There’s officially a new entry in the savvy traveler playbook.
As anyone who’s ever put together a trip budget knows, daily expenses like rideshares, train fare, and refreshments can quickly add up to a staggering final cost. So it’s worth making a habit of every little thing you can do to save cash while traveling. But according to a new study, most Uber and Lyft users skip a seconds-long step that could save them on every ride.
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that opening both Uber and Lyft before officially booking with either service ultimately gets you a cheaper ride. Researchers found an average price difference of 14 percent between the rides offered to users on the two apps. In fact, data showed that there was at least a $1 price difference in identical trips around 75 percent of the time.
According to the research team, that 14 percent translates to an average of $3.50 per trip. That’s $3.50 that could have been spent on a round of perfect cappuccinos, metro fare, or even a hearty meal in some destinations.
And while some travelers may already play the field before committing to ground transportation, it turns out very few rideshare users routinely do the money-saving toggle. Only 16.1 percent of the riders sampled checked both apps, and that percentage was even consistent across incomes and age brackets.
To compare the apps, NBER, a private, non-profit research company, examined publicly available data from the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, which documents every rideshare trip taken in the area. They also sourced data on the behavior of mobile users from Comscore. Researchers from Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and tech company Theia Insights authored the paper.
Their data analysis showed that those 84 percent of consumers who don’t look from app to app could have saved a collective $300 million in New York City rideshares.
Neither Lyft nor Uber was consistently cheaper in the thousands of rides sampled, so checking both options is crucial. According to the researchers, the price gap between the two apps grows along with the length of your ride—meaning you can save an even higher percentage of cash on those long trips to the airport.
So the next time you’re hailing a ride, make sure you’re getting the best deal possible before hitting “confirm.” You could be saving enough to buy anything from the best bowl of pho you’ll ever taste to a museum souvenir you’ll treasure for years. All for just a few quick taps of your finger.
Read the original article on Travel & Leisure