I think you misunderstand the mechanics going on with surge pricing. In SF on new year's eve, getting a yellow cab can take up to an hour (or more). One year

I think you misunderstand the mechanics going on with surge pricing. In SF on new year's eve, getting a yellow cab can take up to an hour (or more). One year it took me nearly two hours to get a cab to go home. There is way more demand than supply so there is a huge queue. With Uber's surge pricing, the price simply goes up to help supply meet demand. You can book an uber at 2x or 5x surge pricing and count on it showing up a few minutes later, and count on getting home at a reasonable time. The best part, however, is that it's in Uber's best interest to have surge pricing happen rarely. Nonetheless, it's a great way to attract new drivers. Want to make $500 on New Year's eve, sign up to be an uber driver and drive from 12:30 to 3am and benefit from surge pricing. This opens up a larger pool of drivers, which in turn increases supply and reduces the price. There are certainly price fluctuations with AirBnB too, however increased supply makes the spike less pronounced.