Being a driver on Bolt is an easy way to make money on the move. However, there is more to it than just accepting request and completing trips. Here are some simple ways to get the most out of your journey as a Bolt driver:

Treat Riders like you would like to be treated

The teachers and your mom didn’t lie when they told you that being nice is important. Leaving a good impression and generally being a kind driver is especially valuable when you’re working with people on a daily basis. Remember that – as a Bolt driver, you are surrounded by people most of your time. People, who can and will leave feedback and rate you in both of the following occasions – when they loved your company or when all they could think about was finding the right word for describing how bad their riding experience was.

Impoliteness is actually one of the main reasons for receiving a bad Bolt driver rating through the app from your passengers. Read more on that topic from Hacks to keep your rating high. Low ratings over a period of time can block you out and affect your earnings.

Treat riders with kindness. Offer help when needed, be nice and drive safe. These are the key ingredients in making sure you’ll receive good ratings from your passengers after a ride.

Drive at the right times

When you’ve been driving around for some time already, you most probably have noticed that there are busier and quieter times in traffic. You can see the morning and evening rush hours as the worst things in the world or you can see them as opportunities for maximising your earnings. It’s a question of putting things into the right perspective, as more people needing a ride = more possibilities to earn as a driver via the Bolt app.

Also, busy ride-hailing hours are the best times for back-to-back rides. This actually brings us to the next point.

Don’t cherry pick

Back-to-back rides help to reduce the waiting time between rides. This increases your earnings and efficiency. If your passenger has set a destination and you have enabled back-to-back rides, you’ll receive an incoming ride request while you’re on order and driving towards the set destination. When you complete the ride, you can proceed to the new pick-up location right away.

PS! Declining a back-to-back ride affects your Bolt driver activity score in the app, so make sure to confirm the final destination with your driver before starting the journey. For disabling back-to-back rides, open the three stripes on the top right corner when you have accepted a ride and toggle the “Accept next ride” button to inactive.

Additionally, to allowing back-to-back rides, it’s only reasonable to accept all of the rides you are offered to accept. When you turn down a request just because you’re not a fan of the neighbourhood or don’t like the name of the rider, you reduce your own earnings. It’s worth knowing that rejecting rides will have an impact on your activity score. If 20% of the last 100 rides have been rejected, your account will automatically be blocked by the system.

Know what’s going on around you

Concerts with famous headliners or football matches with well-known teams fill up the city with people, who need transport from one place to another. For you, days like these hand out great opportunities to earn money by driving the fans around town. Also, you can bring a little extra to the table with being the “Awesome driver who gave great recommendations on what to do and where to eat”, as big events like this are also a great tourist magnet. That will definitely score you a high Bolt driver rating afterwards in the app.

Also, be attentive to the weather. A rainy day will make people request for more rides. So, pay attention to the weather forecast news – they may very well give you guidance on when to hit the streets.

Read the messages Bolt sends you via the Bolt app and email (hint: they talk about bonuses!)

If till now you thought Bolt spams drivers with no reason, then it’s time for a 180-degree opinion change.

When you want information that you can benefit from, then open and go through the messages you receive. Otherwise, you may miss out on insights about different bonuses and campaigns dedicated directly to you. And if you want to find out more about bonuses and campaigns, head to How to earn extra with weekly bonuses?