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New technology has made it easier (and cheaper) to tackle chores and daily pains – from a long commute to work to splitting a check between 10 people at dinner. Below are some of our favorite modern conveniences.

• Spring Cleaning: Is your laundry piling up? Try Washio or Rinse to have your laundry picked up, cleaned and delivered without a second thought. And if you need a deep clean or your furniture assembled, book a cleaner or handyman instantly with Handy.
• Transportation: Not only can you request a car to your door via Uber or Lyft, you can also access personal driving data and trends from your phone! For pay-per-mile car insurance customers, Metromile has a free app that gives drivers access to their data such as trips and trends, fuel level, car location and car health. We even issue street sweeping alerts in select markets.
• Pets: If you have a dog in a city, chances are you’ll need a walker to let your dog out during the day. Wag! Has dog walkers on-demand ready to walk your pup, and they’ll even deliver a free lockbox to your apartment.
• Payment: With mobile payment apps such as Venmo and Apple Pay, you can pay or charge people with the click of the button. You can even pay for your groceries with your phone!
• Meals: Options for food delivery are no longer limited to pizza and pad thai from the store next door, you can now have a fresh meal delivered to your door! If you’d like to cook the meal yourself, try Blue Apron who delivers recipes and exact amounts of ingredients to your door. But if you’d like a warm home-cooked meal at your door, check out Munchery.

If you find yourself using a ride-share to get to work, or putting more miles on your bike than car, pay-per-mile insurance might be the right modern convenience for you! Not only will you have access to your trip data, but you can view your bill in real time on the app. Learn more about Metromile’s pay-per-mile insurance offering here.

Here at Metromile, we’re all about providing a more fair and affordable insurance option for low-mileage drivers, but we don’t stop at just helping our customers save money. We also have a smart driving app that takes the hassle out of car ownership, with useful features like a car locator and street sweeping alerts (in select cities). Now, we are giving customers an even easier way to save with a new billing feature, which tracks mileage costs throughout the month.

The inspiration for this feature came from our loyal customers. Since Metromile’s pay-per-mile insurance model is unique in that the monthly bill is based on mileage, pricing can change from month-to-month depending on how much is driven. Many of our customers said that they would find ways to drive less if they could track their bill throughout the month. That’s exactly what this new feature will allow them to do. Now, customers can see how each mile they drive affects how much they pay. By keeping tabs on monthly mileage, it’s easier than ever to stay in control of how much customers pay (and save).

If you are a Metromile customer, the new Billing feature is simple to use. Open our app and you will see the new Billing card appear on the overview screen, giving a quick glance at your charges to-date. You can then click to drill in deeper and see the breakdown of your current bill, as well as previous bills.

If you have an idea of how Metromile’s app could be even more helpful, don’t hesitate to drop us a line. You can reach us at [email protected]. Happy driving!

Just because you own a car doesn’t mean you are regularly taking it out for a spin. Perhaps you only use it when you are heading on a road trip, grabbing groceries from the store, or rushing to work when you “didn’t hear your alarm”. When you realize you’ve only clocked 5,000 miles in the past year, you might feel pressed to justify such a large investment. But it’s your car, it’s your way of driving your friends to the beach this weekend. We get it, which is why we compiled some easy ways to keep your car running smoothly and maybe even leverage it to earn some extra cash.

Try pay-per-mile insurance: If you are a low-mileage driver and drive less than 10,000 miles a year (around 200 each week) you could save a lot of money with pay-per-mile insurance. Your monthly bill is based on the miles you drive, so if you don’t drive much, you won’t pay much. Worried about the occasional road trip? Metromile won’t bill you for more than 250 miles a day (150 in certain states)! If you are interested in seeing how much money you could save, try getting a free insurance quote.

Join a carpool: Chances are you aren’t the only person driving a similar route to work — daily traffic is proof of that. Team up with others in your neighborhood and start a weekly carpool to save on gas and sneak in some valuable work time when you aren’t behind the wheel. There are lots of apps that can aid in this endeavor, like Carma, Ride and even a new pilot from Uber.

Know the basics: There’s no need to spend a lot of time on car maintenance when you aren’t driving much, but there are a few tips to remember in order to avoid costly repairs. Know how to deal with a flat tire and keep your tires properly inflated. It’s also important to change your oil on a regular basis as it keeps your car running smoothly and extends the life of the vehicle. Lastly, fix your brakes if they are squeaky because that likely means the brake lining is starting to wear thin.

Be smart about car storage: If you are leaving your car idle for a long time, the ideal place to store it is in a garage because it prevents theft and also protects against the elements like that blazing summer sun. Garage parking can be expensive, especially in the city, so if you don’t need frequent access to your car you should shop around for the cheapest garage space instead of paying a premium to park in the closest garage. If the most viable option is keeping it outside, consider purchasing waterproof car cover to keep it clean to save on long-term costs of wear and tear.

