Uber promotions: How Quest, Boost & new driver bonuses work, & how to get more!

For Uber and Uber Eats drivers, Quest, Boost, and Surge bonuses can help your earnings climb into the upper tier—$25+ per hour.

But without bonus promotions, a day of driving passengers or delivering orders might not be as profitable as you want it to be.

Targeting promotions is an important strategy to maximize your earnings! Read on to learn how promotions work for Uber and Uber Eats drivers and what you can do to get more.

Article contents

• Not getting promotions? Reasons why
• Sign-up bonuses: New-driver promotions
• Quest
• Surge
• Boost
• Boost and Quest Strategies

How to see which promotions are available to you

There are several ways to find promotions in the Uber driver app: In the Opportunities menu, the Earnings area, the home screen of the app, and your messages inbox.

To see every available promotion: Tap Menu (☰) > Opportunities, then tap different days of the week to see promotions available on future days.

Not getting promotions on Uber? Here’s why

Promotions are unpredictable. You might get great Quests one week, then none the next week. What’s the reason?

If you aren’t getting any promotions, the most likely reason is that Uber doesn’t need to incentivize more drivers to get out on the road.

Uber doesn’t say precisely how the promotions system works or how the system decides to distribute promotions to drivers.

All Uber says about promotion offers is, “Offers are based on rider trends and app usage in your area.” 

One possible meaning is that Uber may offer promotions if they expect a spike in demand or a drop in driver supply.

But why do two drivers in the same city or area get different promotions? If Uber needs drivers on the road, shouldn’t they send out promos to everyone?

Your driving history may determine whether you get a promotion or not. One common theory is that new drivers receive more promotions to give them a more encouraging start to the gig.

Drivers have also noticed more promotions after taking a few weeks off from driving.

Promotions are more common in larger, busier cities. So if you’re in a smaller city, don’t be surprised if you don’t see many opportunities.

Is there a way to get more Quest and promotion offers?

Currently, there is no reliable way to guarantee that you will get more Quest offers from Uber.

Some drivers noticed that taking a long break from driving or delivering might prompt the app to send you more promos, but taking a break isn’t a great option if you can’t afford to take a break.

To make sure you don’t miss any opportunities, check the app regularly and turn on all notifications so you don’t miss any opportunities.

Sign-up bonuses: New driver promotions

Uber sometimes offers promotions to new drivers who sign up and enter a referral code or “invite code” in the application.

You can get a referral code from another driver you know or from driver forums online. A referral code will automatically be applied if you sign up from an email or text invite.

The most common new-driver bonus is an earnings guarantee. Uber does not regularly offer cash bonuses for new drivers.

Previously, you could get big bonuses for signing up and completing a few dozen rides. Now, you are more likely to get an earnings guarantee as your sign-up promotion.

Earnings guarantees for new drivers

With an earnings guarantee, Uber guarantees you will earn a minimum amount after completing a number of trips. If your ride earnings don’t match the minimum, they will give you a bonus to make up the difference.

For example, an earnings guarantee for a new driver might say, “Earn at least $1150 when you complete 100 trips.”

If you complete 100 trips and your earnings are only $1000, Uber will pay you a $150 bonus to match the guarantee.

If you complete 100 trips and earn $1200, you won’t get any bonus because your earnings exceed the minimum guarantee.

An earnings guarantee can be lucrative if you target short, low-paying rides. The driver below got more than $1,000 extra by targeting low-mileage rides.

Quest: Bonus for reaching rides, delivery, or earnings goals

Quest is a bonus for reaching ride & delivery goals during a period of time. An example of a Quest: “Earn $8 extra by completing 4 deliveries between 5 and 9 PM.”

Some Quests give you a bonus for completing a certain number of trips, and others give you a bonus for reaching an earnings goal.

Uber adds the bonus to your earnings if you reach the goal within the time period.

You can see available Quests and track the progress of your existing Quests by going to the Opportunities area of the driver app.

Trips do not have to be consecutive to count toward a Quest, so you can decline or cancel rides and still complete a Quest. 

