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Every dasher wants to deliver on the best days of week during the best hours of the day.
But if you can’t get on the schedule or if the app won’t let you “dash now,” you’re stuck on the sidelines while other dashers are working the best hours.
That’s where Top Dasher comes in. With Top Dasher, you can dash anytime without a schedule.
To become Top Dasher, you have to maintain certain ratings requirements.
But is Top Dasher worth it? Some dashers think that the benefits aren’t worth it, while other dashers think that the benefits make a big positive impact on their income.
And in some cities, the Dasher Rewards program replaced Top Dasher. In cities with Dasher Rewards, you must reach the Platinum level to earn the same benefits as Top Dasher.
Article contents
- What is Top Dasher?
- Top Dasher requirements
- Do you earn more with Top Dasher?
- Top Dasher vs. Early Access Scheduling
- When Top Dasher is worth it
What is Top Dasher?
Top Dasher is a program that gives special benefits to drivers with high customer ratings, high acceptance ratings, and frequent deliveries.
Top Dasher benefits
- Dash anytime, without a schedule — You can dash whenever and wherever you want. You can “Dash Now” at any time, without scheduling hours
Former top dasher benefits that are not currently available: Order priority, priority access to high-value orders
Requirements to become Top Dasher
- Customer rating of 4.7 or higher
- Acceptance rate 70% or higher
- Completion rate of 95% or higher
- 100 deliveries completed during the previous month
- At least 200 lifetime deliveries completed
Top Dasher status is awarded on the 2nd day of each month
Top Dasher is awarded on the 2nd day of each month, and the benefits last for a full month.
DoorDash will send you an email when you’ve achieved Top Dasher, and there will be a Top Dasher badge in your account settings.
You can also view your Top Dasher status and benefits in Account > Dasher Rewards.
Head to Account > Dasher Rewards to see your Top Dasher status
You will keep the benefits for the entire month even if your ratings dip beneath the requirements.
To re-qualify for Top Dasher, you will need to meet the eligibility requirements on the last day of each month.
You can see their status and benefits in the Dasher Rewards area of the app.
One strategy is to let your acceptance rating fall after you get Top Dasher, then build your AR back up to 70% in the final week of the month.
Some new dashers are automatically rewarded Top Dasher for the first two weeks
In some markets, all new dashers are awarded Top Dasher for the first two weeks.
Being Top Dasher helps new dashers to figure out DoorDash without being restricted by the scheduling system.
It also exposes new Dashers to higher-paying orders, which may incentivize them to continue with their new gig.
Is Top Dasher worth it? Do you earn more?
It might seem like dashing anytime without a schedule is a major benefit, but many Dashers believe that Top Dasher has more downsides than upsides. Here’s why.
Maintaining a high acceptance rate = Accepting too many low-paying orders.
The main criticism of Top Dasher is that to achieve a 70% acceptance rating, you have to accept too many low-paying orders.
Are Top Dashers pawns doing the bidding of CEO Tony Xu?
Dashers are free to decline as many orders as they want—you can’t be deactivated for a low acceptance rating—so many Dashers prefer not to accept low-paying orders if they don’t have to.
Order requests display the order payout, so many Dashers will decline low-paying orders (some as low as $3) and wait until a better one comes along.
Being selective about orders typically means that you can’t meet the acceptance rating requirement to become Top Dasher, but the more selective strategy could result in higher overall pay.
The scheduling benefits aren’t that great. Another criticism of the Top Dasher benefits is that being able to Dash anytime isn’t that great of a benefit in the bigger picture.
All Dashers can Dash when a zone is busy (marked red in the app), and a busy zone will mean high order volume.
Top Dashers can Dash even when a market isn’t busy (marked gray), but why would you want to Dash if a market isn’t very busy?
Instead of using the benefits of Top Dasher, it can be better to schedule good hours using the Early Access system and only Dash Now when a market is busy.
If you follow that system, you won’t need the scheduling freedom of Top Dasher, and you’ll be free to decline as many low-paying orders as you want without having to worry about your Top Dasher status.
