I hate nothing more than having to be forced to use a taxi as transportation when I travel. For the most part they smell, they are old cars and the drivers don't speak english or spanish. I admire the entrepreneurs that had the idea of creating Lyft and Uber as a transportation alternative.
Uber and Lyft where both launched in 2014, their mission is to provide budget friendly transportation through a mobile application. Lyft has stayed as a domestic service while Uber has became an international giant. Later on I will show examples of how easy it is to request a ride but first I want to speak about the controversy. These services have been banned in several cities around the world due to taxi unions being furious that Uber and Lyft cars don't require a commercial license in order to operate. You will also hear stories of Taxi drivers saying they are loosing their jobs and their homes. I don't feel any compassion for the taxi unions whatsoever, not only are taxi's about 4 times the price of an Uber but on top of it you receive no hospitality and have to ride in an old smelly car.
There are very few requirements to be an Uber or Lyft driver. As long as you have a car usually 2005 or newer, you are 21 years of age and you have a clean driver and criminal record you are clear! This allows drivers to create their own schedule and drive whenever they want. Uber and Lyft cover commercial insurance on all drivers during all fares in case of any accidents with no charge to the driver. UberX is the basic ride you can request and it is usually the cheapest. They also have options such as Uber Black and Uber XL, Uber black provides limo style black cars and Uber XL provides you with a Sedan in the occasion that you are traveling with a lot of people.
The way that these 2 companies make money is by taking about %25 from each fare. Regardless of that commission I have spoken to drivers that work 5-7 hours in a downtown area and make $300 a night. Not only do they provide an amazing economic service to the public but it also allows people that need extra money to make it as they please. For example, I have had drivers offer me water, snacks, gum or mints, music preference etc. I would ask any person in this country to tell me what taxi I can ride in where a driver would offer me any of this? The requirement of having cars 2005 and newer is also great, I have taken $10 fares and pulled up to my destination in a BMW or Mercedes.
After you exit the vehicle and finish your fare you are prompted to rate your driver on both Uber and Lyft. This creates an awesome system to ensure that they don't have any bad drivers. Also when you request a ride it will display your drivers name, picture, contact info and their rating out of 5 stars. It also shows an estimate on how long it will take for your driver to arrive. Usually 5-10 minutes due to the high volume of drivers (in most areas). Continuing, I will show you the simple steps on how to request a ride. I am currently in Chicago as I right this so the location will be set going from my hotel to the airport. Please note that before you see what I am displaying you must first provide Uber with your payment information. Another huge benefit with Uber is no cash transactions.
(Uber will automatically determine your location, If you wish to adjust the location you can. As you can see below it shows you how many drivers are around your location and the estimate of a driver arriving. You can also see at the bottom the different car options as I noted earlier with Uber Black and Uber XL. Once you are ready you click on the black banner that says "Set Pickup Location".)
(Once you select your pickup location you have the options to do a fare estimate, enter a promo code or request a driver. It also displays your payment information for this ride in case you want to change to another form of payment. The Fare estimate is great because it will give you a range of what your ride will cost. This way you aren't hit with a surprise bill at the end or have to rely on a meter.
(once you click on fare estimate it will prompt you to enter your final destination. In this scenario I will be going from my hotel to Chicago O'Hare International. Once I enter the destination it will pop up the estimate.)
(In this case the estimate is $9-$12, If i took a taxi it would probably cost me around $30. Once you are ready you can exit on the top tab and it will bring you back to the main screen where you can click on request UberX. Within minutes you are on your way to your destination.)
Please note that their are restrictions to everything I have described. When Uber gets really busy (usually on the weekends late at night) they create a surge. This means that your ride cost can multiply from 2x up to 5x. If this is the case, Uber will always warn you that the rates are more expensive at that moment due to not enough drivers on the road. This rarely ever happens but it is something to be aware of.
If you would like to try out either of these services I can provide you with a promo code that will give you a free ride on both Lyft and Uber. This promo code can be entered in the window I displayed above next to fare estimate. I personally like Uber better because they are available in more areas around the country and they usually tend to be better cars. As I stated above Uber is also available in South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia (60 countries total). To view all of the available countries and cities click here.
Uber promo code for up to $20 ride: sebastiany9
Lyft promo code for up to $20 ride: SEBASTIAN983789
The Lyft app is very similar to navigate as the Uber app. If you have any questions about Uber, Lyft or travel in general feel free to message me through Google Circles.
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