FAQs & Troubleshooting

About Hytch

The Hytch Rewards app helps users track the carbon footprint of their commutes while providing offsets to make every mile tracked carbon neutral. Users can also earn cash rewards from sponsors who want to make a positive impact on their community, traffic congestion and the environment.

Our app has been fine tuned to use an INCREDIBLY small amount of data. On average, you should be experiencing something around 1MB per trip or less. Even users with small data plans should have a hard time noticing an impact from using our app.

About Rewards & Sponsorships

There's a BIG GREEN INCENTIVE for every trip you log in using this app.
Employers and brands who are serious about sustainability will plant real trees to motivate positive change. Your kids and their kids will thank you for racking up the miles no matter when or where you drive, and anytime you move!
You also earn cash rewards in sponsored areas. A great example would be the morning commute to work! Cash-out points you earn on qualified trips every time you exceed a $10 minimum.

Municipalities, companies, and organizations who recognize the benefits that reduced traffic will have on our communities, environment, and personal well-being - that's who sponsors you in geo-defined reward zones.

Start by telling your employer about Hytch Rewards. Who knows, maybe they’ll become an employee partner enabling you to earn cash on your daily work commute!

Hytch Rewards users are able to earn “Trees Saved” ANYWHERE as long as they’re using a smartphone with a valid mobile phone number, download the Apple or Android app and have connectivity to a mobile network service provider.

Cash rewards are currently available to employees of partners who exist in multiple different states and growing.

If your company or organization wants to bring rewards to your area, visit our Employer Referral page

Trees Saved are based on the distance of your Hytched ride. Sponsored cash rewards are based on sponsor reward rules that apply to your ride, such as end destination and time of day. Miles traveled are multiplied by the active rewards for that area/time. Some sponsor reward rules may have a distance cap. Because different sponsors set up different reward rules for different areas, the rewards tallied to one destination may be different than the rewards tallied on the return trip.

Hytch sponsors might want to draw you to their locale, so if your end destination is in the county, city, neighborhood, or, shoot, even down to the exact parking lot of any sponsor with that location as their reward rule, you earn that sponsor’s cash reward. Because most Hytch sponsors want to make a dent in rush hour traffic, you’ll usually see the biggest cash rewards during these “surge” hours.

In the unlikely case that a gliche occurs, users are encouraged, but not required, to report issues to aid in the investigation and resolution of those glitches. Shared miles that are not successfully tracked through the app due to a glitch cannot be validated, and therefore cannot be rewarded, credited or reimbursed.

The Hytch Rewards app helps users track the carbon footprint of their commutes while providing offsets to make every mile tracked carbon neutral. Users can also earn cash rewards from sponsors who want to make a positive impact on their community, traffic congestion and the environment.

Using the Hytch App

No. That's the beauty of it! Hytch Rewards was designed to work for anyone with a smartphone who commutes using virtually any form of transportation: carpooling, cabs, app-based ride-hailing, buses, trains, and self driving cars!

Hytch allows users to track their commutes with friends, or when traveling solo. In every case, Hytch sponsors will plant a tree in your name to reduce the carbon impact of your trip emissions. However, cash rewards for solo trips may vary based on your employer or community sponsors.

It takes less than a minute to invite someone to Hytch with you, following prompts within the Hytch Rewards app. If someone is not already in your phone’s contacts list, you can type in their phone number instead.

The first time you start a Hytch, the app will ask to "SHARE CONTACTS". This just means you are allowing the Hytch Rewards app on your phone to access your list of contacts, making it easier to invite your friends, family, and co-workers into a Hytch. Please note that Enabling Easy Invites is intended to make invitations more convenient only and does not give Hytch, LLC access to your contacts’ information. To invite someone who is not in your contact list, just enter their phone number in the search bar. If you plan to share rides with them regularly, you might want to add them to your contacts list. It’ll make it easier to connect with them later!

We’re glad you asked! Part of our mission is to create a ridesharing culture and build a sense of community around it. Start inviting the people you already know, co-workers, neighbors … then branch out to those you see on the train or bus every day.

The current record was set on August 23, 2018 with 21 people, all in the same Hytch ride.

The current record was set in March, 2022 with 429 miles.

The current record for a carpool was set in November 2021 with 387 miles.

Our app has been fine tuned to use an INCREDIBLY small amount of data. On average, you should be experiencing something around 1MB per trip or less. Even users with small data plans should have a hard time noticing an impact from using our app.