Many Quests have two bonus amounts and two goals. After you reach the first goal, do the additional trips to unlock the second goal.

Quests can be big or small. Sometimes they are for a few dollars to do a handful of trips. Other times, a Quest could be for hundreds of dollars to complete hundreds of trips.

You can select which Quest you want to work toward if multiple Quests are available.

In the example below, Uber offers two large Quest options to choose between.

Here’s an example of a lucrative Quest. $30 for completing 13 trips is a $10 bonus per ride. These are rare!

Here’s another unusually generous Quest. $100 for 5 rides, and $150 for 10. That’s more than a $16 bonus for each ride.

But not all Quests are worth taking. The Quest below is an example of a bad Quest—a $10 bonus for 50 trips. That’s only $0.20 extra per trip! Most drivers are not going to go out of their way to do this.

Some Quests can look impossible to complete. Quests are generated algorithmically, and sometimes the system makes mistakes.

In the Quest below, Uber offers $64 extra for completing 16 trips in 3 hours. However, experienced drivers know that doing 16 trips in 3 hours is nearly impossible.

Read closely to make sure that a Quest is actually doable!

Does Uber reduce trip requests when you’re close to finishing a promotion?

Drivers sometimes say that when you get close to completing a Quest, new trip requests stop coming in, and it becomes impossible to complete the Quest.

“I’ve been waiting 2 hours to get 2 rides and I can’t complete my Quest!”

Is Uber doing something sinister to prevent you from getting your bonus?

There is no conclusive proof that Uber reduces the volume of trip requests when you’re getting close to earning a Quest.

One explanation is that many different drivers can be working on Quests that end at the same time. It’s harder to get a trip when too many drivers are online at the same time.

Try to complete Quests before the last day to avoid the last-minute rush to complete the final rides.

Driver secret: You can still get a Quest bonus if you finish 95% of it

There is some flexibility to finishing Quests: If you don’t do every ride in a Quest, you can still earn the bonus if you finish at least 95% of the rides. 

So if you were a few rides short, contact Uber driver support and ask if you can still earn the bonus.

Many drivers report that this method works, but Uber might decline your request if you’ve asked too many times in the past.

Surge: A dynamic earnings multiplier

Surge is a flat-rate bonus that Uber can add to trips. Surge turns on and off dynamically during periods of high demand. Check the map in your driver app to see if surges are live.

You will earn the surge bonus if you are positioned inside the surge zone or if the rider’s location is in the surge zone when you accept the trip.

One piece of advice: Don’t chase the surge! Surges appear and disappear quickly, so there’s a good chance that the surge will be gone by the time you arrive.

It’s a good idea to reposition yourself into a surge if you’re nearby—5 minutes or less. But if you’re further, other drivers chasing the same surge can get there first and end the surge.

Boost: An earnings multiplier

Note: Uber no longer offers the Boost promotion in some markets

Boost is an earnings multiplier added to rides and orders that begin and end within a designated area on the map. Boost payouts are included in the upfront payout estimate before accepting a trip.

Below is an example of what Boost looks like on the driver map. Notice the outlines designating the areas where the multiplier is in effect. It also happens to be an example of an unusually big Boost, up to 2.8x

For deliveries, the multiplier is added to the base fare of an order, not the trip supplement or tips. For rides, the multiplier is added to the trip fare.

Check the home screen of the Uber driver app to see Boost zones, or look for Boost in the Opportunities menu.

Boost is an automatic promotion, so you don’t have to opt into it or accept it in the Promotions area of the app.

Below is what Boost looks like when it is listed in the Promotions area of the app. 1.4x is good, but 1.1x might not be worth going out of your way.

What’s the difference between Boost and Surge?

Boost is typically offered in advance, while Surges happen dynamically based on demand. Surges appear on the map as shaded zones, while Boosts appear as specific outlined shapes.

If Boost and Surge are active when you get a ride or delivery request, you will receive whichever pays the most. Like Boost, Surges are applied automatically.

Surge is a flat-rate amount in most cities. So if the map in your driver app shows dollar amounts, it’s a flat rate surge. Otherwise, you’ll see a multiplier (1.2x, 2.1x, etc).