You don’t get any additional benefits. Top Dasher doesn’t unlock more Peak Pay, or Challenges, or large catering orders.
Top Dasher used to unlock other benefits like order priority and access to high-value orders, but that those are no longer offered.
Top Dasher might contribute to low payouts for all Dashers. Some Dashers are frustrated that order payouts can be as low as $3, and that the Top Dasher system encourages Dashers to accept every low-paying order that comes their way.
If Dashers would reject all low-paying orders, the logic goes, then DoorDash might be forced to increase order payouts for everyone.
Teasing Top Dashers is a sport on Reddit. Credit DreamingofAK
Top Dasher vs. Early Access Scheduling
The freedom to Dash whenever you want is the biggest benefit of Top Dasher, but Top Dasher isn’t the only way to get more scheduling flexibility.
Early Access scheduling is a feature that can give you more hours without forcing you to maintain a high acceptance rating.
Early Access allows you to schedule hours up to 6 days in advance. Without Early Access, you can see the schedule only 5 days in advance. That extra day can be a big advantage in busy cities.
With Early Access, getting the hours you need is easier without having to accept more than 70% of orders.
How to qualify for Early Access scheduling
To qualify for Early Access, you must:
- Customer rating of at least 4.6
- Completion rate of at least 95%.
- No acceptance rating requirement
- Do one of two: Complete at least 5 deliveries in the past 7 days or complete at least 500 lifetime deliveries.
Early Access qualification is refreshed each Friday.
With Early Access, you can work the best hours while still being selective about the orders you do. The benefits of Early Access make it so Top Dasher may not be worth it.
When it’s worth it to be Top Dasher
Many Dashers will say that Early Access scheduling combined with being selective about orders is the secret to max profits.
But there are certain times when the benefits of Top Dasher can solve real problems and boost earnings.
Get the best hours in competitive markets: Good shifts can be very hard to come by in competitive markets, even with Early Access scheduling.
Top Dasher might be the only way to get good hours in the busiest markets.
Switch zones during a shift: The scheduling system locks you into your scheduled area, and you can lose your hours if you leave the area for too long.
With Top Dasher, you’ll be free to switch zones during your dash. That’s especially helpful if you live near the border of several different zones.
Is Top Dasher right for you?
For some, getting Top Dasher status can be the difference between working lucrative shifts and not earning enough money each day.
But you don’t have to go for Top Dasher just because it exists.
If you find that declining low-paying orders works better for you, feel free to cherry pick orders all day long, and don’t bother with the high acceptance rating requirements of Top Dasher.
More on DoorDash
John says
Top dasher do not get treated fairly you us to make money for your self we had to pay for gas and maintenance on are vehicles and 3 dollars orders do not pay those fees you don’t care about your drivers
Jennifer says
Im suppose to be top dasher but it won’t let me dash whenever I want. I have to schedule and ALL my ratings are high.
The support has no idea what they are doing and I’m missing $30 on my last check and nothing has been done. 😥
Tommy says
And for a “Top Dasher”. $30 is life savings!!!
Benjamin Brown says
It is also frustrating when you sign up fir a 4 or 5 hour shift and the end of the shift comes and instead of stopping dashing, you get 4 or 5 orders that aren’t worth dashing before you can end your dash yourself. In turn, your acceptance rating drops rapidly.
Chris says
When you are in a delivery you can select the menu at the top left and tell the app to stop orders after this delivery. When that delivery is over it will automatically pause you and give you an option to end your shift
Scott says
I think the ‘Perk’ is counter productive for the DoorDash business. My natural response to not being able to dash is to simply turn to Uber. With both Uberx and UberEats active I get a reasonable amount of activity even during off peak hours.. At least Uber makes an attempt to compensate me for time and distance when doing Ubereats and frankly it has been my experience that UberEats customers are more generous with tips. Thanks Doordash!