See My Savings

Just because you own a car doesn’t mean you are regularly taking it out for a spin. Perhaps you only use it when you are heading on a road trip, grabbing groceries from the store, or rushing to work when you “didn’t hear your alarm”. When you realize you’ve only clocked 5,000 miles in the past year, you might feel pressed to justify such a large investment. But it’s your car, it’s your way of driving your friends to the beach this weekend. We get it, which is why we compiled some easy ways to keep your car running smoothly and maybe even leverage it to earn some extra cash.

Know the basics: There’s no need to spend a lot of time and money on car maintenance when you aren’t driving much, but there are a few tips to remember in order to avoid costly repairs. Know how to deal with a flat tire and keep your tires properly inflated. It’s also important to change your oil on a regular basis as it keeps your car running smoothly and extends the life of the vehicle. Lastly, fix your brakes if they are squeaky because that likely means the brake lining is starting to wear thin. There’s no need to stop your car on the side of the road, but you should get them serviced soon after you hear the noise. If you are hungry for more car maintenance advice, we had one of our customer experience advocates share her favorite tips.

Be smart about car storage: If you are leaving your car idle for a long time, the ideal place to store it is in a garage because it prevents theft and also protects against the elements like that blazing summer sun. Garage parking can be expensive, especially in the city, so if you don’t need frequent access to your car you should shop around for the cheapest garage space instead of paying a premium to park in the closest garage. If the most viable option is keeping it outside, consider purchasing waterproof car cover to keep it clean to save on long term costs of wear and tear. Read more in our recent blog post about car storage tips.
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Grab your friends and kick off the summer solstice with a road trip to your favorite warm weather destination. Whether the drive is 30 minutes or 3 hours, the transit from your couch to a beach blanket should never be cumbersome. To help you get to your destination with ease, we’ve compiled our favorite road-tripping tips into one handy guide. And if you aren’t sure of your actual destination, we’ve got tips for that too!

Get your car road trip ready
A healthy car is definitely a prerequisite for any open road adventure. To prepare for a smooth drive, there are a few quick checks you should do. First, make sure there isn’t anything weird going on with your tires (even your spare). Look for any weird bulges or uneven wear, and use a tire gauge to measure pressure. Next, check out a site like GasBuddy to identify the cheapest and easiest place to fill up on gas, so you aren’t stuck paying top prices. You should also make sure your washer fluid isn’t running low because no one likes driving with a bug-laden windshield!

It’s also important that your mechanic is doing a more comprehensive check-up throughout the year since your brakes, cooling system, transmission service, oil levels and exhaust system can all deteriorate over time. If you want more details about getting your car road trip ready, check out this post.

Load up your smartphone
Our friends at The Zebra compiled a great list of the best apps to download before hitting the road. We don’t want to encourage distracted driving, so enlist your passengers to man the phone or wait until your car is parked.

• Waze: This community-driven app gathers map data and traffic information from other users, such as accidents, police traps, and traffic jams, and uses it to estimate the best possible route.
• Inroute: If you see your summer road trip as more of a journey through various attractions, Inroute helps you find the best possible route based on “weather, elevation, curviness, daylight and places along the route”.
• Songza: Search for music based on the time of day, your current mood, or favorite genre. Songza is completely free, and even has thousands of original playlists handmade by music experts.

You can also download the Metromile driving app, which gives important insights into your daily driving and car health!

Stash your “survival kit”
Whether you are an articulate list maker or the “see what fits into my backpack” type, there are some key items that you should keep near the driver’s seat: …

Editor’s note: The Tag is no longer available, and the Metromile smart driving app is now only available for pay-per-mile insurance customers. 

In our efforts to make car ownership as easy and affordable as possible, we are excited to introduce the Metromile Tag! While the beta is currently available in eligible states and vehicles*, it will soon become available for all cars. The Tag wirelessly connects to smartphones via iBeacon technology and can be stored conveniently in the glove box, cup holder, or center console of the car.

*Tag is currently available in CA, OR, WA, IL and in cars built in 1996 and later

When the Tag detects the user’s phone it will start delivering useful driving information using the exact same app as our per-mile insurance customers. Features include our street sweeping alerts (currently in San Francisco, San Diego, and Chicago), a car locator, driving stats, and more.* For those not ready for per-mile insurance, the Tag is the perfect way to take a free test drive to see how much they could save. Now everyone can have an easier time managing the daily hassles of owning a car.
*Note that our car health feature will not be available for Tag users since it requires the OBD-II port.

Our per-mile insurance customers will still receive the device that plugs into the OBD-II port, which we are now calling the Metromile Pulse (formerly the Metronome). Per-mile insurance customers have additional features such as the status of their car’s health, the ability to contact one of our on-staff mechanics, and even finding a stolen car. For current customers, there is no need to request a new device, but those interested in using a Tag in an another car will need to set up an additional account.

To make this new launch as seamless as possible, our current app users that are not per-mile insurance customers will be grandfathered into our program and can keep their Pulse (OBD-II device formerly known as the Metronome). If anything should happen, we’ll replace it with a new Metromile Pulse if needed. We still encourage everyone to share our app with their friends, just note that moving forward they will receive the Tag instead of the Pulse.