More about Hytch

Partnerships

If your company is an Employer Partner, in most cases, you will receive a promo code that you can enter into your Hytch profile. Based on the reward rules set up by your employer, you could earn additional rewards for certain transit behaviors. For example, additional rewards could be earned for ending a shared ride on your company campus, at an off-campus parking lot, at a company event, or during certain times of day. Be on the lookout for an email or newsletter from your employer with additional information about rewards associated with your promo code!

There are many ways to get involved! Become a Destination Partner by rewarding individuals who end their shared ride in a specific area (counties, cities, venues). Become an Employer Partner and reward your employees for choosing to rideshare to work. Become a Parking Partner and install designated Hytch "Carpool Parking" signs on your lot. Become an Event Partner by inviting Hytch Rewards to set up an informational booth at your event!

Have a unique partnership idea of your own? We want to hear it! Fill out our Referral Form.

The Hytch Rewards platform officially launched on February 9, 2018.

Tax related questions are best answered by a tax professional. Hytch, LLC is not licensed or qualified to provide tax advice.

Open the app, tap the hamburger menu in the upper right corner and look for "Settings" where you'll find "Erase Account" as an option.

A confirmation screen will pop up. Then after conferming, you can delete the app.

If you've already deleted the app, download it again and, using the same phone number, log in again, then you can erase your account.

Troubleshooting

GPS & Accuracy

The Hytch GPS Accuracy Score is an analysis of a handful of software, hardware and environmental factors that impact your connection to Hytch. Low scores reflect your risk of a disconnect. We suggest the person with the highest GPS Accuracy Score be the Host and initiate invitations.

GPS coordinates tell us when Hytchers are close enough to be in a successful Hytch. We call this the “Hytch Halo” and these factors matter:

1. Cellular network reliability: depending on your location, you may have a weak connection (or a hole) in your cell network.
2. Signal strength of your device: poor network connection for any reason will reduce your score.
3. Phone hardware: old phones with slow or outdated hardware will hurt performance
4. Phone software: faulty settings and outdated software will hurt performance.
5. Connection to GPS satellite: extreme weather, passing through a tunnel, or traveling through downtown urban environments with tall buildings can factor into GPS accuracy.

Talk to people in your Hytch groups to compare scores. What device and network are they on?

1. Upgrade your device: everyone loves a new smartphone.

2. Change cellular networks: get a better plan.

3. Press on: we are constantly updating our platform to bring users a better experience.

Using Hytch Rewards makes you a Hytch Hero because you are protecting clean air, saving trees and reducing congestion. Stay in the Hytch Halo.

Dropped or Incomplete Rides in Hytch

If two or more users have different phones and/or operating systems, it can result in an early termination of your Hytch.

When Hytch team is alerted to repeated drops, our engineers work hard to find ways to update our platform to increase your trip's connectivity.

If you or someone you ride with is not connecting, it could be due to one or more of the following reasons:


1. Cellular issues: gaps in cellular coverage can disrupt communication over certain regions of your trip. Unfortunately, many cell phone providers do not share accurate coverage information and some cell service providers have large gaps in data coverage that can result in one or all of your Hytch buddies getting kicked out of a ride.
2. Mobile phone: out of date cellular phone hardware or software.
3. Update app: you might need to update your app to newest Hytch Reward version.

Note: If the ride host is the one that experiences a drop or voluntarily leaves the ride, the Hytch ends for everyone.

If you are in complete standstill traffic for too long, the app may automatically end your Hytch ride. You’ll need to start a new Hytch once traffic gets moving again.

Issues with Rewards & Changes in Rewards

At any time, Hytch Sponsors may opt to change how their sponsor dollars are awarded through the Hytch app. This can result in varying rewards from day to day, or trip to trip, or even vary rewards between rider and driver. This flexibility offers sponsors the ability to choose how they want to inspire positive change in traffic congestion, air quality, or even as a benefit for their employees. However, this flexibility also creates too many variables to ID exactly how many points you may earn on any particular trip.

The upside: every mile logged with Hytch becomes a zero-emissions mile AND whenever you complete a ride in a sponsored market you will be surprised and delighted by the points you earn that you can convert to cash.

Every device sends different GPS location information from a unique position in the ride and that information can also vary depending on the cellular service provider, phone manufacturer and version.

Rewards vary based on your status with your employer, based on the mode you take, if you are a driver with three passengers, etc.

For example, there are almost an unlimited number of combinations of incentives that could cause a variation in the reward between people in the same carpool.

