Bonuses can make all the difference for Lyft drivers. With rates getting lower each year, many drivers now feel it’s only worth driving when bonuses are available.
One of the most common bonuses available on Lyft is the streak bonus. Streaks are a bonus for giving back-to-back rides during a specific period.
Streaks are the secret to earning $1,000+ per week on Lyft. To show you an example, the earnings statement below is from a driver who took full advantage of streak bonuses and added an extra $240 to their earnings.
Streak bonuses can really add up. Credit BinkPD on Reddit
But streak bonuses come with rules: You must accept every ride request you get, you can’t go offline, you can’t miss a ride request, and you can’t cancel a ride.
And many drivers don’t see any streak bonuses at all. So why do some drivers seem to get endless streak opportunities while others get none?
Read on to learn how streak bonuses work and how you can get as many as possible.
What is a streak bonus on Lyft?
Streaks are a bonus for completing back-to-back rides beginning in a specified time.
A streak begins when you accept a ride during the streak period and ends when you complete the required number of rides. The first ride must be during the streak period, but the rest of the rides can take place after.
Example of a streak: “$18 streak, 3 rides in a row, 11AM–2PM.” That means you will get an $18 bonus if you complete three rides in a row, with the first ride beginning during the 11 AM–2 PM hour.
To get paid for a streak, you must stay online and accept every ride request until you reach the required number of rides. Payments occur automatically.
Streak bonus: Complete 3 rides in a row, get $9 extra
Streak zones
Streak zones are a type of streak that must begin inside a designated zone on the map. To start the streak, drive to the streak zone and accept a ride request.
The pickup location of your first ride does not have to be inside the streak zone for the streak to start—Only your vehicle must be inside the streak zone.
You are only required to be inside the streak zone for your first ride. You don’t need to return to the streak zone after the streak begins.
Accept any ride once you are inside the streak zone to begin the streak
Streak zones all day!
Where to find streak offers in the lyft app
To see if any streaks are available, open the Lyft driver app and tap on your earnings area in the top center of the app.
Scroll down to look for streak opportunities, and tap “See full schedule” to see if streaks are available on future dates.
You can also see streak and other bonus info by dragging up the information box on the home screen of the app.
This lucky driver below saw a week filled with streak opportunities.
A busy day might bring lots of streak offers
Lyft also send you a text message with information about upcoming bonus opportunities. Here’s a text with a streak zone offer:
Keep an eye out for any messages from Lyft to see bonus opportunities
But many other drivers don’t see any streak offers at all. The screen below—without any streak offers or bonuses—is a common sight for drivers in slower markets.
No streaks. Sad, disappointing
Rules: How streaks work
To begin a streak, you must accept a ride during the streak period. If the streak hours are 4 PM–5 PM, you must accept the first ride by 5PM to begin the streak.
To earn the streak bonus, you must stay online and accept every ride request until you’ve completed the required rides.
You will break a streak if you miss a ride request, cancel a ride, or log out of driver mode.
You don’t need to complete every ride during the streak period to earn the bonus. You only need to get one ride that begins during the streak period to begin the streak.
So for a 4 PM–5 PM streak, you can begin the streak by getting a ride at 4:55 PM. The rest of the rides can take place after 5 PM and you will still earn the bous.
Rides that start before or after the time period will not begin the streak.
Miss a ride request, lose your streak!
You will not break the streak if a passenger cancels a ride during a streak. However, the cancelled ride will not count toward the streak.
The Lyft app tracks and displays your streak progress, so you’ll know how many more rides you need to do.
3 rides then an $18 streak bonus. Not bad.
Do no-show cancellations break a streak?
Cancelling a passenger as a no-show will not break your streak as long as you wait the full five minutes and attempt to call the passenger before you cancel.
Lyft driver rewards: Resume broken streaks or get prorated bonuses
Drivers who reach the Platinum tier of Lyft driver rewards can resume broken streaks, or get up to 2 prorated bonuses for partial streaks every 30 days.
For example, if you break a $15 3-ride streak after 2 rides and you are a Platinum driver, you can still get a $10 bonus.