Sabrina lanyard says
I’m not a top dasher and I genuinely like to dash. My biggest problem would I get orders that are 15-25 minutes out of the way and only get $3. I feel like once you reach a certain distance they should get extra delivery fees or they should be required to tip. At that point I’m wasting gas going the distance then I still have to drive back. Totally not worth it.
Krissy says
100% AGREED!!!! It’s such a shame that DD doesn’t realize or care to identify dasher compensation issues especially when we are their lifeline in the front line. Thanks DD for the $8 for the hour I clocked & the 40mins of driving to deliver & go back into my zone!! 0% worth the effort, gas, & vehicle maintenance.
Hiulai Chan says
Totally agree!
Tommy says
They are required to tip. If your smart enough to only accept orders $8 plus.
Michael L Marra says
I totally agree with you
John says
Doordash refuses to impliment a maximum distance, minimum order policy for customers. This results in $2-$4 offers to drive 20-50 miles round trip. This is called, “paying to lose money”
Ryan says
I can certainly see the points in showing top dasher as being a negative for some. Personally, I have found that once you get those numbers it’s pretty easy to maintain. Maybe it’s just my area specifically because there’s a lot of extra promos, but knowing I automatically can work those no matter what… My hourly rate has gone to the high 20’s and any promo more than $1 I get to 30 and up from there. I def decline lots of orders too, but I work daily so by the end of the month 70 is not an issue, usually around 75-80
John says
You don’t get very many “pay to lose money” orders. I was sent 24 straight orders of $2-$4 payout for 20-50 mile round trip in a row on my last day of the month and lost top dasher status due to this. I work in a VERY busy market too. The only reason why zones get “busy” or “very busy” is because everyone is declining these “pay to lose money” orders.
Edwin M Waide says
Being the last day of the month, I would have just ended my dash when my acceptance got to 71. If it meant losing TD, and you need it to schedule in your market. You would have been money ahead in the long run.
Rubi says
I agree, for me being Top Dasher remains important because in MY market ita hard to get good hours otherwise. BUT I do NOT accept anything under $5 and definitely do not accept orders that pay less than the milage. Max over mileage i accept is 3 miles over the pay. So if its a $9 the max miles it can go for me to accept is 12 miles, but i tend to only accept mileage per dollar pay.
But I’ve been grossly cheated this month. Because of ONE 1 star rrating that I do not understand how I got, because I did nothing to deserve a 1 star….because of it, my 4.7 star rating dropped to 4.2 and no matter what my other ratings are it doesnt matter. Its very disappointing. I do not think Top Dasher is the greatest program, but I do like some of its perks. What annoys me is that Doordash doesnt back its drivers against unfair ratings and fraudulent customers that falsely claim they never received their orders. Its ridiculous that ONE bad customer can ruin a Dashers entire livelihood for the next month or three months that it takes to fix those ratings.
Treva Houlihan says
I have exactly exactly the same complaint. I was a 4.98 Oh my customer satisfaction rating in one person one person! Gave me a one rating and I have no idea why. I called the Dasher support and they logged it in on my account apparently but that doesn’t do anything for me. So now instead of a full point 98 I have a 4.77 and one more pretty little customer to get me on the Hangman’s list! There has to be something done about this because we can’t control the attitude or the mood of the customer. All of my other ratings are five star. Just one person
Amber says
Photos, pics, snap those pictures!!! I never leave a single order at the door or hand off without a pic! Period. I get the house/business number/name in the pic every time. Sometimes I even get the customer if handing off. They get a copy of the pic and will think twice about saying they never received the order. Just took me ONE time a customer saying they didn’t get their order and I started getting a pic each and every time. No exceptions. And I text the customer after taking it saying something like “thanks for meeting me outside” or “left order at the door as requested as shown in pic and your ring doorbell camera”. If they want to say I took the food or didn’t leave it they have to prove it at that point. Usually they will reply no problem or got it!
Tia says
This is such great advice! As a newer dasher (just started last month) I’m researching like crazy and keeping notes of all the good stuff. Thank you!