Update: July 6, 2017: After debuting in-app tipping in just three cities, Uber is expanding the feature to over 100 cities in the U.S. and Canada. TechCrunch reports the rollout includes everywhere from Honolulu to New York City.
This article was originally published on June 20, 2017.
Tipping excellent Uber drivers has never been easy, especially if you don't have cash on you. The struggle makes it difficult to show appreciation to the drivers who help you with your luggage, ensure you don't miss your flight, or are just super friendly, but it also makes it harder for drivers to make more money. Luckily, it's getting much more streamlined thanks to Uber's new in-app tipping feature.
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Starting Tuesday, riders in Seattle, Houston, and Minneapolis can add a tip to their fare after rating the driver. The feature will become available in every other U.S. city over the next month.
Options to tip $1, $2, or $5 will appear on the screen, with an additional option to enter a custom amount. The app will allow you to tip up to two times the total fare, with a $100 maximum. As usual, you can still tip in cash or even do a combo of tipping on the app and in cash.
Along with tipping, Uber will also start charging riders who take more than two minutes to get to the car for every minute they make the driver wait. And, costumers will have less time to cancel rides before they're charged the $5 fee. These changes will go into effect in August.
Uber won't take a percentage of tips, but it will receive part of the cancellation and late fees.
The change comes as part of a company initiative to improve working conditions for its drivers, calling it "180 Days of Change." It's part of Uber's efforts to turn around the negative press its received in recent months about the treatment of its drivers, as well as its corporate culture.
The company says it will release more improvements in July, writing in an email sent to its drivers, "We know there's a long road ahead, but we won't stop until we get there."