Uber - Everyone's private driver

I was very recently introduced to a new app by a friend. I was told that this Uber app is for a car service. I imagined it was something like GrabTaxi which I have used a couple of times already. I asked some questions and got a better idea on what it is.

Uber is actually a car service which gets you from point A to point B. You might say it is like a cab, but it reality, it isn't. Why? Instead of getting in to a car which is definitely a cab, you will be getting into a private car. These cars are not the ones that are just driven by ordinary people who have cars though. These are the car service providers that are rented by hotels and the likes.

Here in Manila, an example of the car company being used is Europcar. I had the chance earlier to talk to my driver and found nice to know information. From their company, there are only currently 5 cars rented by Uber. There are other car companies that have tie-ups with Uber but he does not know which as well as how many cars are rented. Also, their current hours of operation are from 7am-1am. I checked on my housemate who recently used the app as well and she was told by her driver that theirs is from 6am-2am. I guess her driver must have been from another company hired by Uber then. In any case, the hours of operation are near 24 hours. They are currently checking on the demand and will adjust accordingly based on their Facebook account.

Now, let's talk about the rates. Base fare is P90 + P2.10/minute + P12.92/km. In effect, you will have a minimum fare of P120. If you have already confirmed a request then decided to cancel it, you will be charged P100. Question is, how will you be charged if you cancel the service, via credit card. During the registration process, you will be asked to put in basic information such as your name, email address, phone number and the mode of payment which is either via credit card or Paypal. So if the driver already received the request and then you cancelled, P100 charged automatically to your credit card/Paypal account. This is pricey as compared to using GrabTaxi but once you get to use it, you will know why.

Take note though that there are flat rates if you are going to or coming from the airport.

Manila Airport - Makati CBD / Forbes Park / McKinley Hill / Dasmariñas Village / Taguig / Fort Bonifacio / Manila / Baywalk / Pasay - P700

Manila Airport - Green Hills / San Juan / New Manila / Mandaluyong / Pasig / Ortigas - P800

Manila Airport - Quezon City - P1,000

Once you get to your destination, you obviously won't have to pay the driver. He will be clicking on the "End Trip" button on his iPad mini on his dashboard and you will then get a message on the app regarding the fare.You will also be sent an email on the corresponding charges like the one below.

You might be wondering though as to why I was not charged for my ride? This is because they have an ongoing "thing" wherein you can get P1,000 credit when you enter a code during the registration process. You may want to use my code to get the credit so here it is:

By the way, aside from the receipt that will be sent to your email address, you will also get a snapshot of the route that you took. It looks like this.

Uber is both available on iOS and Android.