Boost+: A bonus for each trip during a period

Boost Plus is a bonus for each trip completed in an area during a specified time frame. Boost+ is offered directly to individual drivers, and you must sign up for the Boost+ offer in the driver app to be eligible.

The significant difference between Boost and Boost+: You have to sign up for Boost+. Regular Boost is automatically applied if you’re in the correct area.

Example of a Boost+ promotion: “$3.50 on every trip between 6 pm and 7 pm on July 1st in Los Angeles”

Boost+ will appear on the home screen and in the Opportunities area of the app.

For a ride to be eligible for the bonus, you or the rider must be in the selected zone and accept the request during the stated period.

Uber is retiring Boost in some markets

Uber no longer offers the Boost bonus in some markets. In an announcement, Uber stated that upfront pricing made Boost calculations confusing.

Boosts are no longer displayed in the map or in Opportunities, but any Boost bonus will still be included in the upfront estimate.

Instead of displaying Boost on the map, Uber displays ‘merchant hotspots’ for Uber Eats couriers. A dark-colored hotspot indicates higher delivery demand.

If you can’t see

How promotions work when you drive for both rideshare and delivery

If you do drive passengers and delivery for Uber Eats, Uber offers promotions that may be for one service type or both.

For example, the driver below was offered one guaranteed earnings promotion for rides only and another for deliveries only.

But for the Quests below, both rides and deliveries count toward the bonus.

Over time, Uber may ask you to choose between delivery or rideshare promos.

Uber can send an email and app message letting you know which promotions you will receive based on your recent activity.

So if you’ve been doing more deliveries, they will only send you delivery promotions. There is an option to continue to receive whichever promotions you are currently getting.

Some drivers say that the delivery Quests are worse than rideshare Quests. Uber may try to push drivers into lower-paying delivery promotions even if they do an equal balance of rideshare and delivery.

Keep an eye out for messages from Uber, and select the promotion category that is more valuable to you.

Related: How Uber Eats drivers can switch to Uber ridesharing

The Quest widget — See Quests on your home screen

Uber created a Quest widget to track Quests on your phone’s home screen. The benefit is that you don’t have to open the Uber driver app to see your Quest progress.

To add the Quest widget on iPhone: Tap and hold the home screen until the icons jiggle. Tap the + button in the upper corner, then search for “Uber Driver” and add the widget.

Quest and Boost Strategies

Getting Quest and Boost offers is mainly a matter of luck. But when the Uber algorithm finally gives you a promotion, there are things you can do to maximize your earnings and avoid unprofitable trips.

You mainly want to look at the additional earnings that the promotion offers, and the time period that it’s offered.

Quest strategies

The optimal Quest strategy is to target short trips to complete the Quest as quickly as possible. By targeting short trips, you can maximize the bonus amount per mile.

Do the math and see how much of a bonus a Quest offers per trip. If the Quest only offers an extra dollar for each trip, it might not be worth going out of your way to do it.

Check the dates and times of the Quest. Many Quests want you to drive during an inconvenient time. Or the Quest will want you to drive nearly nonstop all weekend.

Remember that you can decline or cancel trips during a Quest, so you don’t have to adjust your normal criteria to complete most Quests.

There isn’t much extra strategy to doing a Quest other than making sure it’s at a convenient time when the volume will be high enough to accomplish the Quest.

Boost and Surge strategies

“Don’t chase the surge” is advice that you will hear from many veteran Uber drivers. Why? Surges can disappear before you get to the zone, and Boosts can lower the volume of new trips by drawing too many drivers into the zone.

Surges appear when passenger demand is higher than driver supply, so the surge will end when enough drivers enter the zone.

There’s a good chance that you’re wasting unpaid miles to enter a surge zone that could go away before you arrive.

And for Boosts, all drivers in the zone compete for the same orders. So even if you’re getting 1.5x per ride delivery, you might not get enough volume to make it worth your time.

The best strategy is to use your normal criteria for accepting a ride or delivery and be happy if it happens to be in a Boost or surge zone.