Common streak problems
The Lyft app automatically handles streaks and bonus payments, but errors can sometimes prevent you from earning the streak.
App issues force you offline: Sometimes, an app or network glitch will force you offline, which can end your streak. Other glitches may not force you offline, but they could force a cancellation that ends your streak.
Regional lockout: Sometimes, a ride may take you into a zone where you are not approved to drive. The app could force you offline, ending a streak.
Destination mode: Going into destination mode won’t break a streak, but if you reach your destination while in destination mode, you will be logged out of driver mode. That will break a streak.
Passenger cancels right as streak begins: If you want to begin a streak and your first passenger cancels after the streak hour ends, the ride won’t count toward your streak and you will not be able to begin the streak.
For example, let’s say a streak bonus is from 8–9 PM and you accept your first passenger request at 8:55. If they cancel at 9:03, you won’t be able to continue the streak.
How to get Lyft to pay for an unpaid streak
If you never got paid for a streak and you believe you should have, contact Lyft. Go to a ride that occurred during the streak and scroll to the Help section of the trip report. Select an issue with earnings or bonuses and follow steps to describe the issue to Lyft.
You can also go to help.lyft.com and scroll to the Contact us button at the bottom of most pages.
It’s possible to be compensated for unpaid streaks, but don’t be surprised if it’s a long process with lots of back and forth with Lyft support agents.
Not getting any streak bonuses? Here’s why
Many drivers rarely see streak offers, or never see them at alls. Is it normal not to see streaks and other promotions?
The availability of streak bonuses mainly depends on passenger demand and local driver supply.
When passenger demand is high or driver supply is low, streaks are an incentive to get drivers on the roads during the busiest times.
Streaks won’t be available if your area isn’t particularly busy, or if there are too many drivers in the market.
If you’re not getting any streak offers, it’s likely because there isn’t enough passenger volume to trigger bonus offers.
So why are other drivers getting Streaks when you aren’t? Not all drivers receive the same bonus offers, and Lyft does not share any reasons why one driver might receive a bonus offer when another driver doesn’t.
Do new drivers get better bonuses?
Some drivers believe that Lyft gives new drivers more streaks and bonus offers to give them a profitable start when they first begin driving for Lyft.
Unfortunately, there is no reliable data to confirm—or disprove—this hypothesis. Streaks come and go so often that a period with lots of streaks can coincide with a new driver’s first few weeks.
How to get more streak bonuses on Lyft
There isn’t anything you can directly do to get more streak offers. Lyft offers streak bonus when passenger demand is high or when driver supply is too low.
If there are no streaks in a given week, there’s nothing you can do to change that.
Check your driver app regularly to ensure you don’t miss any opportunities. Make sure to opt in to emails from Lyft, and look out for text messages as well.
Lyft streak strategies
Target short trips. You want to get your streak bonus as quickly as possible. Target quick, short trips by going to a bar area, tourist area, or college campuses. Passengers in those areas are frequently only going a few blocks.
You can earn multiple streak bonuses during a 1-hour streak if the rides are short and fast. For a 4 PM–5 PM streak, try to get a ride right on the hour. Knock out 3 rides to earn the first streak, then catch one more ride before 5 PM to start another streak and earn a second bonus.
Other Lyft bonuses
Lyft offers other driver bonuses that can help increase your earnings.
- Challenges – Bonus for completing rides during a period of time
- Bonus Zones – Bonus for entering a busy zone on the map
- Multi-tier bonuses – A tiered ride challenge
- Driver referral bonus – Get paid to refer new drivers to Lyft
Read our guide to every Lyft bonus and learn how to get more!
More reading for Lyft drivers
T says
Bruh is it common for Lyft to take damn near 50% of your earnings? I feel like I’m struggling to keep up with gas usage and payouts for rides. A 26$ ride a customer told me he was paying for offered me 12$ with a (3$ area bonus as well, but let’s be real here it’s just giving you back what they’re taking) I just started with Lyft and I can say I definitely want Uber at this point, from what I can see they penny pinch their drivers