Waymo has launched Waymo Premier, a $30-a-month subscription that gives riders priority pickups, a 10 percent in-app rebate on future trips and fee-free cancellations up to five times a month. The Alphabet-owned driverless taxi service is rolling out the new rewards program in select cities.
The pitch is simple: pay more, wait less. Subscribers will also get the chance to be among the first to use Waymo in new cities as the company expands, a perk aimed at riders who want early access to the service’s next markets.
The timing matters because Waymo is already a premium ride. A June 2025 report by rideshare data analytics firm Obi found that a ride with Waymo is much more expensive on average than the same trip taken with Uber or Lyft, and Waymo Premier adds another monthly charge on top of that. The new plan is also priced at three times the cost of Uber One and Lyft Pink, both of which cost $10 a month.
Those rival memberships come with more basic extras. Uber One includes discounts on hotels, car rentals and food delivery, plus 6 percent in-app credits on rides, while Lyft Pink offers 5 percent off Standard rides and free priority pickup. Waymo is asking riders to pay a larger premium for a tighter set of benefits, betting that speed and early access will be enough to justify the bill.
The move also lands while the company is still under scrutiny for how its vehicles behave on the road. Waymo had to recall software for its entire fleet last month after dangerous behavior during a flood in San Antonio, Texas, and the service still relies on human intervention from remote workers. That backdrop makes the launch feel less like a routine loyalty update and more like a test of whether riders will pay extra for convenience even as the business scales fast.
For now, the biggest unanswered question is where Premier will appear first and how quickly Waymo will widen access beyond the initial select cities. The answer will show whether the company is building a loyalty program for its most committed riders or a template for the next phase of its expansion.
