign up on the weekends of March 23 and we both get rewarded with $10 of rydeCoins.

What do you all think? Let me know. 


Please like and follow us:










Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Ultimate Asset Protection

GMT+8
  [29 Jun : Update - I've reached out to the insure updated the responses below, marked in green]  I'm revisiting this as I was offered to buy Mortgage insurance package after buying my house. In my case, I already had an existing term policy bought in 2015 with asset protection in mind. However, this coverage isn’t enough to cover the full loan. For context, I asked for quotes on mortgage insurance to cover 1.25 mil till 65. The annual premium was $800 – $870. The current term I have covers 1 mil for about $1000. This is even after buying it 8 years ago. I wouldn’t discuss in detail the pros and cons of mortgage insurance vs term insurance or why mortgage insurance is essential as this has already been covered. Esssentially, I’m not going ahead with mortgage insurance as term insurance isn’t quantum-reducing. As I pay down the loan, this would provide a residual payout for my family. I feel the trade-off of $100-$200 is justified. If I can’t cover the shortfall, then t...
Read more

Getting my house…

GMT+8
  [Update: I have updated that part on the last 5% downpayment after clarifying]  Following my last article , I went on to consider my housing options. In terms of HDB, there were 4 new MOP projects available but I couldn’t get over the fact that I would have to negotiate the price, secure the OTP before doing the Fengshui review. I could shortlist the units first, do the fengshui review. Then proceed with the viewing and negotiations, but the house might not be available anymore. So what did I just spend money for?    My next options which were completed Condos near my house around the Geylang Lorong 30 – 40 and Tanjong Katong Road. They were mostly freehold and affordable. The only issue is that I'm not ready to commit everything now. The other issue was that the development size was normally quite small implying a lack of transactions on price clarity and higher maintenance fee.   This brought me to the last option, which was to look at new launches.  A...
Read more

[Ended] Ryde Flash sales - at least 37% Discount

GMT+8
  Update: Flash sale has ended  Ryde is doing a flash sale now and I've gone through the permutation to get the best discounts: 1) we aim to hit $150 of minimum spending to get $15 Off  2) The ones with the most discounts are $30, $120 followed by $50 3) Claim Shopee platform discounts :  Strategy 1 - Pure discounts with no shopee coins: 1 x $50 vouchers  6 x $30 vouchers - $15 shop discount - $10 platform discount The total bill of $143.84  for $230 Value ~ 37.5% Discount  Strategy 2 - with 10% shopee coins: 2 x $120 Vouchers  - $15 shop discount + 1610 shoppe coins ( equivalent to $16.10) The total bill of $144.90  for $240 Value ~ 39.63% Discount  It's not the cheapest I've seen but it's definitely a good value.  Update: RydePool is now easily accessible in the Main menu Please like and follow us:
Read more