Coming from a rural town, I’m not used to cabs, I only ever use them after I’ve had a few drinks and need a lift home but every time I’ve used one I haven’t been too impressed. Uber is a completely different story though.
Uber is an app for your smartphone that lets you order a personal driver to pick you up. Within around 10 minutes a black Holden Caprice arrives and takes you comfortably and luxuriously where you need to go. There’s no need to worry about cash either because once you’re there your pre-registered credit card is automatically billed.
Jason offered me the chance to Uber it to travel to Samsung’s launch event last night rather than catching the train, and I’m glad he did because it was fantastic. When it was nearly time to leave I brought up the app and saw that there was a driver 14 minutes away – I immediately pinned my location, requested the driver and then received a confirmation text message telling me that my driver was on the way and will be there in 13 minutes.
Although you can pin to be picked up from any location on the map, you can’t pre-book – you have to be ready to be picked up as soon as you click the “Book Pickup” button.
Just as the app said, it arrived in 13 minutes. Within 100m of being here I received another message telling me that my “Uber car has arrived!”
I went down to my luxurious Holden Caprice and hoped in with a welcome “How are you, this evening, Mr Tucker?” I told him where I would like to go and off we went. My driver has very polite and well dressed, he always addressed me as either “Sir” or “Mr Tucker” – something quite rare to see. We had a small conversation about where I was from and what I was doing tonight and then when I needed to send some emails he knew exactly when to stop talking and let me get along with my business.
The interior was great, it was all leather with interactive screens on the back of the seats (I chose to sit in the back). There were magazines, today’s newspaper and even some light refreshments.
After some horrendous Sydney traffic I arrived at the Opera House relaxed and in style, compared to my usual dash from the train station. I thanked him for his service, he wished me a good night and off he went. Minutes later I received an email with my receipt and summary of the trip.
There is only one fault that I can give Uber, and that is that they don’t show your fare as you go, so you could be left with quite a surprise on the receipt.
Also, Uber like some other cab companies doesn’t employ drivers or own any cars – it is simply a service that connects you to limo drivers via the app.
I worked out that Uber was around 10-15% more expensive than your ordinary taxi but it is very much worth the difference to travel in much more comfort.
Uber is a great idea and if you can look past not being able to see your fare as you go I would highly recommend it for anyone to use. If you want to give it a go, use my promo codeto get $10 off your first trip.