After entering your email address and confirming the amount to transfer you will receive a notification from PayPal requesting that you accept the money. If the email address you initially used is not associated with your PayPal account or you are new to PayPal you can associate that email with your PayPal account. You may also wait 30 days for PayPal to release the funds back to your Hytch account and you can initiate a new transfer at that time.

There are several other causes for not receiving your cash rewards:

  • Daily payouts: Hytch Rewards that are redeemed for cash are distributed through PayPal once a day to all users. This means your cash will be posted the day after you request "Cash Out".

  • Below the minimum request: you tried to transfer the money, but the app gave an error message because the amount was below $10.

  • Wrong email address: you did not receive your Hytch rewards cash because the email address you entered on the “Cash Out” screen was not the email address you use for PayPal. If you use the wrong email address and its an active PayPal account for someone else then we can do nothing about it.

  • Check SPAM: you did not receive an email from PayPal notifying you of the transfer? Check the inbox of the email address you used to transfer the money to. Check your SPAM and updates folder to ensure you didn’t miss that email.

Phone Settings

If you have a new phone number and are a current user of Hytch, contact our Technical Support team to update your account with your new phone number so you DON’T lose your accumulated points, miles, or other rewards. We do not recommend creating a new Hytch account with your new phone number because we cannot merge accounts with different phone numbers.

If your email is also needing to be updated, you will need to update it after we confirm the changes in your Hytch information is complete.

Contact Hytch User Support

Usually this is because the user has opted out of our text invitation option. To restart Hytch Invites by SMS, just text START or UNSTOP to 866-734-9824

Text invitations are the most reliable method of being alerted by Hytch buddies that they are on their way or want you to join the trip. As you set up your Hytch user profile, be sure to authorize use of notifications too.
Make sure notification permissions are enabled on your phone. This is done on iOS and Droid using the Settings option on your phone. Scroll down until you see the Hytch Rewards app. You'll see an option to allow notifications where you can authorize notifications.

Check your iPhone cellular data options to make sure the phone is enabled for Voice & Data. If the setting is "Data Only" the phone will prevent you from using cell service and data service at the same time. (Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Enable LTE > Voice & Data).

This feature will be available in a future update! In the meantime, if there are three or more people in your group, anyone (except the host) can leave the current Hytch to start a new Hytch with another passenger. If there are only two of you in the ride, you’ll need to end your current Hytch and start a new one with additional passengers.

More Troubleshooting Advice

You're probably still moving... but this should resolve itself in a few minutes as the trip ends automatically, because your device is stationary or you're no longer close to your Hytch Buddy. Remember, Hytch wants to be sure that you're not just stuck in a traffic jam. A small time delay to deliver the data and status update is typical. A shared trip can start and end in "perfect unison" if people live and work at the same location, but most people pick up or drop off co-workers and friends in a neighborhood nearby. People get picked up on the driver's way to work and taken to different job sites. Hytch carefully measures shared distance from pick up to drop off (the physical separation) and more than three people could be in that same Hytch. The app can "automatically end" a trip for one person while others are still sharing a ride. It's easy to end a trip at anytime and be certain to earn the right credit for your commute to work by just clicking the “FINISH THIS RIDE” or "EXIT THIS RIDE" button on a "Hytch in progress" screen when your commute ends.

Different phone carriers use different towers to triangulate their GPS. This may cause GPS tracking to be off by slight amounts, which can cause rewards to be tallied differently. Slight differences in miles and rewards are natural, but please let us know if you ever experience a major discrepancy.

Additionally, rewards are tallied by several factors, including the end destination, group codes, and other factors. Someone who leaves the ride before the rest of the group may earn more points than those who traveled a farther distance because their Hytch ended at a location with a higher sponsored reward value per mile than the rest of the group. In other words, a very short ride ending in a high reward zone could tally up more points than a very long ride ending in a low reward zone.

The original concept behind Hytch was to help individuals locate people nearby to carpool with. The new Hytch Reward platform focuses solely on rewarding ridesharing behavior when individuals who already know each other choose to carpool. The original matching feature may be re-incorporated into the Hytch Rewards app, in the future, for those who want to use that kind of service. In the meantime, spread the word to your friends, family, and co-workers about how you can start earning rewards for ridesharing with Hytch Rewards.

Bluetooth technology is used to confirm that you're still traveling with someone in a carpool, and give you proper credit for the distance of your shared ride with a Hytch Buddy. When you exit a shared ride, the system will automatically terminate the trip because the Bluetooth connection is broken.