While there is no official number as for how long a rider can keep the driver waiting at a stop, I like 5 minutes. 5 minutes is the amount of time a driver will wait at the initial pickup before a rider is considered a “No Show”, so 5 minutes is a good number for stops.

For a standard UberX or UberXL pickup in 2026, the driver is generally expected to wait for five minutes before they have the "High-Fidelity" right to cancel the ride and charge a "No-Show" fee. Upon the driver's arrival at your pickup location, a two-minute "High-Fidelity" grace period begins; after these initial two minutes, you will start to accrue a per-minute wait fee. Once the clock hits the five-minute mark (or ten minutes for premium services like Uber Black), the driver can cancel the trip. It is a high-fidelity best practice to be at the curb when the car arrives, as many drivers in high-demand 2026 urban markets will leave the moment the five-minute timer expires to maximize their own "High-Fidelity" earnings. If you are adding a stop mid-trip, the high-fidelity etiquette and app recommendation is to keep the stop under three minutes, or the driver may end the trip at that location.