Comet
Pickup miles are unpaid miles. The question isn’t whether a pickup is long. It’s whether the trip at the end pays for the drive to get there.
A long pickup is worth it when the payout still clears your hourly and per-mile minimums after you add the pickup’s miles and minutes to the trip’s. If it only clears them on trip time alone, pass.
Most offer cards lead with the fare. The pickup sits in smaller type underneath, and it is easy to skip when the timer is counting down. But every mile and minute you spend driving to a rider is time nobody pays you for.
Why pickup distance matters
A trip’s real rate is what it pays divided by everything it costs you: the pickup drive, the trip itself and, if it drops you somewhere quiet, the drive back to where the work is.
Count the whole trip
Use engaged time, not trip time. Engaged time starts the moment you accept and ends when the rider gets out. That is the number your minimums should be measured against. Then subtract your costs: fuel or charging, wear and depreciation all scale with miles, and pickup miles count as much as paid ones.
What Comet would show
Take a $14.20 offer with a 4.8 mile pickup and a 6.0 mile trip, 31 minutes in all. On trip miles alone it looks like $2.37 a mile. Counted properly it is $1.31 a mile and $27.48 an hour, with a pickup past your comfort zone. Comet calls it borderline and leaves the call to you.
When the long pickup wins
A long pickup is worth taking when the trip after it is long enough, pays enough and ends somewhere you can find the next ride quickly. Airport runs and trips into busy districts often qualify. Short hops into quiet suburbs usually do not.
It grades every offer, pickup included, before the timer runs out.
