Uber hikes fares in London by up to 25%

From today, Uber users will see the following hikes: 

• Journeys from and within London will rise by up to 10%. That's because the minimum price you pay per trip has risen from £5 to £5.50.

• Trips to and from four London airports will rise by up to 25%. That's because minimum fares will jump from £14 a trip to £17.70 during Uber's peak hours of 10pm to 2am at Gatwick, Luton and Stansted and during Uber's peak hours of 4pm to 11pm at Heathrow. During off-peak hours at all four airports, Uber will increase the minimum fare by 10% from £14 to £15.50. 

Uber charges the minimum fare regardless of the journey length. Any cost on top varies depending on the length of journey and the time of day. The cab firm blames the increase on needing an additional 20,000 drivers to meet a 20% rise in demand since lockdown. It adds that it's not increased its minimum fares since 2017 and that the rise will also help to reduce wait times.  

Minimum Uber fares in other areas of the UK aren't impacted. 

Of course, if you don't need to use a taxi there are other, cheaper methods of transport available. For information on cycling, check out our MoneySaving tips for cyclists guide, while train users can visit our Cheap train tickets guide for ways to save.