How to plan a scheduled Lyft pickup

Work backward from a pickup time to decide when to go online, where to wait and when to accept the ride request.

Choose a ride you can reach

In the Lyft Driver app, open More Ways to Earn → Scheduled Rides. Check the pickup, time and fare before reserving. Look up the drive from where you expect to be that morning. Keep the eligible vehicle and ride mode you reserved with.

Work backward from a 7 a.m. pickup

For a regular 7 a.m. pickup, Lyft asks you to go online by 6:30 a.m. and be close enough to arrive on time. Expect a ride request by 6:45 a.m. and accept it in the app. Reserving the night before and accepting the morning request are two separate steps.

Suppose the pickup is 25 minutes from home. If you wait at home until the 6:45 request arrives, you have 15 minutes for a 25-minute drive. Pick a place to wait within reach of the passenger, then work out when to leave home, allowing for traffic.

If the morning changes

Find the trip under Reserved and release it promptly if you can’t make it. Airport pickups have their own staging and passenger-ready instructions. Read the airport section before planning one around the same timeline. Lyft’s scheduled pickup instructions.