Anybody used Lyft or Uber?

[dreamshark]

Which do you prefer, and why?  Any tips on using it to get to the airport? Since there seems to be no way to schedule rides in advance, how do you know there will be one available when it is time to leave? Is one of the services more reliable than the other? Is it just stupid to use one of these services for a time-sensitive ride?

We find ourselves without a ride to the airport today, so I thought I would try out one of these trendy new ride-sharing services and take advantage of those "first ride free" promos I keep seeing. Well, the promos were a bust, and have left me feeling a little queasy about the whole thing.

carbonel, thanks for your referral code, but i couldn't use it. Apparently I had signed up for Uber sometime in the past. Even though I have never taken that "first ride" I am no longer eligible for First Ride Free. I kept seeing promos for Lyft promising "$50 ride credit," but they turned out to be an almost worthless bait and switch. You don't find out until you have entered the code that it is actually $5 off, not $50. And then it's too late to use the probably better $15 code from Citi, because once you have given them your phone number you locked in, even if you have never ordered a ride or even activated your membership.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

We use both, slightly preferring Lyft. We think they have a better policy for the drivers and their pay. I think Lyft alone allows tipping, for example.

To use this for an airport ride, you have to start checking the apps for available cars and their distance to you, and time your request to get the car to you in time for the ride to the airport. In early AM, these cars would often accept the call, and then never come. B. thought they would accept from their nice warm beds, and then be slow-starting.

But having tried lots of times for rides to the airport, we have reverted to good old Rainbow Cab, which always shows up.

K.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Does Rainbow have an app, or do you have to use the *shudder* telephone?

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

We had a good experience with SuperShuttle this fall, but it's probably too late for you to look into it for this time.

[mplsfish.livejournal.com]

My whole experience is, I have two good friends who drive for Uber and like it a lot. I don't know anyone who drives for Lyft.

Super Shuttle is a reasonably priced ride. You can book on line. You give them your flight number and they figure out what time you will be picked up. It will be a van with other people riding so the time might not be the most perfect for you, but when I last used it it was half the cost of a cab or even less.
I have walked up the their desk on arrival and gotten a ride without much hassle. Some waiting.

[romsfuulynn.livejournal.com]

My daughter, who lives in St. Louis Park, used Uber a lot in the early part of this year for about 3 months and found it satisfactory. She also used it recently to the airport when she had to fly (on short notice at an inconvenient time to get a good fare) because of a death in the family.

Make sure you select UberX not the more expensive options. The Uber app does have a scheduling option and will give you a time frame.

[pameladean]

I hope you guys got to the airport all right!

P.

[carbonel]

I like Lyft's policies better than Uber's, but Uber seems more likely to be available when I need a taxi. I've used Uber a lot more.

I've never taken Uber from my home to the airport, because Rainbow Taxi (actually now part of Blue & White Taxi) is so reliable. But I love the convenience of Uber/Lyft when I'm traveling; it came in handy a couple of times during my recent Orlando trip. In Minneapolis, it's not as big a deal, because I'm more familiar with the local taxi companies. In Boston or Orlando, that's not the case.

As for referral code foofooraw, I suggest using either the app's help feature or support@uber.com to send a complaint explaining the situation. I've actually had good results from the support people for a couple of different issues.

Oh, and I've run into a weird bug a couple of times where I call for an Uber, and it asks me to confirm location, but the location is the wrong place. I finally figured out that if I shut down my phone completely and restart it, that fixes the problem. Just FYI.

[mle292.livejournal.com]

Ozgur drives for Uber and we gamed the system to use him - A good experience, but probably not a relevant sample.

Apparently not everyone knows, even though I bet you do - you should tip the driver of a shared service.