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How long did you wait for your ride? How long would you have had to wait for an alternative ride? What's your time and comfort worth?

I'll assume you knew what the base price was, and where willing to pay that. Where was your maximum price that would cause you to find an alternative ride?

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I think that is beside the point. If I'm understanding the author clearly, the only thing he knew before the ride completed was that there /was/ a surcharge, not the amount he would have to pay. It's difficult to do a cost-benefit analysis without knowing the cost up front. I agree, if I saw that I'd have to pay 20 dollars more than normal because it is a holiday, I'd choose to pay it, but there's a certain threshold that I wouldn't cross and uber seems to be (again, if I understand the author correctly) intentionally hiding the surcharge from its users to avoid the possibility of users deciding that the surcharge would put the price above that threshold.

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