If you have additional questions about the Tag or the Pulse you can check out our FAQs. This is only the beginning – we have so many great new app features that we can’t wait to share in the coming months. Have suggestions for something that could make the app experience even more helpful? Send us a tweet @Metromile or email us at [email protected].

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us which means that summer is unofficially here! Whether you are heading to the beach, the wilderness, or a BBQ at your friend’s new condo, a healthy car is probably a prerequisite for your weekend plans. Here’s a handy list to prepare for smooth driving ahead.

Flat-out protection
It is possible to pre-emptively stop flats before they turn into a major detour. Check your tires to see if anything looks off, such as weird bulges or uneven tire wear. To be extra safe pick up a tire gauge, which could cost less than a rest stop meal and tells you exactly what your tire pressure is. Your tires should be inflated according to the vehicle manufacturer recommendations, which can be found in your owner’s manual or on the inside of your car’s door. And as Mechanic Matt suggests, make sure your spare tire is also inflated because it can leak slowly over time.

Fill’er up
We all face the same road trip conundrum: how do you know when to fill up your gas? What if gas is cheaper in the next town you pass? Don’t wait until your tank is empty because you might be stuck going to the most expensive gas station. Check a site like GasBuddy ahead of time to find the areas that have the best prices along your route. While you’re at it, check your washer fluid levels too so you can refill if needed and aren’t stuck with a bug-laden windshield.

Be (extra) prepared
Even if you take the time to make sure your car is in tip-top condition before a long drive, you could still hit unexpected roadblocks. Keep some basic tools in your car, such as a jack wrench, lug wrench, jumper cables, and a flashlight. A first aid kit is good to have on hand also. And don’t forget those extra snacks in case you get stuck in traffic; no one likes a hangry driver. Check out our road trip checklist to make sure you aren’t forgetting anything.

Know your way
Whether you use an app on your smartphone or the old-fashioned paper map, familiarize yourself with the route before you step on the gas. Checking directions while driving is considered distracted driving; taking your eyes off the road for even a few moments could cause an accident. Waze is a great app to use because it updates your route in real-time based on traffic patterns and user-submitted tips, and you can set directions to be read out loud so you never have to look at your phone.

It is important to note that these tips are in addition to the comprehensive check-up that your mechanic should be doing throughout the year. Your brakes, cooling system, transmission service, oil levels and exhaust system can all deteriorate over time, and if you aren’t confident about the inner workings of your car it might be best to leave this stuff to an expert. Just make sure you are staying on top of the maintenance schedule suggested by your manufacturer. If you have the Metromile app, you can check your car’s health.

Planning to road trip more this summer? We will be compiling these and other tips into a road trip guide which will be fueled by the Metromile community. If you’d like to contribute to the guide, tag your photos, tips and more with #HowIRoadtrip. Happy travels!

Parking in the city is not an easy feat. Whether you are rushing to a dinner reservation or visiting a friend for the weekend, finding a parking spot is nothing short of a headache. While we can’t help you snag a secret spot or dispute your parking ticket, we can give you tips on what to expect when you’re in these west coast cities.

San Francisco
There is a lot crammed into this 7×7 mile city, which means parking can be quite challenging. If you do find a coveted spot, the good news is that most meters take credit cards so you don’t have to search in the depths of your bag for stray quarters. Certain neighborhoods are even experimenting with on-demand pricing, which means rates may vary by block, time of day and day of the week, and can be adjusted +/- 50 cents per hour. The other good news is that Metromile’s street sweeping alerts are available in SF, which alerts you if your car is parked in a street sweeping area so you can move it in time. When you park, don’t forget to curb your wheels on any street that has a 3% grade or higher (which is pretty much the entire city). This is something visitors often don’t realize and is easy to ticket for.

Los Angeles
If you are in LA, it might be even harder to find a spot since the majority of the city’s population owns a car. Downtown LA also has on-demand pricing and you can see how much you can expect to pay on the LA Express Park website. If you can’t find a spot and are in a time crunch, there are plenty of lots and valet options throughout the metropolitan area, although it could cost you close to $40 for the day. Luckily, most business will validate parking bringing the costs down significantly. And if you do find a spot on the street, make sure you know what the color of the curb means to avoid getting a ticket!

Portland
If you do find on-street parking in Portland keep in mind there are two types of parking meters – the SmartMeter pay station and the coin-operated meter – so don’t get rid of that quarter stash just yet. The city also owns six downtown SmartPark garages which are the most affordable parking lot options. Pro tip: some businesses will even validate two hours of free SmartPark parking with qualifying purchases. If you aren’t near a SmartPark garage, private lots could cost you around $22 for the day.

Seattle
You’re in luck: Seattle is probably the easiest of these cities to find parking in. There is a fair amount of on-street parking, and both coins and credit cards are accepted at all meters. You can even pay by phone to eliminate the need to attach a receipt to your car.

There are also plenty of new innovations popping up to help alleviate city parking, such as Zirx and Luxe which provide on-demand valet service. Of course, you could always take Uber or public transportation and forget about parking entirely. And don’t forget to download the Metromile driving app to use our car locator if you forget where you parked!