Amazon Flex Surge! Drivers See $275 Offers and $55/Hour During Peak Season

Some Amazon Flex drivers are grabbing huge offers with hourly pay as high as $55 per hour!

Base pay on Amazon Flex is around $18–$25 per hour, but payouts can climb much higher during periods of high demand.

Drivers call it surge pay, and you’ll want to take advantage of these big payouts if they’re available in your area.

Here’s a driver who got a $275 offer for a 5-hour block. That’s $55 per hour—if the route even takes all 5 hours!

Here’s what Flex drivers are saying about big surge payouts:

“$240 run. I hope Flex says this way!”

“Holiday season is upon us. Milk the super-surges while you can.”

“$110 for 2 hours was the craziest I’ve ever seen during my swiping”

The holiday seasons are usually the current explanation for an explosion of surge payouts.

But not every driver can brag about a string of $50 per hour blocks. In many cities, drivers are struggling to get any offers at all.

Here’s what’s going on with Amazon surge pay and why some cities are seeing huge payouts while others don’t have enough offers to keep drivers busy.

How surge pay works on Amazon Flex

Amazon may increase the payout for a delivery offer if Flex drivers don’t pick it up quickly enough or if order demand is high. Drivers call the increased payouts ‘surge,’ named after surge pricing on Uber.

Offers are generally close to base pay when they first go live: $18–$25 per hour. If drivers don’t pick up the offer, the Amazon algorithm can increase the payout to make the offer more desirable.

Sometimes surge is already applied when the offer is released, meaning that you don’t have to wait around to see if it will surge. Reserved offers can also come with high payouts already activated.

Here’s what Amazon says about surge pay: “Earnings are based on a variety of factors. During high customer demand, Amazon’s contribution may increase, which will translate into higher earnings.”

There isn’t much detail in that explanation. Like most things at Amazon, offer payout is determined by an algorithm. Amazon doesn’t say exactly how the algorithm works, so it’s up to Flex drivers to figure out how surge works.

Surge block features

• Higher payouts generally happen during peak shipping seasons
• Payout surges can happen close to the offer start time
• Offers with surge can be shorter, longer, or the same as a typical route
• Reserved offers can come pre-surged
• Refresh the offer page to see updated pricing

More surge examples

This driver got a $240 block at $48 per hour and several $35 per hour blocks.

Below, this driver scored $220.50 for a 4.5 hour block. That’s $48 per hour!

This Los Angeles area Flexer shared several offers that ranged from $32–$55 per hour.

Here’s $120 for a 3-hour block, which works out to $40 per hour.

Related: See more examples of high driver pay on Flex!

Not seeing surged offers? You’re not alone

While some Flex drivers are celebrating big earnings, others aren’t seeing any surges. And in some markets, drivers struggle to get any offers, let alone a big surged offer.

Getting high-paying offers is mainly a matter of location. If your area has high order volume and Amazon needs more drivers, you’re more likely to see surge offers.

But don’t expect to see large payouts if your market has low order volume or is oversaturated with drivers.

Quotes from Flex drivers who don’t get surge offers

“Everyone posting amazing surges. I haven’t seen blocks for weeks!”

“If I always waited for surge, I wouldn’t have worked for the past 2 weeks.”

“In many areas we have to take base rate or don’t take anything at all.”

“I never get more than $54 for 3 hrs block ”

“Meanwhile the people in Texas take 5 hour blocks for $80”

How to get more surge offers

There are a few things you can try if you want to get more surge offers.

• Wait to accept offers. Refresh your offers screen to see if the payout increases over time
• Don’t accept reserved offers for base pay. Wait for better offers

Generally speaking, surged offers only happen during peak shipping times. If your market isn’t experiencing high volume, there’s nothing you can do to make surged orders happen more often.

“Stop working for base pay! Wait for orders to surge” is common advice in Flex driver spaces, from drivers who are fortunate enough to get higher payouts. But that’s not always possible.

If you’re struggling to get any batches at all, you may have to take what you can get and hope to see a surge on a lucky day.

Not seeing enough offers? What you can do

Forget about surged orders: How about no orders at all! That’s what a lot of Amazon Flex drivers experience. Read our guides below to see what you can do.

• No Offers on Amazon Flex? Here’s Why, and How to Get More
• Use Preferred Scheduling to Get More Offers

More Reading for Flex Drivers

• Amazon Flex: A Gig Overview
• Flex Order Types and Warehouse Locations
• How the Amazon Flex Rating System Affects Your Offers